Copperband Food and J&L

[reefgirl189]

Did you try soaking it in garlic or selcon? My copperband will even eat flake food if it's soaked in garlic or selcon.

[Reef Pilot]

My Copperband is pretty fussy. I tried soaking food in selcon and garlic, and he then just spits it out. This includes the freeze dried plankton and mysis, which he really loves, but without the selcon or garlic.

I have not got him to eat any kind of pellet food either, although my other butterfly fish eat it.

The only thing my Copperband eats is the freeze dried plankton and mysis, frozen PE mysis and brine shrimp, and fresh chopped clams (won't eat the frozen clams). I have tried lots of other foods as well, but like I said he is pretty fussy.

I have had him about a year and a half now, and while I wouldn't call him fat, he is pretty healthy and happy in the tank. I have to feed often though, because his tank mates are all voracious eaters, and the food gets eaten quickly before he has his fill. That long snout is not the best for picking off food from the surface, and he misses a lot.

[daniella3d]

Mine does not even eat mysis...all that he eats are live white worms and fresh mussle once in a while.

He use to take a few mysis but not for a long time now. he's fat as can be and has slowed down the amount of white worms that he eats. He's pretty close to its maximum size I guess, at a year and half.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Mine does not even eat mysis...

Which frozen mysis have you tried? Mine only eats PE Mysis, and does not like the Hikari mysis. I am not sure what is the difference, other than the Hikari is smaller. But he certainly has his preference.

And he likes the Omega One freeze dried mysis.

[daniella3d]

PE mysis. He use to eat a little bit of it here and there when very very hungry, but not any more.

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Which frozen mysis have you tried? Mine only eats PE Mysis, and does not like the Hikari mysis. I am not sure what is the difference, other than the Hikari is smaller. But he certainly has his preference.

And he likes the Omega One freeze dried mysis.

[Reef Pilot]

I have never tried white worms (not sure if they are available in the Vancouver area), but would be interesting if my Copperband would take those. That might be a way to get him used to selcon, if I feed the white worms selcon and garlic.

[daniella3d]

I feed the worms with bread soaked in a bit of milk and about 10 drops of Selcon per slice of bread. I don't think it does much to soak the worms in Selcon after that. I don't see the use of garlic being relevant here. I don't think there would be anything usefull left form the garlic if the worms would actualy eat it, and they would not absorb the garlic if soaked into it as they only absorb stuff when they eat.

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

I have never tried white worms (not sure if they are available in the Vancouver area), but would be interesting if my Copperband would take those. That might be a way to get him used to selcon, if I feed the white worms selcon and garlic.