Copper Band won't eat...

[seon85]

i got this copper band butterfly a few days ago, he looks great and is very social, but when i go to feed them, he just kind of looks at the food and swims away. ive tried brine, mysis and other frozen foods but still wont touch it. should i just give him some time to ajust? or is there a trick to entice him to eat or even a food he would prefer.
i was thinking about trying some garlic.

http://www.aquavision-ltd.com/content/gallery/gallery.php?img_id=1

[khmerspec]

I've yet to acctually see my copperband eat anything. I was just staring at him for the past 30 minutes after dropping some food. All I've notice is him picking at the rocks.
I am also almost aptaisa free.

However, I have seen giant poop from this fella.

[TropicalNorth]

I have three butterflyfish that all eat very well, none are copperbands but here are some techniques to try.

Buy an oyster, or something similar if you can't get them mussels etc, fresh from a regular seafood shop (you could try frozen but fresh is best). Open the oyster, leave it attached to one half of the shell and put that straight into the tank. Most butterflyfish go nuts for oysters, mine all did. Take it out after an hour or less depending on how much it eats.

Oysters are an expensive option long term so it is a weaning process from them to regular frozen food.

You can also try smearing a frozen food into a dead coral skeleton or rock or anything they might peck at. Sometimes butterflyfish need to be taught how to take food out of the water, they naturally want to peck at something to get their food.

Garlic also seems to be an appetite stimulant also so you could try a commercial aquarium garlic product or a small amount of fresh grated/crushed garlic in with the frozen food.

A really good food for butterflyfish longterm is a DIY seafood mix. Just buy whatever fresh seafood you can get, fish, shrimp, octopus, squid, shellfish etc. Put it into a blender to make a mush and then freeze for storage. A bit of nori plus any dry foods is good in the mix too. If you make up a reasonable sized batch its not much more expensive than bought mixes.

[mcsassy]

A really good food for butterflyfish longterm is a DIY seafood mix. Just buy whatever fresh seafood you can get, fish, shrimp, octopus, squid, shellfish etc. Put it into a blender to make a mush and then freeze for storage. A bit of nori plus any dry foods is good in the mix too. If you make up a reasonable sized batch its not much more expensive than bought mixes.

This is a good way to get your phosphates running sky high. :thumbsup:

Hair algae paradise. :dance:

[TropicalNorth]

I've never had a problem with the DIY mix, its the bought frozen foods that have caused the most phosphate problems for me. They are packed full of phosphates compared to DIY. Oh and mush probably isn't the right would, rough blend is better.

I'm yet to get my butterflys over to good quality pellets, still trying. All food has phosphates though, its a balancing act. Oysters, mussels etc are worse than fish and shrimp, I usually have mostly fish and shrimp in my DIY. Rinsing helps too.

[mcsassy]

I actually did a test the other day...that's why I mentioned it. My DIY medley tested off the charts for phosphates whereas my formula 2 frozen food was OK and the mini mysis shrimp tested pretty low for it.

[TropicalNorth]

Well there you go. My frozen mysis is high compared to my DIY. Must depend on brands, ingredients etc.

I think the most important thing is for people to be aware of phosphates in frozen foods and use what works for you.

Rinsing does make a significant differences. I measured phosphates on a block of food in a dish with a some water, then tipped the water out and put new water in swirled it around and tested again, each time it went down by a fair bit. Can't remember exactly.

[Cerianthus]

Although been out of hobby for while, trying to get back, do remember Prepared Fz food used have high phospate, something to with coagulants. Maybe issue has been corrected but preparing your food perhaps be better for our treasures than prepared (mixed) foods.
I also used rubbing foods on the rocks/dead corals for butterflys, angels w/ great success. Angels and buttterfly method of eating in nature would be pecking/picking/grazing so recommend this method until learns how to accept floating foods.
Good Luck!

[KingConch]

not to pull it away from the topic but, TropicalNorth what kind of blenny is that in your avatar???

[TropicalNorth]

It is a Bicolor Blenny (Ecsenius bicolor). The little white marks on his mouth are his fright response colours, they don't necessarily mean he's scared and can also show the "I don't really like cameras but will come out for a look" face.

Blennys definately have the biggest personality of any fish I have owned, even my butterflyfish can't compete with blennys.

[tamz273]

Hey guys, I'd like to add how I got my butterflies to eat when they didn't eat in the beginning stages...
I used a mix of half frozen half live food... Just get live feeder shrimp or live mysis at the LFS, and pour it in with a mix of frozen mysis/bring.. One time did it for me, just poured them into my tank, next day my butterfly was all set!! He ate all the frozen he could find!