copperband butterfly

Im in the same boat. I want to get one also as they are cool fish but I dont want to risk it. A few nips at a stony could hurt or kill a coral and I dont have the heart to risk losing anything. Ive also heard of ppl getting a Copper Band and keeping it fed well and never having problems with eating corals. I would love to hear people with more experience chime in and ppl who have these guys in reef tanks because im sure somebody has tried this or still has one in an existing tank. I know there is no true statistics on this but ive heard 8 out of 10 will nip at polyps and sps. My luck wouldnt fall in the other 2 of 10 so wont risk it...

 

I had one for a long time and never had any real problems other than very occaisonal coral nips. Unfortunately, mine just died out of the blue a couple weeks ago, which brings me to my next point:

These can be tricky fish to keep. Before you buy them, you should make sure that they appear healthy and are eating well. Once you have one, you need to be willing to feed it a variety of frozen food regularly, because it most likely won't eat flake food. Mine appeared very healthy and was a great eater and it still died after about a year in captivity. It is possilbe that it had a run-in with my sabae which is growning out of control, but I don't know that for sure.

They are excellent for Aiptasia control as their elongates mouths can get into tight places with no problem. I also have reason to believe that they go after red planaria flatworms, but I can't say this with 100% certainty.

Hope that helps.

-JB

 

I think it might be one of those fish best left in the ocean until we know more about it's habits and what they eat in the wild.

 

I think you you decide to get one. You don't have that many corals right now and no SPS to nip at. I would do some research on what people have done to keep this fish healthly, and when you buy it , make sure its eating. I would say don't buy one the first day you see it. wait for a few weeks, make sure it stays alive at the store for a while. Just my opinion.

 

Had one for over a year... does not nip any of my corals that I know of, doesn't eat flakes, takes care of aptasia, picks at small snails, and eats several types of frozen food. So you have to take the good with the bad. Worth it for me.