My fat copperband butterfly

daniella3d · #1 01-11-2011, 05:12 PM

Are you sure it was fat because he does not seem to have the fat pad on the top of the head and body on that photo. Usualy when they are healthy they have a well plumped flesh or fat padding on the thop part and in your photo it seem to be rather pinched instead of bulging and well padded?

When I got mine it was also pinched on the top of the head and did not have fat on the top but now that area is bulging and I can see there is a bump there instead.

I think that when they don't have their fat reserve they are pretty much doomed. What was yours eating and how much a day? They seem to need a lot of food many times per day, but that's from seing mine so not sure.

Here is my goal for mine. See in the pic on that site how the top of the head has a bump, almost as if the fish has a hump? This is a really healthy copperband with a full fat pad:

http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/...Fish%20cd.html

here is another one showing a really thick fat pad on the top of the head:

And last but not least, a youtube video showing this fat pad nicely on this very healthy copperband (not mine but what I am trying to get with mine):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLfgF...layer_embedded

Quote:

Originally Posted by kien

My last (literally) attempt at a copperband was a statistic as well sadly

Healthy and fat at the LFS for a couple of months. Healthy and eating well in my tank for a month. Go to feed tank one day and.. Ya, dead

. It is especially frustrating when they go like that. Eating well and absolutely no signs of trouble right up to the night before they perish. There's nothing you could have done even if you wanted to because you went to bed thinking the CBB was healthy and happy as can be.

fishoholic · #2 01-11-2011, 09:30 PM

Still trying to find the thread but here is a pic. of my old CBB that I had for 4 yrs, can't tell if there's a bump or not but he always ate well and seemed healthy until the day he died.

Lance · #3 01-11-2011, 09:40 PM

I've had mine for nearly two years. I got him from a fellow Canreefer. At the time he was only eating fresh shellfish. Eventually he took to Mysis. Now he will eat any meaty foods, but no pellets or flakes. I soak his food in Selcon 3x per week. I still give him a fresh clam now and then for a treat. I put the clam meat in a container with very small holes in it so that he can get his snout in to get the food but the other fish can't.

daniella3d · #4 01-14-2011, 05:31 AM

Are you only feeding it 3 times per week?

I started the Prazipro treatment on mine. He's fat now but I surely hope that treatment will not compromise the fish appetite.

Interesting, I treated in my frag tank and the prazipro did not kill any of the flatworm in my tank. Is that normal? I was hoping it would kill them but not sure if the product is active or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance

I soak his food in Selcon 3x per week. I still give him a fresh clam now and then for a treat. I put the clam meat in a container with very small holes in it so that he can get his snout in to get the food but the other fish can't.

Lance · #5 01-14-2011, 04:40 PM

No, I meant I soak the food in Selcon 3x per week. I feed twice per day, every day. I feed my CBB: fresh clams, muscles, squid, mysis, enriched brine shrimp, Emerald Feast, Plankton from SF Bay. As I stated earlier he will only eat meaty foods; won't touch pellets or flakes.

daniella3d · #6 01-14-2011, 07:44 PM

Ok thanks, I will look into some of this food, especialy fresh clam.

I think it's not overdone to feed a copperband twice per day. Yours seem happy and fat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance

No, I meant I soak the food in Selcon 3x per week. I feed twice per day, every day. I feed my CBB: fresh clams, muscles, squid, mysis, enriched brine shrimp, Emerald Feast, Plankton from SF Bay. As I stated earlier he will only eat meaty foods; won't touch pellets or flakes.

daniella3d · #7 02-03-2011, 02:54 PM

My copperband loves the fresh oyster and mussles. He and the niger trigger finish it off in no time and the copperband gets a huge belly then. So with a diet of live white worms daily, PE mysis (which he only eats a few) and fresh shelfish every 2 days, he's fat and happy.

Interesting to see how the copperband push away the trigger when he comes near the oyster at first, then leave the place for the trigger. Good thing my niger trigger is a big pussy and not aggressive at all and wait until the copperband leave. In fact it is the niger trigger that showed the copperband that the thing in the shell was food! it is only after seing the trigger eating it that the copperband went for it.