Copper Banded Butterfly fish surviving

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by mr_alberta

I've had one for half a year now (knock on wood) and its never eaten any aiptasia in my tank...I do feed it only frozen food though (mysis or marine cuisine and brine shrimp). It won't go near pellets.

+1, It's really important to make sure they are eating frozen before you take them home. Don't know about the essential fatty acid in zoas/ asptasia, my copper band has not ate a single asptasia in my zoa tank and hasn't touched a single zoa.

[Wingin It]

Mine only hunts for copepods (? probably) and is eating frozen brine shrimp and mysis...doesn't tough the aptasia (ugghh!) or the zoas. I've not had mine for every long though, so i'm knockin' on wood too!

[whatcaneyedo]

I've had mine for over two years now. It eats aptasia, spaghetti worms, bristle worms, fan worms, frozen mysis, uncooked clam and mussel, pterogorgia polyps, acans, trachyphyllia, lobophyllia, fungia, and probably pods... I kind of wish it would eat zoanthids instead of many of what I just listed. As others have mentioned its key to get one that already eats frozen food and to have a large mature system from which it can find many natural foods as well.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by reefwars

Pretty sure Laurie had hers for 4yrs she would have some good advice , I've got some small pieces of rock littered with aiptasia if you do start up a farm I've always wanted a copperband but my love for zoa's was greater

I got lucky. Mine ate aptasia shortly after I first got it and then a month or so after that it ate PE mysis (soaked in garlic/selicon) it also picked on clams I think half the problem with these fish is that most wont eat and most are cyanide caught. I'm looking at getting a matted filefish to keep my aptasia problem under control, it's making a come back now that my CBB is dead. Here's hoping the filefish will eat aptasia and not sps

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

I got lucky. Mine ate aptasia shortly after I first got it and then a month or so after that it ate PE mysis (soaked in garlic/selicon) it also picked on clams I think half the problem with these fish is that most wont eat and most are cyanide caught. I'm looking at getting a matted filefish to keep my aptasia problem under control, it's making a come back now that my CBB is dead. Here's hoping the filefish will eat aptasia and not sps

It should unless you get a badass lol mine ate frozen and loved it at first I didn't think it was eating aiptasia but at the end I couldn't find even one lol
there's somethin g about a butterfly I really like thoug. But like most of the fish I do like they either don't do well or eat everything else I do like lol

[Myka]

the Copperband Butterfly is the reason I got into saltwater aquariums to begin with. After learning about Copperbands' poor survival rate I refuse to take one from the ocean. Without experimentation no one will ever find out the "key", but I prefer to leave that to experts. Good luck with your farming. I haven't ever found Aiptasia to reproduce at a fast enough speed to farm them.

[naesco]

You might get lucky and the odd reefer will post that he has had success for a few months probably after several deaths.
The rest try once or twice and the fish predictably dies.

Best left in the ocean as a few others have suggested.