copperband butterfly

mm2meyer

Reefing newb
Hey guys! I was at my lfs and seen that they had a copperband butterfly. I know their main diet is aiptasia but I asked the guys to feed him and he took some frozen mysid, but he wasn't very eager to go after it. From what I understand they are a little more timid when it comes to feeding. They're only asking 25 bucks for him. I have some aiptasia that I can see but not sure exactly how much I have. I was a lil excited to see him take the mysid, I just wanted some more input on it. I'm only asking because I seen him take frozen food. Whatya think give it a shot or pass? And how hard would it be to get aiptasia if things go south?
 
Copperbands seem to be hit or miss. Most don't adapt well to diets with only frozen foods but occasionally people have success with them. I think if things did go south that it would be difficult to find enough aiptasia to sustain the fish long term.
 
Copperbands seem to be hit or miss. Most don't adapt well to diets with only frozen foods but occasionally people have success with them. I think if things did go south that it would be difficult to find enough aiptasia to sustain the fish long term.

I agree,i have never heard of a success story with a copperband,by that i mean a year+...not sure what most consider a success ,but i like to think under a year, just isn't..
 
I think they eat the qtip sponges, too. I always loved copperbands, but would never get one due to their dietary needs.
 
I've seen two instances where a copperband has done well...one was at a public aquarium, so I guess that doesn't quite count, and the other with a guy who has a 500+ gal. If you do decide to get one, good luck! you'll need it fom what I've read...
 
I had a copperband for around a year and a half.It took care of the thousands of aiptasia and majano anemones in my tank.It also did a number on zoas and clove polyps and everything that resemble aips and majanos.If it is already eating frozen your chances are good that it will survive long term.It took several months for mine to eat frozen and it became just as aggressive as the other fish when it came to feeding time.
 
The longest I've been able to keep a Copperband was around 9 or 10 months.And he would go crazy over frozen foods.Even though he did eat whatever I offered,he just wasted away.
 
Ok, so no go on the fish. But my question is what is their natural diet? Is it just aiptasia? Or are there other food items as well?
 
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