Copper Banded Butterflies? Reef safe? Compatable?

[Reefdude5]

I have a slight aptasia problem, and i'm planning on ordering peps, but i've always loved CBB's, and i might have an excuse to get one, since they are avid aptasia eaters. My questions are:

1: is 120g with a lot of live rock a good habitat?

2: i have 2 Regal(hippo) tangs, 2 oscellaris clowns, one lawnmower blenny, and one green mandarin, will he be okay with this group?

3: do they tend to pick on any LPS? I don't have any SPS.

4: as far as feeding, will they accept mysid or brine frozen, and plenty of algae sheets?

5: I really like LiveAquaria.com, and i could order the large size(4"-6") for not much more than the medium(2"-4"), do they ship better and have a higher chance of adapting to frozen foods at either of those sizes?

Thanks a ton!

[Yoshi22]

from my experience, they get ich really easily because of stress.


Brandon

[Geoff]

i have not had much luck with them. they are hit or miss on the aiptasia thing, like most biological controls. you might want to check some of the LFS around your area and see if they have any that you can see actually eat aiptasia, just to be sure. it is not unusuall for them to nip at other things, both LPS and SPS. they like to nip at polyps.

G~

[Reefdude5]

I'm not too concerned about them eating aptasia, i think between 6 peppermint shrimps, kalk, and the Copper Butterfly, something should work. And yeah, i've heard about them getting ich, but the Regal tangs, the famed "king of ich" fish, are doing fine with Garlic in their seaweed. I'm primarily concerned with the possibility of them nipping at fleshy LPS and getting them to eat. Any suggestions?

[tankgirl2]

Hi Austin,
I never had any ich problems with mine. He was a gorgeous fish. He never picked on any other fish, but would hold his own if a fish harassed him. They'll eat any feather dusters and will sometimes peck at starfish. Rarely, mine would pick at a zoanthid, but only like he was curious and checking it out.

I was able to feed mine flake food, but had to train him. Started by feeding live brine shrimp or blood worms and adding a little flake food at the same time. Most fish, imo, once you get them eating they'll go for anything in the water column. It didn't take very long before he'd go for flake food alone. Just an awesome fish, but I believe they often catch them with cyanide, so make sure he'll eat at the LFS and only buy one that looks wonderfully healthy.

[Reefdude5]

Thanks Tankgirl! this is off subject, but if you could add one more fish to those lists of fish up at the top, what would it be, in that tank?

[Fish Lips]

So, you say a CBB will eat feather worms? That's a good thing too know, cause I was looking into buying one too help with my aptasia problem. But not now.
Tanks for the info,
Lips

[rwdandald]

The problem with CBB is that they often do not eat at all and die. If you are getting one I would definately suggest that you have the LFS show you it is eating (watch it eat) and do the deposit /pick it up in a week if it is still eating method of buying it.

[tankgirl2]

Hi Austin, I guess I'd choose either an anthias (but they can be picky eaters too) or a kole tang -
to tell you the truth, I'd skip the mandarin and lawnmower blenny (both of which often starve to death in a tank) and get a different blenny (any other one - they're all such awesome fish) plus a small school (3 or 4) of apogon leptacanthus (longspine cardinalfish) if you can find them or some other small schooling fish. Here's a pic of them below. A lot of people love the hawks (flame hawks, etc.) for their personality, but they tend to sit on rocks and goggle their surroundings and I like fish that are active swimmers.

Hi Fish Lips! My pleasure!

[TimmyG]

Originally Posted by tankgirl2

A lot of people love the hawks (flame hawks, etc.) for their personality,

I love Hawk fish I had a falco hawk for 5+ yrs that was the coolest fish,
he never bothered other fish or inverts, even the corals seemed to
have gotten used to him perching on them, but I lost him in a freeze in Jan.
I thought I would replace him with another one and it was a big mistake...
He picked at my crabs and snails and when I added a tiny watchman goby
it was a feeding frenzy.

Timmy

[JennM]

You have received good advice about buying a CB Butterfly at a LFS and SEE it eat. If properly caught and handled, they seem to be a reasonably "intermediate" fish... I had one in my 120 for a while and he disappeared after a few months -- unknown reasons and no other losses. I still have aiptasia but he did not bother my corals but my fanworm population declined (a calculated risk on my part).

The main problem with copperbands is capture method - these are a popular cyanide targeted fish, and many are doomed to die simply by the way they are harvested. Make sure you know your source - I'm not making any accusations whatsoever but every wholesaler/retailer will tell you that they are all hand/net caught but that is simply not the case... there is no guarantee that any supplier has 100% net caught, but a good shop should know with as much certainty as anyone, whether their supply line is clean or not... but off of my cyanide soap box...

The next largest cause of death is handling/feeding... make sure it's eating. I offer mysis to most new fish in the shop - even the pickiest fish will eat it because the brand I use preserves the whole shrimp - it has eyes and everything and for some reason I believe the "eyeballs" stimulate a feeding response. Once they are feeding I have found that they will accept a variety of foods, even flakes if offered. Make sure it has a hearty appetite - if you don't see it eat, leave it in the shop.

I'm a retailer so naturally I'm biased against online livestock purchases but taking off my store owner hat, and putting on my hobbyist hat - this is one animal I'd never consider buying online simply because I'd want to see it first, and see it eat.

HTH

Jenn

[rwdandald]

I'm a retailer so naturally I'm biased against online livestock purchases but taking off my store owner hat, and putting on my hobbyist hat - this is one animal I'd never consider buying online simply because I'd want to see it first, and see it eat

When it comes to fish I would always use this method. The arrive alive and 3 day guarantees may help your good feelings but they do not help all the fish that die and need to be replaced. It is very rare you could save enough on a fish to pay for shipping and still be cheaper anyway , unless you are ordering 5-6 fish and I would question the wisdom of anybody planning to introduce that number of fish at one time anyway (my qt simply is not big enough anyway and I sure as h$ll would not add a e-fish directly to display). If your LFS has any skill or connections at all they will be able to special order about anything you want or could find yourself given a reasonable amount of time. IMO pretty much all butterflies and angels fall into the "do not buy until you see it" under any circumstance category - and as a general rule I would add 99.9% of all other fish. I am a hobbyist - not a retailer - and I do buy many many things online for my tank - Fish are not one of them.

[JennM]

Very well said, rwdandald

Jenn

[Reefdude5]

Hey thanks for the advice, yeah i looked at one yesterday, but he didn't eat, so i didn't buy him, lol. Okay, i have a stocking/compatibility/bioload question. I currently have:
2 small regal tangs, 2 oscellaris clowns, 1 small lawnmower blenny, and 1 small green mandarin.

I was wondering, after much research and thought, if it would be wise or not to add:

1 CBB,
1 fairy or flasher wrasse,
some small schooling fish like 6 blue chromis

What do you think, they seem like many take up different niches and levels in the aquarium? Opinions?

[rhino]