Copperband Swimming Upside Down?!?

[NastayNatron]

So I have had a Copperband in quarantine for almost 2 weeks now with a Leopard Wrasse and a Diamond Head Goby. He has been eating Mysis, Brine, and Plankton like a pig. I have been feeding him 3 times a day since I got him. Sometimes I soak the food in Garlic Xtreme and Selcon. I have been keeping water quality high by doing a 5g waterchange every 2-3 days. It is a 29g quarantine running between 78 and 79.5 Degrees.

I noticed over a week ago that the Copperband has the Lymph Virus. I have been watching him closely and he is doing great. For the last couple days I have noticed him hanging out upside down. It seems to be happening more and more . . but other than that he seems healthy. Any Ideas as to why this is happening?

[paddyob]

This thread is no surprise.

The majority of copperbands die in captivity. A chosen few are lucky.

Sorry I can't offer anything more... But common knowledge says all but expert avoid this fish.

Hope it lives.

[NastayNatron]

I'm thinking the fish acting like this is a swim bladder issue possibly from being caught with cyanide but I am asking if anyone would know any other reason for this. Of it's cyanide there is nothing I can do as far as I know.

[BlueTang<3]

I'm thinking the fish acting like this is a swim bladder issue possibly from being caught with cyanide but I am asking if anyone would know any other reason for this. Of it's cyanide there is nothing I can do as far as I know.

Does it look swollen at all? I had a cbb live for over a year and he swam upside all the time, could be a lateral line issue. I would say if it is eating well then u have a better chance than most. It could be a bit of insanity of living in the small tank, fish are weird that way and do things to entertain themselves. Not much more you can do than hope, I would say you have your doing everything in your power to keep him alive.

[The Grizz]

My CBB does the upside down thing to but only when it is trying to get something out of a rock. The first time I seen it do that I freaked out and thought it was dead or dying .

Hope it recovers, sorry I was no help.

[NastayNatron]

No I don't notice any swelling. Like I said he has Lymph. He is in my 30g quarantine which he could be bored of. . He has been there for 12 days now. Would you guys leave him in the quarantine with the leopard and diamond head or would you move him into the display? I haven't noticed any ich or anything else other than the Lymph. If I wait out the Lymph and keep all fish in quarantine until it is completely gone it could be a long time. As far as I know it can take upwards of 4 weeks for the lymph to fade. Im not sure if this is taking a chance leaving a Copperband thats acting "weird" - possibly due to bordem as he is very active and a great eater, and a leapord wrasse that is doing great, in quarantine for 4-6 weeks.

What would you do? Should I keep truckin and leave them all in quarantine and wait out the lymph or should I put them into the display? Im deffinitly leaning towards leaving them in quarantine.

[daniella3d]

I would leave him in quarantine because if you end up needing to treat him it will be much easier to do so in the quarantine. Plus you don't know if he does not have something else after only 2 weeks.

Do you have any liverock in there? if not, then maybe you can put a few pieces so that he has something to examin. MIne like to pick on the liverock during the day.

If he is eating well I would not worry and I would leave him in the quarantine for another 2 weeks and observe.

Do you have a strong light? mine absolutely hate strong light and do all sort of gooffy thing to try to hide itself from the light. Maybe using a dimmer light may help him. Mine is most active under the actinic or low light.




What would you do? Should I keep truckin and leave them all in quarantine and wait out the lymph or should I put them into the display? Im deffinitly leaning towards leaving them in quarantine.

[paddyob]

Agree. Leave in QT.

You do not want to chance something getting in your display.

Sometimes fish like CBB do great then die without any reason. At least a reason the standard hobbiest would never figure out.

This is a fish I love, but would never waste money on it. I love hearing about long term captivity. A Year is not long when you consider many marine fish live years. When I say years, my good friend has my old clowns. 5 years old in captivity. I know if another who has clowns over 15. So one year is not success.

