my new little Copperband Butterfly fish

[The Guy]

I've had this little guy for about a week now, the 33g long frag/ isolation tank has been his home since I got him. I know they are picky eaters so I've been watching him closely as to his eating, seems to poke around all the rocks and crevises and has pretty well cleaned up most of the tiny feather dusters. I have been putting mysis and brine shrimp in but as of yet he does not seem to interested in eating it. the cleanup crew look after anything not eaten by him or his 1 chromis tank buddy, I was advised to try him on white live worms, so I picked up a culture and put a few in for him and he seemed to eat them ok. How many of the worms should I feed to him at one time and should I use a feeding cone?

[Reef Pilot]

You should try to get him eating PE Mysis. That is usually one of the first foods they accept. A turkey baster helps to target feed. Chopped up bits of fresh clam usually works, too. But it does take some persistence.

Here's an old thread when I was getting my CBBs eating.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=73021

[naesco]

The best option is to never buy a fish unless you see her eating at the Lfs.
The is why it is better to buy a fish at a lfs than online even if you have to pay a little more.

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

You should try to get him eating PE Mysis. That is usually one of the first foods they accept. A turkey baster helps to target feed. Chopped up bits of fresh clam usually works, too. But it does take some persistence.

Here's an old thread when I was getting my CBBs eating.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=73021

Hey thanks for the tips & utube with the dry food method of dry food feeding. Can I use a film capsule I have the magnet set already? Oh ya I am trying white frozen mysis not sure I know what PE mysis is.
Cheers Laurie

[hillegom]

http://www.mysis.com/

[Proteus]

I had a similar fish picky eater. Frozen mussels worked great. I would toss them in frozen and my Cbb would be nipping before it hit the sand

[reefwars]

being hunters its easier to make cbb's find food then eat whats floating , like reefpilot said use the turkey baster , it makes the copper band think they are hunting.

mine eats from my fingers now and i started him with the turkey baster on pe mysis

he now eats brine,mysis,plankton and pellets

strongest eater i have

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by clown lover

Hey thanks for the tips & utube with the dry food method of dry food feeding. Can I use a film capsule I have the magnet set already? Oh ya I am trying white frozen mysis not sure I know what PE mysis is.
Cheers Laurie

Yes, a film capsule will work or anything similar. As you are finding, CBB's like to poke their beaks into holes looking for food. I had fresh clam bits in there, as well as frozen PE Mysis, and they got used to going there. It contained the food, too. That made it easier to convert to dry food. There is no way a CBB would ever go to the surface for dry food, unless you used a method like this.

My CBB's didn't like the smaller Hikari mysis, although they would eat it. But they sure took to the larger PE mysis real fast. Most LFS carry PE mysis, too.

But you need to be persistent with new foods, a little at a time. They will initially spit it out, but if they are hungry, they will start accepting new food.

[The Guy]

Thanks everyone for your help on feeding this little guy, he's very cool and I want to get him eating various foods before he goes in the DT.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by clown lover

Thanks everyone for your help on feeding this little guy, he's very cool and I want to get him eating various foods before he goes in the DT.

lots of attention , get him use to you and friends with you and trust will help teach him to eat or trust what your giving is food