[jiggly75]

Hello,
Are copperband's (chelmon rostratus) Reef and clam safe? Will they eat a BTA? Thanks in advance for any info.

[Ninong]

Chelmon rostratus is not 100% reef-aquarium safe. It is unpredictable. I think of it as being in the same category as the Centropyge angelfish when it comes to risk.

It is highly unlikely that a Copperbanded Butterflyfish would bother an Entacmaea quadricolor or any of the other clownfish-hosting sea anemones and it definitely won't bother one that has a resident clownfish. Some butterflyfish will consume E. quads with relish but the Copperbanded is not one of them. In general, butterflyfish with elongated snouts are relatively reef-aquarium safe.

It will, however, eat all of your featherdusters in short order and it will eat all of the polychaetes and other epifauna on the surface of your sandbed. If you have any Aiptasia anemones, it will eventually figure out that they are tasty. It will usually not bother Tridacna clams.

I have read reports of hobbyists who have kept Copperbanded Butterflyfish in reef aquaria for years with no problems whatsoever and I have read reports of hobbyists who have experienced some problems with them. I know of one well known German hobbyist who keep one of these fish for years without any problems at all and then it suddenly started attacking two or three different genera of corals in his tank.

I would not let any of that stop me from keeping one in a reef tank. I like them a lot, just as I like Flame Angels and Coral Beauties a lot. Just be aware that it is possible that it will cause problems at some point. It is also possible that it will never cause problems.

These fish are not all that easy to acclimate to captivity. Be careful to purchase a healthy one, preferably around 3" in length, and be sure to have them feed it in the store before you buy it. If it refuses to eat in the store, I think I would pass on it. These fish have to learn to accept food from the water column. That's not natural for them. Some people have found that placing a small opened supermarket clam on the substrate will induce feeding in captivity. They are also likely to accept live brine shrimp but you may not want to have to deal with the hassle of hatching your own brine shrimp, so make sure it's eating frozen brine and mysis at the store before buying it.

[vtec si]

Like Ninong said 100% reef safe NO!I have one in my reef with two different clams that he has never touched YET! However he has wiped out all featherdusters including a coco worm in my system. JME.

Martin

[kevinpo]

One of the best foods I have found to get them eating is the Hikari brand mysis shrimp. I have an 80% or so success rate. They are shy for a few days but quckly lose their fear of you and will eat from your fingers (and may actually prefer you hold their food). The majority are quite safe with corals and clams but some are not. LPS corals and clams are at the biggest risk. They love feather dusters especially the small hitchiker types. The small to medium size ones adapt best. The very small ones are delecate and easily bullied by other fish such as angels and tangs. The large ones are difficult to get eating.
I strongly recommend you only purchase this fish after you see that it is eating.

Regards,
Kevin

[vtec si]

Originally Posted by kevinpo

The very small ones are delecate and easily bullied by other fish such as angels and tangs. The large ones are difficult to get eating.
I strongly recommend you only purchase this fish after you see that it is eating.

Regards,
Kevin

I have found this to be very true! Also if you can find P.E. Mysis it has the highest crude protien @ 69.7% of any of the brand that I have seen on the market. Most brands are less than 10%.

Martin

[dougc]

Live black worms worked like magic for me.

Mine has never bothered anything, but even if it did, it is an easy fish to catch. Mine became very tame once acclimated and has no fear of a net. I had to get mine out to treat it for a bacterial infection and it only took one swoop of the net.

[Papa Doug]

Agree with most of the info posted here already. A search under my name or copperband will bring up a couple threads where I discussed my 2yr. old suck. Very tame as Doug mentioned.

Mine did like crocea clams or sampling them anyways. I sold all four of mine. Mine eats mysis & plankton, plus as suggested on here, he gets a fresh water clam everyday and cleans them shiney. They are sold in supermarkets as live clams. I freeze them and just put one in daily or so.

[64Ivy]

In addition to all the excellent advice given, I would like to add that if ever there were a fish that should be quarantined before being put in the main tank, it is the Copperband. Even many the Austrailan ones come in in a weakened condition which can leave them suseptible to bullying by long established and aggressive tankmates. Two to three weeks in QT (even with no signs of disease or other problems) gives them a chance to rebuild their strength in a non competitive enviornment and simply chill for awhile. IMO, this greatly increases their survivabilty and rate.

[Papa Doug]

[kevinpo]

Excellent advice Michael!

I kept mine in a 90 gal frag tank for about 3 months (mostly to eat the Aiptasia). Which BTW it wouldn't touch until I went camping for 4 days. After not being fed 3 times a day, suddenly those pesky anemones didn't look so bad

Nice picture Doug.

Regards,
Kevin

[almostdiva]

Mike is right -- DEFINITELY quarantine this fish. I had mine in my big tank for about 3 days (aptaisa killer...) it had only been in the store for about a day before I got it. It had some sort of gill parasite. It wasn't too hard to catch and responded well to treatment w formalin. They can be tough to get eating. Mine didn't go for blackworms but did tear into Hikari Mysis. Also the fresh clam thing.

Rebecca