Sorry for anyone who feels it is. Success is long term survival.

I'm an advocate for this fish staying in the ocean.

[daniella3d]

yeah...right...but lets say that a year is a good start :)

and a good guess that the fish was not poisoned by cyanide.

Agree. Leave in QT.
Sorry for anyone who feels it is. Success is long term survival.

I'm an advocate for this fish staying in the ocean.

[paddyob]

yeah...right...but lets say that a year is a good start :)

and a good guess that the fish was not poisoned by cyanide.

Huh?

A year is a good start. But it's not great.

Some people, again, have great luck. Most do not.

[NastayNatron]

I would leave him in quarantine because if you end up needing to treat him it will be much easier to do so in the quarantine. Plus you don't know if he does not have something else after only 2 weeks.

Do you have any liverock in there? if not, then maybe you can put a few pieces so that he has something to examin. MIne like to pick on the liverock during the day.

If he is eating well I would not worry and I would leave him in the quarantine for another 2 weeks and observe.

Do you have a strong light? mine absolutely hate strong light and do all sort of gooffy thing to try to hide itself from the light. Maybe using a dimmer light may help him. Mine is most active under the actinic or low light.

No there is no liverock in there. I did add sand for the leopard wrasse. I have previously used cupramine in this tank so if I added some rock that would be its new home. But it may be worth it. The light is actually extremely dim. It is a 60 dollar marineland LED but I have a screen over the tank which blocks at least half the light. This makes sense though as when he does his upside down thing he always does it almost behind the power filter which is the only place away from the light. I think I will add a cave of some sort for him maybe this will help.

[daniella3d]

yes that would be good because the LED may not seem bright to your eye but it might still be very strong as our eyes adjust very easily to bright light and copperband butterfly fish really hate bright light. Just try to give him a place where there is some shade and I am sure it will help.

Without any place to hide, or any shelter, the copperband is stressed. If you can put something like a cave, it would be best or at least shade some part of that tank so there is no light.



No there is no liverock in there. I did add sand for the leopard wrasse. I have previously used cupramine in this tank so if I added some rock that would be its new home. But it may be worth it. The light is actually extremely dim. It is a 60 dollar marineland LED but I have a screen over the tank which blocks at least half the light. This makes sense though as when he does his upside down thing he always does it almost behind the power filter which is the only place away from the light. I think I will add a cave of some sort for him maybe this will help.

[ScubaSteve]

Most people have already said it, but they are challenging fish and are probably one that should be left in the ocean. That being said, hes in your care now... So let's do our best to give this guy the best chance possible.

The upside down thing... Can you describe it? If he's struggling to stay upright, you might be out of luck. If he's just doing to the upside down thing for fun he's probably just messing around from being bored in a small tank. I had a long nose butterfly who did this all the time for s***s and giggles. Butterflies have a surprising amount of personality and do do this to entertain themselves.

Now, I actually recommend getting that leopard into the main tank. That's one fish I recommend NOT Qting. Is the leopard eating?

[NastayNatron]

Most people have already said it, but they are challenging fish and are probably one that should be left in the ocean. That being said, hes in your care now... So let's do our best to give this guy the best chance possible.

The upside down thing... Can you describe it? If he's struggling to stay upright, you might be out of luck. If he's just doing to the upside down thing for fun he's probably just messing around from being bored in a small tank. I had a long nose butterfly who did this all the time for s***s and giggles. Butterflies have a surprising amount of personality and do do this to entertain themselves.

Now, I actually recommend getting that leopard into the main tank. That's one fish I recommend NOT Qting. Is the leopard eating?

I would say hes not struggling to stay upright but it seems now like he's just messing around. Ill see if I can get a video of it. As for the leopard he eats like a pig and im feeding him 3 times a day. He is doing great. Im not sure if I should maybe just transfer him to the display and leave the copperband in QT for another couple weeks.. . .

[daniella3d]

If h'es eating well and seem confortable in the QT, why risk putting it in the display tank too soon? I would not do it unless the fish would seem very stressed but it does not seem to be the case here, so why risk?

There is no point doing a quarantine if it's not done long enough.

I would say hes not struggling to stay upright but it seems now like he's just messing around. Ill see if I can get a video of it. As for the leopard he eats like a pig and im feeding him 3 times a day. He is doing great. Im not sure if I should maybe just transfer him to the display and leave the copperband in QT for another couple weeks.. . .

[paddyob]

Just curious... I hear a lot of " he is entertaining himself." With all due respect, is there any science behind this or is this something reefers choose to believe.

What us hobbiest think are probably, more times than not, wrong.

It's nice to think he might he playing but I find it hard to believe.

Again, no offense. Just being realistic here.

I do agree with the fact it is too late for other options and do your best.

Even if it makes it through this, the road is full of turns yet. And realistically, there is next to nothing we as reefers can really do or tell you asides from other observations. Any guess to the issue is exactly that. A guess. If there are any marine biologists who specialize in fish illness, I am sure they would tell you autopsy would be the way to know.

Trying to diagnose a fish disease would be more difficult for us than diagnosing a human. Think of that. Humans talk.

I'm probably gonna get flack from all the experts in here. I feel for yah. And the fish. It's crappy.



Most people have already said it, but they are challenging fish and are probably one that should be left in the ocean. That being said, hes in your care now... So let's do our best to give this guy the best chance possible.

The upside down thing... Can you describe it? If he's struggling to stay upright, you might be out of luck. If he's just doing to the upside down thing for fun he's probably just messing around from being bored in a small tank. I had a long nose butterfly who did this all the time for s***s and giggles. Butterflies have a surprising amount of personality and do do this to entertain themselves.

Now, I actually recommend getting that leopard into the main tank. That's one fish I recommend NOT Qting. Is the leopard eating?

[NastayNatron]

Here is a video of some of his daily activities.

http://youtu.be/zI0NP9mXRAA

[Reef Pilot]

Doesn't look normal to me. I have had 3 Copperbands now (and never lost one), and none of them ever did that. I would say something is bothering him, and he is trying to "shake" it off.

[daniella3d]

Ok, he's skinny and pinched on top of the head which is not good..he's twitching his head and that's often a sign of flukes. I would suggest a treatment or two of liquid prazipro according to instruction.

When I got my copperband he was twitching his head like that and he was skinny as can be. He was not eating a lot mind you...

I did a prazipro treatment for 10 days if I remember well and a very long worm came out of is belly...and Prazipro killed the flukes so he stopped twitching his head.

If your fish eats as much as you say he eats (like a pig?) then he should not be skinny and pinched like that, so maybe he's got worms like mine did.

He really does not look normal and he looks bothered by something. That fish does not look in good health at all.

Prazipro is reef safe, I used it in my nano with coral SPS, soft etc and it did not kill anything in my tank, not even the pods or the snail or the feather dusters. It does cut back the fish appetite for a few days but that resolve itself after the med is over. I think that is due to the worms being killed and expulsed. I think that light is too strong and the fish is obviously stressed.


Here is a video of some of his daily activities.

http://youtu.be/zI0NP9mXRAA

[paddyob]

Doesn't look normal to me. I have had 3 Copperbands now (and never lost one), and none of them ever did that. I would say something is bothering him, and he is trying to "shake" it off.

You have three CBB in your tank??

[Reef Pilot]

You have three CBB in your tank??
No, but have owned three. First one, I couldn't get to eat, so I returned him to the lfs after a couple months. I didn't have a QT at the time, and threw him straight into my display tank with my other fish. He survived my bully yellow tang, but I couldn't get him to eat any food I gave him. I had a very mature tank, and he would pick away at the live rock, so was obviously finding some little critters to eat, esp early in the morning and at night. But he was slowly wasting away, so thought I better get him back to the lfs before it was too late.

