How I trained my copperband butterfly, no more aiptasia....

[Liquidgold]

I thought I would post how I trained my Copperbend butterfly fish to eat frozen food. He was able to rid my aiptasia problem and keep them away. I had a really bad problem with many hundreds in my 92 gal tank that the tank looked awful. I tried everything including kalkwasser paste, aiptasia X and all the common products and just ended up getting more aiptasia. I got a filefish that ate aiptasia for a few weeks and then decided he liked the pellets better. I tried berghia nudibranches but they didn't work.

I determined that the copperband likes to pick at their food. So I got a copperband and trained him to eat in QT with clams on the half shell. When he went into the main display, I figured out how he could get his fair share of food since there were more aggressive feeders in the same tank. I would place a clam on a half shell into a custom mesh pocket held up with a veggie mag. The copperband is the only one able to get the food out between the mesh gaps. The other fish hover around to steal some clam flesh when he pulls it out.

I have been able to train 2 copperbands successfully this way. I gave my 2nd copperband away since two in the same tank always fought. My copperband gets a clam every other day and is getting fat and going on 6 months. My tank is still aiptasia-free. Definitely one of my favorite fish.

I took some pics below. Also took a video on my iPad but can't upload it.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

How much for the copperband?? I've always wanted one.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Liquidgold]

Sorry, my last one is not for sale. Just gave my other one away since the two were fighting. However, I got them at liveaquaria when it was on sale for $26. They say the Australian one are hardier but I've had good luck with those from Indonesia. I'd recommend getting a medium sized one like 3".

 

[KarL]

Nice trick. What type of clam do you feed or does it matter?

 

[cthetoy]

Great tip. Do you leave the clam in the tank until its eaten completely or do you remove it after a certain amount of time?

 

[Liquidgold]

Karl, I just buy the cheap live Manila clams from the Vietnamese market. Got a bag of 20-30 of them for about $.79 per pound in the fish department, about $3-5 for all. I keep them frozen and thaw one out every other day. No need to buy the more expensive pre packaged clams on the half shell.

 

[Liquidgold]

Mike, the clam stays in the pouch and is all eaten in a few hours. The copperband likes to keep nibbling at it.

 

[KarL]

Definitely going to try this out. Thanks.

 

[Liquidgold]

Any one know to upload a video from the iPhone or iPad?

 

[Liquidgold]

Good luck, Karl. I'm kinda new to reefing, so if I can do it anyone can.

 

[Akademik99]

This is great! Thanks Matt. Hey I see a yellow tang in your tank. Did you have the tang before the copperband? I ask because I once bought a copperband and my tang kept picking on him. To say the least the copperband died in a few weeks.

 

[Liquidgold]

Yes, the yellow tang was well established before the copperband. They tusseled for about a week and then tolerated each other. It is best to fatten up the copperband in QT before adding to the DT cause it may be too stressed to eat initially.

 

[Six2seven]

having a copperband trained to eat clams, would it attack a live clam in your tank?

 

[Mr. Plant]

Awesome post ! I am currently looking for a copper band. I heard about using the clams to get them to eat, but didn't hear about using the mesh to use in display tank. Great idea ! Hey does he eat anything else ? When I find one, I will definitly put him in quarantine first to train him to eat !

 

[Liquidgold]

My copperband doesn't eat anything else besides the clam and aiptasia. He also likes frozen mussells that I've frozen and shaved off small slices. I put the shaved frozen mussel pieces into an empty clam shell in the mesh pocket. I guess you can train him to eat mysis if you put mysis in the mesh pocket. However, it just gets washed out unless you use a mesh that has smaller openings. Good luck.

Awesome post ! I am currently looking for a copper band. I heard about using the clams to get them to eat, but didn't hear about using the mesh to use in display tank. Great idea ! Hey does he eat anything else ? When I find one, I will definitly put him in quarantine first to train him to eat !

 

[Liquidgold]

Yes, there are downsides to having copperband in my opinion.
1. One is that they may go after your other clams in the tank. I've not tried but I assume he'll go after them as well.
2. Plus, copperbands like nipping at my brain corals. I've had to remove my brain coral to another tank.
3. Furthermore, I have read from other forums that they may go after Acans and Zoas. My copperband has left my acans alone.

I guess if you keep him well fed he may leave your prized corals and clams alone but it is a risk. Therefore, getting a younger specimen to train him eat certain foods may be advantageous versus a large adult specimen that already is fixed in his way. Anyhow, my 2 cents.

 

[Six2seven]

Good information. thanks Bossfrog.

 

[wickedfish]

Great thread and you're a genius.

 

[Reef Bullet]

Great thread and you're a genius.

+1
Thanks for sharing!

 

[KarL]

So i tried it out yesterday, and the copperband went straight to the manilla clam and started picking at it. I'll probably need to make a mesh pouch next time because my melanurus wrasse also likes clams too. The melanurus eats like a pig hopefully he leaves enough for the copperband