Copper banded butterfly fish feeding problem

[joshuashih1]

I was well awesr of the concerns of how difficult this type of fish is to keep mainly because of their refusal to eat in a captive environment. When I went to my local fish store I made sure to see the fish eat before purchasing it to make sure that it was eating. I then brought it home and waited a day before feeding the fish I proceeded to feed it the next day and it sit only 3 bites of bloodworms. I repeated the feeding the next day. Same thing happened. I have since attempted a few more feeding a but it's now not eating anything. I assumed it was hungry as it always went to the surface when I did anything with the tank. I thought a varied diet was needed so I fed it some brine shrimp (frozen then thawed) it did not want to eat that either. I then went to the store and bought a few clans and tried freezing them and feeding that to it. It did not eat it either 2 min so I tied it to a piece of plastic and left it in the tank. Hoping its rock scavenging Nature would help it find the food and eat. Please help me. I am not new to this hobby and have been caring for some quite difficult fish. From scooter blennies (manderins) to seahorse small with great success. But today I fear I may lose my precious copper banded butterfly fish. I would appreciate any helpful feedback.

 

[Becky]

Sorry to hear about that :( What were they feeding it at the fish store?

We've got an entry for this fish in our species database: https://www.livingreefs.com/threads/copperbanded-butterflyfish.17165/

 

[joshuashih1]

The fish store was feeding it bloodworms and the owner said that she had kept the fish for about a month meaning that it was eating

 

[mark r ramsey]

My CB is doing very well. Chop up come clams to almost a mushy soup. I put it into a live rock that has allot of holes in it. You'll probably have to break a piece off of live rock. If I knew how to post pics I would show you mine. My problem is; I have a Scopas Tang and a Lawnmower Blenny that I have to keep at bay with a plastic long handled cooking spoon. Probably anything will do to keep them away from the rock. You can also feed it Muscle, by opening up the shell and just put it on the bottom of the tank, again, you have to keep the other fish away. Some times I open a clap and just put onto the substrate and let everyone have at it. You can tell when the CB is full it will swim away from the clam or muscle, circle the tank and come back for a nip or two and swim away again. When she/he does it a couple of times I pull it out and save it for next time. Every other feeding after the clam/muscle, I will hold a square of frozen brine shrimp just a inch or two and my CB and Long Nose Hawk fish will eat right out of my fingers.

I hope it's not too late for your CB. I've been told if you don't feed them every day, they will perish. I hope the smiley face didn't come thru, it was an accident.