A few months later, I set up a refugium (which I could temporarily disconnect from my display tank) and tried again, but with two this time. I had them separated with a divider in the tank, but was successful in getting them both to eat, and later converted them onto dry food as well.

You might remember this video. I took some flak from both you and Daniella at the time for having two Copperbands in one tank. But I actually believe that having both got them feeding faster, as they learned from each other, or at least seemed to be stimulated by seeing the other go after food.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQjAZjafxM

I tried a couple times to remove the divider, but they refused to play nice. So I moved one to the display tank, and eventually sold the other. So I now just have one, and he is doing wonderfully in my display tank, eating dry food from the surface at feeding time with the rest of the fish, and then hunting aiptasia, or whatever he can find in the live rock the rest of the time.

I should mention, too, that I also have multiple Pearscale Butterfly fish in that same display tank, and they all get along fine. In fact, I believe it was them that taught my Copperband to go after aiptasia. He wouldn't touch them until they started to nip at them. It took the Pearlscales a few months, too, before they finally got the taste. But am really happy to finally have my display tank clear of aiptasia (was totally over run with them before).

BTW, I now have a proper QT set-up, and any new fish go through that for 2 months, before going into my display tank. Haven't added any fish for a while, but use it for crabs, shrimp and corals, too.

[NastayNatron]

Ok so I went out and got a bottle of PraziPro and some plastic Flower Pots. I did a 5g waterchange, added the planters as caves for the copperband and then dosed Prazi to the recommended dosage. After adding the Prazi the copperband went nuts swinging his head all over and scratching on everything he could. He seems to have calmed down now but is this normal after adding Prazi?

[daniella3d]

ok...This is a good sign he has flukes. Prazipro make the flukes go nuts and they twitch to death...then they drop from the fish. Prazipro causes the flukes to get some sort of spasmes and die from it.

I am guessing that when you put the prazipro it triggered the reaction on the flukes and that surely was not pleasant for the fish as it is irritating. Maybe he had a LOT of them but maybe not and this is a normal reaction if the fish has flukes. A fish that does not have flukes usually does not react to prazipro much. How does the wrasse react?

Watch out for infection after the prazipro treatment. Poor fish, I hope everything goes well.


Ok so I went out and got a bottle of PraziPro and some plastic Flower Pots. I did a 5g waterchange, added the planters as caves for the copperband and then dosed Prazi to the recommended dosage. After adding the Prazi the copperband went nuts swinging his head all over and scratching on everything he could. He seems to have calmed down now but is this normal after adding Prazi?

[NastayNatron]

ok...This is a good sign he has flukes. Prazipro make the flukes go nuts and they twitch to death...then they drop from the fish. Prazipro causes the flukes to get some sort of spasmes and die from it.

I am guessing than when you put the prazipro it triggered the reaction on the flukes and that surely was not pleasant for the fish. That's not a good sign though as maybe he had a LOT of them.

Watch out for infection after the prazipro treatment. Poor fish, I hope everything goes well.

Alright well thats a good thing I guess at least something was wrong with him that is treatable. I just hope everything gets better throughout the treatment. Bad luck he has Lymph as well as flukes :cry:
What should I specifically watch for as for infections? Anything specific or just close monitoring? Thanks for all the help so far I am doing all I can to help this guy out!

[daniella3d]

yes close monitoring after the treatment. Like red inflated gills. It is usually visible.

Lymph should go on its own and I doubt it is very hard on the fish on its present location. It's not on the gills or does not impair breathing or vision so not so bad.

How does the wrasse react? Prazipro is gentle on fish and pretty much all creatures except internal worms and flukes. It can cut back the appetite a bit though, but that should not be too bad.

Flukes lay eggs so the treatment must be done for about 10 days so it will be best to fallow the direction, do a water change after the first treatment (after 4 to 5 days I think?) and then do a second one if the fish is eating well, just to be sure that none survived. I don't think prazipro can kill fluke eggs, why the second treatment.

