Copperband butterfly fish

[JaiWiz]

Okay so today i acclimated a new copperband butterfly fish to my tank to tackle the aipetasia problem i acclimated him for 2 n a half hours and put him in with the lights off. i turned on the lights about a hour n a half later to see how they were mingling and i"ll be damned all my other fish were taking some pretty aggressive runs at the CBB i'm concerned because these fish are already a delicate fish never mind having 5 other fish trying to kick your ass. what can i do all the fish did this to my yellow tang when i first put her in maybe its just a initation kinda thing

[The Grizz]

Wish I would have known you where thinking of getting a CBB, I would have suggested not to get one. It just my opinion but with the survival rate of them it just doesn't make me happy.

What are your other fish and what size is your tank?

[JaiWiz]

Ok dont bust my balls on this i know its not a big enough tank for the fish i got but i plan on upgrading within 6 months to a year i just dont have the coin to get a big tank and sump right now. but i got a 55 gallon.
Coralife power compact lightings 96 watts x2
fluval 305 cannister
remora pro hang on the back protein skimmer
3 power heads
70 lbs of live rock
big xenia colony
toadstool
assorted mushrooms
small kenya tree
few zoos
2 maxi mini carpet anemones
elephant ear coral
for i got small naso blonde tang, small yellow tang, sailfind algae blenny, clown fish, trunicate anthias, three stripe damsel
inverts i got a red brittle sea star, assorted hermits, 4 snails

[The Grizz]

Well first you should just bring me the blonde Naso :twised: second who is doing the most of the aggression? Is the CCB bigger then most of the other fish?

[AquaticFinatic]

Ok dont bust my balls on this i know its not a big enough tank for the fish i got but i plan on upgrading within 6 months to a year i just dont have the coin to get a big tank and sump right now. but i got a 55 gallon.
Coralife power compact lightings 96 watts x2
fluval 305 cannister
remora pro hang on the back protein skimmer
3 power heads
70 lbs of live rock
big xenia colony
toadstool
assorted mushrooms
small kenya tree
few zoos
2 maxi mini carpet anemones
elephant ear coral
for i got small naso blonde tang, small yellow tang, sailfind algae blenny, clown fish, trunicate anthias, three stripe damsel
inverts i got a red brittle sea star, assorted hermits, 4 snails

Man that's a lot of fish and stock in such a small tank! You shouldnt have got half the stuff you have in there till you had a bigger tank.

But now its done just leave the lights of for a bit longer and see how it does,maybe try feeding a little bit here and there to distract the other fish.

[Lance]

Rearrange the rockwork if you can; frequent feedings to lower aggression; nori on a clip will keep the others busy. Good Luck!

[The Grizz]

Man that's a lot of fish and stock in such a small tank! You shouldnt have got half the stuff you have in there till you had a bigger tank.

But now its done just leave the lights of for a bit longer and see how it does,maybe try feeding a little bit here and there to distract the other fish.

I don't agree on the amount of stock. I have a temp. 55 gal with 9 fish ranging from 3 - 5", a green sea serpent star, red knob star & choc. chip star. As long as the canister filter is kept clean, skimmer is working well and water changes are done on a regular basis it will be fine. I have seen some tanks crammed full of coral & a ton of fish with no issues.

I would like to come check out your tank one day when timing works for both of us.

[The Grizz]

Rearrange the rockwork if you can; frequent feedings to lower aggression; nori on a clip will keep the others busy. Good Luck!

Good ideas there Lance :thumb:

[toytech]

When i got my cbb i tried the kent marine garlic , it made my tank stink but once i started using it the cbb would eat . It never ate much then got velvet and died an hour after it started looking bad . I love these fish but i wont be trying again until i can put one i qt de parisite it and have a couple of live food cultures going . I got my mandarin onto frozen foods in half the time it took me to get the cbb to take one bite of food .

[whatcaneyedo]

Remove the fish that are picking on the butterfly for a week or more while it settles in. Thats what worked for me.

[naesco]

Remove the fish that are picking on the butterfly for a week or more while it settles in. Thats what worked for me.


Return the copperband to the LFS that you bought it from before it gets bullied to death.

Sell all the tangs you have in your tank and replace them with a few fish suitable for a small tank like yours. I plan to upgrade my tank in 6 months does not cut it for me, sorry.

