Copper Banded Butterfly...not visibly eating - Page 2

globaldesigns · #11 09-16-2009, 01:28 AM

I to had 2 Copperbands, they ate, but couldn't get them to live longer than a month or so... I also gave up on them.

If you have aptasia, I hear that it is also hit or miss if they even eat them... I would recommend trying Tailored Aquatics Aptasia Destroyer. This is what I use and kills them in one shot, without an impact on the tank. Red Coral (Calgary) has it, and I think it is only $18

kooky · #12 09-16-2009, 01:49 AM

Hi,

Yes, they are the same live black worms that fresh water feeds.

PoonTang · #13 09-16-2009, 03:07 AM

Get some live clams from superstore. Feed them 1 or 2 a day but cut the little muscle that closes the shell first. Store the rest in the fridge. After a couple of weeks fill up 1 of the clam shells with mysis and feed. Then try the free floating mysis. I also had a small piece of Live Rock that i drilled a few holes into and stuffed them with mysis etc. The CB loved it and it kept the other fish away from the food too.

JPotter · #14 09-16-2009, 05:53 AM

Thank you for everyone's great advice. I had easy access to clams/mussels and found Graham at Noah's Ark (fresh water LFS) keeps black blood worms. He remained open so I could get them tonight..which I did. When I got home I was horrified to see the poor wee fish floundering next a power head. One of its pectoral fins was shredded

It was terribly disoriented and even though I isolated it, turned off the lights and power heads it still passed away. Interestingly it did not feel emaciated..not fat like my other fish..but a reasonable body score.
Do LFS ever allow you to purchase a fish and then "board" it there until you are certain it is eating well in the long term and it is over the initial stress of capture, shipping and adjusting to the LFS? Can you ever purchase well adjusted aptaisia eating CBB from other reefers in your area?
I really need to have the aptaisia gone as it is all over and most of the live rock has corals attached directly to the rock. I did take out 2 small pieces of rock and cooked them in RO water...only to find that within 3 weeks more aptaisia was on them

There are also baby ones in one of my 30 gal tanks even though I don't share equipment between tanks.

Doug · #15 09-16-2009, 12:45 PM

They are called Manila clams at Superstore. I split them in half and put the half piece on a veggie clip, attached to a thin but long pvc pipe I once used for nori. This made for easy retrieval.

All the other fish use to line up for clams bits falling off from the copperband eating. Pics of them eating from the clip are on here somewhere.

Myka · #16 09-16-2009, 01:23 PM

Sorry to hear about your CBB. Unfortunately, this happens to a very large number of CBBs as they are very sensitive to begin with, but also because they are widely known to be one of the most common species caught with cyanide which will eventually kill the fish.

For aiptasia, I have always found that persistent manual treatment with Joe's Juice or Kalk paste will eliminate them. The trick is to turn off all pumps, and be sure to give each aiptasia a shot right in the centre of it's head. If you get it right it will turn black.

rayjay · #17 09-16-2009, 02:33 PM

As all of my fish are treated with hypo in a quarantine tank, I brought my copperband home and placed it in quarantine, feeding live brine shrimp (wasn't eating at the LFS) until I was sure he was doing well. At this point I introduced frozen brine as well as live and kept doing this but once he started eating frozen I gradually weened him off the live.
After the 7 weeks in hypo treatment, I added him to one of my reef tanks at night after lights out, and moved a couple of rocks around to confuse the powder blue a bit.
Haven't had any problem since, and no aptaisia in that tank either.
My other tanks had no room for an extra fish like a CB, so I nuked the aptaisia with hydrochloric acid in a hypodermic needle.
I've been a lot of years now with no sign of any of them.
I tried pep. shrimp but they wouldn't touch anything but the very small ones.

JPotter · #18 09-16-2009, 03:45 PM

I did ask the LFS about putting the CBB into a smaller quiet tank with lower light and flow to start with and they said no need..go figure. What is a hypo Tx?
Does HCl significantly decrease the water pH?
I have been picking away at the aptaisia..they go black with grey filaments and when I twirl the syringe with 20g x1" needle around the aptaisia remains adhere to it for removal. I have also used aptaisia paste..I have no kalk to make a paste with..it goes on as a thick film and the rock beneath also bleaches out. The problem is my tank is deep and I have lots of live rock that I can't reach and many surfaces I can't even see.
I will continue to pick away at it. Also will consider another go with CBB trying a smaller, quieter tank to start and the tips others have so kindly shared..I will wait a bit as am upset over the loss. If they are catching with cyanide a large number will be doomed whatever I do...they will be able to tick along for a while but cellular comproise will continue to progress for some time. I guess they have it down to an art...capture live, ship live, get to LFS live and stay alive long enough to make the sale

I will likely order some kalk (plus Ca and Mg) from littlesilvermax. Is there any recipe for the kalk paste or do you just mix it with H2O to make a slurry?
Thx again

rayjay · #19 09-16-2009, 07:04 PM

Hypo = hyposalinity= lowering the s.g.
HCl can reduce the alkalinity and then the pH so I only zapped four or five at a time.
I tried kalk paste and vinegar before that and they kept coming back.
Quarantine tank allows it to get comfortable after the stress of shipping to the LFS from where it was caught, and, allows for no competition for food so it will eat well over the quarantine period and build up it's strength for the next challenge, to place it in the show tank.
LFS saying not needed but if it dies then you need to make more profit for them by purchasing another one.

fkshiu · #20 09-16-2009, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPotter

Is there any recipe for the kalk paste or do you just mix it with H2O to make a slurry?
Thx again

The more kalk you mix with water, the more potent the slurry will be. But at the same time the you will be affecting pH more so use judiciously and carefully. I like using the precision tips and syringes from old Salifert test kits to apply the slurry. You need a needle point to make sure the aiptasia injests the kalk. I've been using this method along with peppermints for years quite successfully (knock on wood!).