YOu are surely doing all your best.


Alright well thats a good thing I guess at least something was wrong with him that is treatable. I just hope everything gets better throughout the treatment. Bad luck he has Lymph as well as flukes :cry:
What should I specifically watch for as for infections? Anything specific or just close monitoring? Thanks for all the help so far I am doing all I can to help this guy out!

[NastayNatron]

yes close monitoring after the treatment. Like red inflated gills. It is usually visible.

Lymph should go on its own and I doubt it is very hard on the fish on its present location. It's not on the gills or does not impair breathing or vision so not so bad.

How does the wrasse react? Prazipro is gentle on fish and pretty much all creatures except internal worms and flukes. It can cut back the appetite a bit though, but that should not be too bad.

Flukes lay eggs so the treatment must be done for about 10 days so it will be best to fallow the direction, do a water change after the first treatment (after 4 to 5 days I think?) and then do a second one if the fish is eating well, just to be sure that none survived. I don't think prazipro can kill fluke eggs, why the second treatment.

YOu are surely doing all your best.

The wrasse was already asleep in the sand when I added the prazi. The diamond head goby did not react at all. I will leave the prazi in for 5 days, do a waterchange and re-treat. Ill keep you updated on how everything is going. Thanks again for the help!

[NastayNatron]

Alright so an update on where I am with the PraziPro treatment. I did 5 days of Prazi at the recommended dose in my quarantine. After the 5 days I did a 30-40% waterchange and re-dosed the Prazi at the recommended doseage. It has now been 8 days total with Prazi in the tank. The copperband is doing MUCH better. His appetite has cut down a bit but he is still eating. The Leopard on the other hand eats like crazy all the time.

I was planning on removing the prazi from the tank in two days which would be a total of two treatments at 5 days each. I am still noticing a bit of twitching from the copperband. Im guessing this means there are still some flukes present. None of the other fish have had any symptoms whatsoever throughout the whole process. The good news is the copperband no longer does his upsidedown thing. So as of now my plan is to do another 30-40% waterchange in 2 days and re-treat once again at the recommended dosage to make sure I get all of the flukes. Do you think I am doing the right thing here?

Here is a video I took tonight of the quarantine:

http://youtu.be/EaBj123Du7o

[daniella3d]

Yes he's twitching quite a bit. Maybe his gills are a bit irritated from the flukes and he needs to heal from that.

He's getting very skinny and laking the fat pad on the top of the head. Can you get a live white worms culture? This food fattened up my copperband in 3 weeks and he was very skinny. It also motivate their appetite during a prazi treatment.

Also maybe you can try a fresh mussle cut in half? mine really love this food and the white worms. I enrich the white worms with Selcon when I feed the worm I put about 7 to 10 drops of Selcon into the milk that goes in the bread. I would try the mussle first and see if he likes it. This is a great way of passing their stress as well as they love to pick at the shell. I tie the mussle shell to a rock woth a rubber band as they are not heavy enough to witstand the butterfly thearing it apart and will shift without being tied to something heavy enough.

It's important to treat the flukes and make sure they are gone but it is also imporant to fatten up that fish and make sure he does not get any thinner. He seem to be eating in your video but they do need a lot of rich food. Mine has been eating white worms every day for about a year and a mussle about once a week or two.

Here is a video of mine feeding on white worms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AvkIATAzV5Q

After the second treatment, I would give the fish a few days break from the treatment and if there is no improvement then redose in 5 days. Usualy the fluke eggs hatch in about 10 days, so giving a 4 to 5 days break and see if he stop twitching might be better. Get him to eat better and then if needed, redose.


Alright so an update on where I am with the PraziPro treatment. I did 5 days of Prazi at the recommended dose in my quarantine. After the 5 days I did a 30-40% waterchange and re-dosed the Prazi at the recommended doseage. It has now been 8 days total with Prazi in the tank. The copperband is doing MUCH better. His appetite has cut down a bit but he is still eating. The Leopard on the other hand eats like crazy all the time.