Buy a peppermint shrimp and very slowly acclimate it and it should remove the aiptasia.

[marie]

My copperband went through the same hazing in the beginning....my achilles tang was absolutely livid about the new addition but the copperband had enough spunk to get through it and by the third day was even coming out and attacking the tang when the tang's back was turned. By the end of the first week they were all getting along.

The copperband did go through 8 weeks of quarantine first though and was fat and eating well before being added to the display

[The Grizz]

If you need a small QT let me know I have a 10 gal here you could use. By the way where did you get the CCB from?

[whatcaneyedo]

I support naesco idea too... The only reason I purchased a CBB in the first place is because peppermint shrimp would be eaten by my moray and lionfish.

[trilinearmipmap]

If you can't return some of your fish, try a mirror attached to the side of the tank to distract them, also make some hiding places for the CBB. His only advantage is he can out-maneuver the other fish so building a structure for him to maneuver in/around could help.

[fishoholic]

Return the copperband to the LFS that you bought it from before it gets bullied to death.

Sell all the tangs you have in your tank and replace them with a few fish suitable for a small tank like yours. I plan to upgrade my tank in 6 months does not cut it for me, sorry.

Buy a peppermint shrimp and very slowly acclimate it and it should remove the aiptasia.

+1

[JaiWiz]

Good thing i'm not looking for your approval then all my fish are very healthy and do not act aggressive and swim about very happily. my water parameters are always good i'm not saying its right to have them in a tank thats to small but things came up and i have no choice but to house them in my current tank i guess a wedding and buying a house will do that to your reef budget i apologize your royal reef highness but that is just the way the cookie crumble's thanx for the input though

[whatcaneyedo]

Good thing i'm not looking for your approval then all my fish are very healthy and do not act aggressive and swim about very happily.

i turned on the lights about a hour n a half later to see how they were mingling and i"ll be damned all my other fish were taking some pretty aggressive runs at the CBB i'm concerned because these fish are already a delicate fish never mind having 5 other fish trying to kick your ass. what can i do all the fish did this to my yellow tang when i first put her in maybe its just a initation kinda thing

You just contradicted yourself.

[JaiWiz]

of course a new addition would call for some harassing might i add that did'nt last long but yes i should have been more clear on my statements

[JaiWiz]

jus checked on the ole tank and the fish are all getting along the CBB is still trying to find his place/territory in the tank but there is no more harassing and not to mention the CBB is already eatting with its new tank mates so i guess for now it looks good but you never know.

on the flipside of things does anyone in the red deer area know where a guy could get a decent 120 gallon tank and cannister for it ( i will also use the one i have on my 55 gal.) around the red deer area. You guys have made me feel like a douche because of the tank size thing so i'm gonna dip into the wedding fund and try to find a bigger tank thanx guys lol

[Borderjumper]

Good to hear that the aggression died down and awesome the CBB is eating already.

the mirror trick does work really well.

[JaiWiz]

ya its kinda weird that things went so well but i'm still keeping a close eye on things. I didnt have to do the mirror trick this time.

[daniella3d]

Get a sump instead and leave the canister out of the equation. I have a canister filter but it is because I don't have any room for a sump with my Osaka aquarium. Dumb desing of the furniture. I am replacing it with a phosban reactor...much more usefull!

If I had the choice I would get a sump any time. For the copperband...he'll eat all the aiptasia and then probably will starve to death. That's what happen to most copperband.

Mine is the boss of the aquarium and eat like a pig, I guess that's why he's doing well. Try to give him some mussels or oyster cut in half. They love that and it is good food for them. I give quite a bit of these to my copperband along with live white worms.

Mine is now so big that I sometime think that my 75 gallons is too small. They get quite large.


jus checked on the ole tank and the fish are all getting along the CBB is still trying to find his place/territory in the tank but there is no more harassing and not to mention the CBB is already eatting with its new tank mates so i guess for now it looks good but you never know.

on the flipside of things does anyone in the red deer area know where a guy could get a decent 120 gallon tank and cannister for it ( i will also use the one i have on my 55 gal.) around the red deer area. You guys have made me feel like a douche because of the tank size thing so i'm gonna dip into the wedding fund and try to find a bigger tank thanx guys lol