Copperbands not for me

sully08 · #1 01-05-2012, 11:06 PM

I guess I should listen and leave this fish to the reef pros. Tried to put one in my 8 month old tank and it died about 7 days into quarentine. Couple months later I tried another one and quarentined it for 2 weeks. He ate Mysis, looked really good, no signs of disease. I put him in my D.T and he was dead in 2 days, no idea why. I heard they were really hard to keep. Anyone had similar problems like this? All tank water tests were good.

Reef Pilot · #2 01-05-2012, 11:19 PM

What other fish do you have in your DT?

Raven34 · #3 01-05-2012, 11:31 PM

Counting the ones lost at the lfs and in our tanks bet ya five out of a hundred make it to 3 years. 8 months or even a year is nothing to be proud about. I tried a couple and lost them dont feel bad. Expert fish to say the least and mostly a ocean fish.

toytech · #4 01-06-2012, 01:00 AM

Im in the same boat , had one it ate , and then it died in a few hours one day after having it for a few weeks. Ive got another small one in qt and hes yet to start eating well but hes starting to come around.

intarsiabox · #5 01-06-2012, 01:06 AM

I had one years ago, he was murdered (stabbed) by a yellow tang.

Spiny · #6 01-06-2012, 01:20 AM

same experience here. I had one for more than 6 months eating prepared food, and then one day he was nowhere to be found. As much as I love these fishes, they're best left in the ocean

wickedfrags · #7 01-06-2012, 12:53 PM

No argument, they are not an easy fish to keep alive long term. Notoriously picky eaters, and do not do well in a competitive feeding environment...assuming they ever do accept prepared foods (which they can do, but not always).

I was fortunate to have one for almost 4 years and it ate every aptiasia in my 270G tank.............I added a mandarin goby, the copperband was dead in a week as the mandarin depleted the pod population...

I would suggest not even attempting one unless you have a mature 120G+ system, no other competition for pods, and ideally a low bio-load of non-competitive fish for it.

No need to give up on this fish (unlike some other beautiful fish....purple queen anthias are one), but definitely proceed with caution.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sully08

I guess I should listen and leave this fish to the reef pros. Tried to put one in my 8 month old tank and it died about 7 days into quarentine. Couple months later I tried another one and quarentined it for 2 weeks. He ate Mysis, looked really good, no signs of disease. I put him in my D.T and he was dead in 2 days, no idea why. I heard they were really hard to keep. Anyone had similar problems like this? All tank water tests were good.

whatcaneyedo · #8 01-06-2012, 01:05 PM

I tried two that died after about a week when I had smaller tanks, a 33gal and a 50gal. Each of them was eating frequently and looked well right up until the moment that they died. My third CBB is over 3 years old in my 120gal (240gal system) and eats a wide variety of naturally occurring foods as well as mysis and grocery store clam up to 3 times a day. So I second Greg's recommendation for a large mature system without competing fish.

Gripenfelter · #9 01-06-2012, 03:13 PM

I use an introduction tank inside my DT.

I couldn't keep a blue throat trigger at all. Quarantine them but as soon as they went into the display they died within a week. Stress of being around other fish and being picked on.

So I bought a reptile tank, cut slots into it, and put it inside the DT. Fed the new fish in the introduction tank and let the other fish get used to him. So far 100% success rate with 3 fishes including a Powder Brown that my Yellow Tang usually hates.