I was planning on removing the prazi from the tank in two days which would be a total of two treatments at 5 days each. I am still noticing a bit of twitching from the copperband. Im guessing this means there are still some flukes present. None of the other fish have had any symptoms whatsoever throughout the whole process. The good news is the copperband no longer does his upsidedown thing. So as of now my plan is to do another 30-40% waterchange in 2 days and re-treat once again at the recommended dosage to make sure I get all of the flukes. Do you think I am doing the right thing here?

Here is a video I took tonight of the quarantine:

http://youtu.be/EaBj123Du7o

[NastayNatron]

Alright thanks. Im not really sure where I would get live white worms. I will buy a fresh muscle tomorrow and put it in the tank as you have described and see how he does. After this set of treatment ill remove the Prazi for a few days and monitor him.

Thanks!

[daniella3d]

Before you put a fresh mussle in the tank, rinse it and brush it well under the luke warm water faucet when it is closed to make sure there is nothing attached to it that you don't want to introduce to your aquarium (they are saltwater live food). Then you open it and split the meat on one side of the shell and cut the mussle in 2. You keep the side of the shell that contain the meat and discard the other shell. Simply tie it to a rock with a rubber band. I usually brush them under warm tap water for a minute or two and make sure I brush everywhere.

You can rinse the meat a little if you wish to remove excedent of mussle juice but not too much as to remove the flavor so the fish will really smell it. just a seconde will be enough for the meat.

For the white worms culture, it cen be sent by mail. Usualy someone around you will have a culture and it is easy to start your own culture from that. All it need is a bit of moist top soil with a good part of fine peatmoss (moist) and a container and you feed the worms with a little piece of bread slightly soaked in milk with a few drops of Selcon. That's about it.

If you don't find any, you can write me a PM and I can sell you one culture for 10$ plus shipping cost. It would need to be shipped with a heat pad at this time of the year.

If your copperband go for the mussle, you will probably not need white worms right away because this is very nutritious fatty food.



Alright thanks. Im not really sure where I would get live white worms. I will buy a fresh muscle tomorrow and put it in the tank as you have described and see how he does. After this set of treatment ill remove the Prazi for a few days and monitor him.

Thanks!

[NastayNatron]

Ok the PraziPro has been out of the tank for 4 days now. My copperband has eaten 3 muscles already and he loves them. He also started eating alot more brine, plankton and mysis as well. I was still noticing small amounts of twitching so I decided to do another round of prazi. I added the Prazi just a few minutes ago and he shook his head around some directly after adding it so that must mean there are some flukes left. It was nothing even close to the effect it had on him last time I added it. I plan on doing two sets of 5-7 day treatments(depending on how things go) and then remove the prazi and wait another few days to verify I finally got them all. I think its going well all fish are eating good. The leopard wrasse has been perfect throughout the process. It has been 4 weeks now since the fish have started quarantine! Im excited for when this is over!

[daniella3d]

Good to know. Did the copperband gained a bit of weight?

Glad to see he likes mussle because it's a very good and rich food for him.

Copperband do twitch from time to time and it might be normal.

Although if he's eating well and gaining weight then prazipro will not really be harmfull but I am wondering if he's still has flukes or if it not just a residual irritation or simply a normal behavior at this point.

Ok the PraziPro has been out of the tank for 4 days now. My copperband has eaten 3 muscles already and he loves them. He also started eating alot more brine, plankton and mysis as well. I was still noticing small amounts of twitching so I decided to do another round of prazi. I added the Prazi just a few minutes ago and he shook his head around some directly after adding it so that must mean there are some flukes left. It was nothing even close to the effect it had on him last time I added it. I plan on doing two sets of 5-7 day treatments(depending on how things go) and then remove the prazi and wait another few days to verify I finally got them all. I think its going well all fish are eating good. The leopard wrasse has been perfect throughout the process. It has been 4 weeks now since the fish have started quarantine! Im excited for when this is over!

