Tank for the compliment Doug!

Maybe I will get falme to tell this but it is my own experience over my 10 years in saltwater

Unless you have a very well established good size full of live rock quarantine tank I have found that quarantine a fish give more problem than anyting els

the major cause of desease and death on fish and coral are STRESS
the stress kill by stopping the immune system Fish stop eating and if the fish dont have enought energy fat store in him he will dye soon

I never realy look more on a fish than if he is fat when I buy it! if the fish is fat even full of ick I buy and put it in the reef 2 week later he is recover
99.9% of time no garlic no noting only good food but I let him alone and dont put my ugly face in the widow looking at him to streess it even more
when I introduce a new fish I alway close the light for 12 houre and after
feed the tank severale time a day for a couple of week when I do I open the cover slowly and dont make any fast movement

dont forget to clean the skimmer and tune it the best you can to not strees the systeme with the bigger amount of food

If you buy a copper banded I suggest you to buy misys at the same time
as they are the primary and only food you should give the tank for the next 2 week even if he donteat it at first or he pick at it but dont eat dont change and keep the misys he will eat it if not notting will do! after he will be fat and eat those misys like popcorrn start to
give different meal slowly and he will became a pig just like mine IMO
a CB who eat coral is a ugry CB as they realy like more the prepared food than a coral IMO cleaner shrimp is a realy good addition for desease control and will help

When I buy mine he was full of ick even have nipple like a fungus on the side an dont heat in the petshop tank 2 week after full recovert and eat like a pig. I have also tree tang in the tank and none have getting any ick


IMO the worst ting to do when you buy a fish is ask the store to keep it for a couple of week unless you buy it in a very good store that have condition very good cause they put a fish from the wild between four wall
in poor water full of medication were everyone look at him all day long and knock on the glass and worst of all they dont have anywere to hide it
stress the fish so much he dont eat burn is fat but dont get any desease
since the system is full of médication so he will not dye but will get one soon as you bring him home and dye cause he have not eat for long time ,is immune syteme is completly shut down,he have now no energy fat reseve

I agree with a lot of points Stephane makes except this one. In the past few weeks I have bought two Royal Gramas from two different stores. One went into hiding right away, and died in a week. The other one looked real good for about eight hours and died in 24 hours. A friend bought five damsels, and a Coral Beauty. All but one damsel were dead in a week.

It would seem to be better and wait a few days before buying, and let the store take the loss as their markup covers such losses.

:lol: Cooper eats like a pig, and doesn't eat aiptasia....... :roll:

Funny thing is I bought four peppermint shrimp as well, and put them in a critter keeper with some aiptasia rock and they just mowed it down, in fact we think they grew overnight.... :? 8)

He's in the 45g "aiptasia tank" for now Alan. He seems a lot like Spike, very friendly. :D Except he hasn't gone for the polyps on the colt coral in there......Spike for sure would have. (Spike is a blackback butterflyfish for those who don't know him).

I'm thinking he'll end up in the 155g at some point soon. It's a lot more peaceful in there now that the clown tang moved to Dez's.

I think he'll be spectacular in the 155. Hard to do better than that.

(Not eating aptasia?? What does he prefer?)

Mysis so far.

I tried to get some Marine Cuisine today (it is awesome and has mysis in it as well, it's what my mandarin first took a liking to) but I guess I have to go up to Pisces for some.

But if he's like Spike, he'll be on homemade and OSI in no time, I hope. Tried any spirulina flake with yours at all Alan?

Spirulina? Veggies? No... pretty much a strict mysivore.

You? I'm under the impression that these are carnivores. Mine certainly won't touch any flakes that float by, but Stephane tells of training his to eat some flake.

Well, any carnivore gets the guts of his prey, the omnivore... :lol:

I just wondered, because even the triggers go for OSI, and Spike will eat it out of my hand... :?

Stephane: Aw c'mon. I can't help it. I am so excited when I get something new, I want to look at him (or her). Even when Andy says that I am scaring the poor thing...

Alan my CB is now eating the formula one flake food alone I dont have to soak it in instan algea and selco :D

but if your already know they dont taste good it will be maybeharde since he will not even touch at it anymore you have to soak them first so that way the fist time he will taste those flake he will like them and record they are good

mine eat the flake but only in my hand! if I drop the flake in the tank he dont touch it cause I have try first to give him the flake not soak I try them severale time but dont like them so now he dont even look at it

Here is wath I do I alway give the froozen food by hand so I said I will trick him by soacking those flake and then give him by hand at first he was tasting them but dont eat. After alternating from frozen to soaked flake he finaly develop a taste for it and eat it them I stop soaking the flake and he still eat but not if I drop them on the water (he dont even taste it) now I have to learn him to eat it not only from my hand a bit tricky :D

Stephane, I think that's more effort than I put into teaching my kids to spoon-feed when they were babies. I hope that a mixed carnivore diet will be enough for him.

Perhaps EmilyB will make small amounts of her own blend commercially available... Wait, I don't think I want to know the price. :shock: