Well... Gonna try again...

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#1
Found this little!e guy at Coral Gazers today.
He was inquisitive and active. The clincher for me was that he was eating with gusto...

Fingers crossed...

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#4
Good luck man, They are beautiful fish to have if you can get one to eat. I'd try the PVC pipe trick if it get stubborn.
 
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#5
Cool man! the hard part is finding one that eats. as long as no one messes with him he should keep eating. Make sure to offer a variety of foods. Mine ate frozen at the LFS and then switched to only eating pellets in my tank.
 
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#7
Hey Ben,
I have a pair of Copperbands and they are finicky eaters for sure. I've had luck rubberbanding a whole raw shrimp to a rock and letting them pick at it, transition them to eating minced up shrimp mixed in with Mysis shrimp, now they just eat brine out of the water column. I am happy to give you some frozen cubes preprepared if you want to pick up. Hope this helps.



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#8
What would be hardest or downside in keeping a CB in a mix reef tank from your experience? Cause I really really want to get one.
Finding one that eats, and keeping it eating..

There is a serious irony here. A zillion years ago, (yes, I am old) copperbands were one of the hardiest fish out there. One of those fish that used to be sold to total newbs because they would live in your toilet. If you had salt water in your toilet...

I have had this conversation many times with many people I know and trust, with as many, if not more years keeping Marine fish as I do. The only hypothesis for why they are now so terribly difficult to keep now is collection methods. I don't believe CBB to be cyanide caught fish, but maybe..
Today, if you can find one that eats at the store, isn't already completely emaciated and active, you have a shot. But as E've [MENTION=4657]OGFrenchHorn[/MENTION] stated above, they can be terribly finicky. Keep em eating, they'll live, if not, unfortunately, they seem to be doomed to a slow death.
I THINK I have the skills, patients and determination to keep this guy alive, but time will tell..
 
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#9
Hey Ben,
I have a pair of Copperbands and they are finicky eaters for sure. I've had luck rubberbanding a whole raw shrimp to a rock and letting them pick at it, transition them to eating minced up shrimp mixed in with Mysis shrimp, now they just eat brine out of the water column. I am happy to give you some frozen cubes preprepared if you want to pick up. Hope this helps.



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Thanks Jason, I may take you up on that!! My biggest issue is there are quite a few voracious eaters in my tank. I know this could possibly be a strike against getting my new buddie to eat, but as i said before, we'll see. My tank is an 8' long sps tank so he may have a chance. I may also employ the PVC tube method like [MENTION=5150]F-Dawg[/MENTION] mentioned.

At the store, he was in with a Melanarus Wrasse and was competing very well for the food... Fingers crossed!!
 
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#10
Just let me know if you would like to pick some up. Free of course.
Overfeeding the first couple days is probably a good idea and food will spread out over your 8 foot tank, that way he's not stressed about competing. If extra food settles in the crevices, he will eventually find it


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#12
I got my cbb to eat mysis by over feeding the tank also. First I look for him then feed the rest of the fish on the other side of the tank. Worked like a charm. Took 2 weeks tho. Now hes fighting for food close to my hand when I put frozen Lrs in.
 
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Quick update.

Live brown worms worked 1st try. If it's possible, his eyes popped when I put the worms in. No hesitation at all. So for now, we'll go that route. We'll see what he says about mysis a bit later...
 
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solitude127

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Great to hear. Hopefully he'll keep up his appetite

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Thought I'd post a quick update..

My new buddy the CBB is officially eating like a champ. He has figured out where I feed and is right in the front of the line with all the other fish when it's feeding time. Still feeding predominantly live black worms and frozen mysis. He chows both. Want to make sure he gets nice and fat before I start introducing different foods.

So far so good!!!
 
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#20
Did you soak any of the foods in garlic or anything? Ive always heard that helps stimulate appetite but never really found any proof of that first hand. Congrats on the copper band, one of the most beautiful reefing fish imo
Thought I'd post a quick update..

My new buddy the CBB is officially eating like a champ. He has figured out where I feed and is right in the front of the line with all the other fish when it's feeding time. Still feeding predominantly live black worms and frozen mysis. He chows both. Want to make sure he gets nice and fat before I start introducing different foods.

So far so good!!!
 

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