[NastayNatron]

Yes he has gained a bit of weight back. I do hope it is just residual but I figured there's no harm in an extra 5 days or treatment. Do you think 5 would be sufficient? He did twitch a small amount when I added the prazi. . Not sure what that means

[daniella3d]

Yes I think 5 days should really get what ever is left if something is left. He could twitch because the flukes irritate the gills and it might be healing still. After 3 treatments I doubt that any flukes would be left alive and if there would be some left then probably those would have become immune to the prazi but I doubt that.

Flukes lay eggs that hatch in about 10 days, so if the first flukes laid eggs they hatched already and the new flukes need to mature before they will lay eggs, so probably a total cycle of about 3 weeks. It is good also to do a first treatment, then wait like 4 to 5 days, then do another treatment so when the eggs have hatched then the second treatment get that.

If you did 2 treatments over the course of 10 days, then doing a third one should really be the last one and get what ever could be left because if any new fluke have hatched they did not have the time to mature and lay new eggs.

If the fish is still twitching after that, I would think it just need time to heal.

Yes he has gained a bit of weight back. I do hope it is just residual but I figured there's no harm in an extra 5 days or treatment. Do you think 5 would be sufficient? He did twitch a small amount when I added the prazi. . Not sure what that means

[NastayNatron]

Alright thanks after this third set of treatment is over the fish will finally hit the display :biggrin: providing all goes well!

[daniella3d]

I hope all goes well :)

Alright thanks after this third set of treatment is over the fish will finally hit the display :biggrin: providing all goes well!

[The Grizz]

Sounds like you are doing a great job caring for the CBB, well done.

[NastayNatron]

Alright another development. Yesterday when I added the CB's muscle for him to eat it turned the tank water milky white as he ripped it apart. I rinsed it in R/O water like the last 3 he has eaten but this has never happened. It turned the water extremely cloudy so I did a quick 5 gallon w/c last night and added an airstone to the tank just to be safe. Today it was a bit better but still really cloudy so I did a 10g w/c a few minutes ago. The fish seem alright and aren't breathing heavy or anything as far as I can tell . . . As I did the waterchanges I added the proper amount of Prazi to keep the dose up. The CB isn't twitching at all anymore and seems to be acting completely normal. Im just worried that something major is going to happen with 3 days remaining in their final treatment. . . Thoughts?

[Reef Pilot]

Whenever I feed a fresh clam, I always cut it into very small pieces and keep only the good fleshy parts. Then I rinse it thoroughly in RO water before adding to my tank.

I was only doing it initially when I had a finicky eater (like my butterfly fish) in quarantine. I don't trust it for regular feeding, as it is fresh from the ocean, and who knows what disease I might be introducing.

[daniella3d]

Yes I always rinse it as well. I simply rinse it under a running faucet with warm tap water.

I never had a problem with it fouling the water though, but putting one mussle in a 75 gallons is not the same thing as putting it in a 30 gallons I guess.

It is best to brush it well under warm running water to remove anything external then cut it in half and rinse the meat a little to remove extra juice. I have been feeding mussle since I have my copperband and never had a disease introduced that way.

I think it is a very good food in this case because the copperband needs to fatten up.

Another important thing is that I always smell the mussle and if it smell anything I would not eat, I skip and choose another one. After a while you get the idea of what a fresh and good mussle should smell like.



Whenever I feed a fresh clam, I always cut it into very small pieces and keep only the good fleshy parts. Then I rinse it thoroughly in RO water before adding to my tank.

I was only doing it initially when I had a finicky eater (like my butterfly fish) in quarantine. I don't trust it for regular feeding, as it is fresh from the ocean, and who knows what disease I might be introducing.