Is the copperband reef safe?

[LCP136]

I've been reading about the copperband butterfly and that it is reef safe. I've also read that it will eat my zoanthids. If indeed it is okay for a reef, is it a 6 month fish?

[Poseidon]

I have not had good luck keeping them in my tank. They just seem to wither away.... THey are one of my favorites too!

Oh, not all Copperbands are reef safe either, it comes down to the individual fish.

[Bullet]

I've had my copperband for going on three months, and so far its left all of my corals alone. I've been lucky with this fish so far, as it will eat mysis,cyclops, and aiptasias. I have been slightly overfeeding the tank a bit though, since the cbb isn't bold enough to take food out of the water column. Instead, it eats food that settled to the bottom of the tank and on the live rock. Of course thats its nature. Its stomach isn't pinched and it seems to be healthy and has grown, but I'll keep you all updated.

[Poseidon]

Go luck Bullet! I wish you continued success.

[Bullet]

Thanks! I hope it works out!

[Papa Doug]

As Mike said, its a 50/50 thing with them. I dont have time this morning but will post about my experience later. Perhaps it will help you.

[Papa Doug]

Mine was a model citizen for 2 yrs. He ate mysis shrimp, bloodworms and cleaned up an aptasia problem I had, plus any fanworms that were on my rock.

I also fed him half clams, called Manila freshwater clams, from the local supermarket. The other fish liked snacking on pieces of the clams also. Then one day I seen him nipping at a crocea clam. Never bothered the larger derasa,s but loved that blue crocea.

I sold the clams and kept him, as he was such a nice pet and good fish. never bothered any other corals, including hammer & frogspawn types. never had any fleshy brain type corals, so not sure if he would have bothered them. A lot of coral nippers find those types hard to resist.

When I moved, I sold him to a friend, where he now resides in his 250g tank. He also had to remove his clams but he has a huge look down clam tank in his 180g sump, so was no problem.

[Ninong]

The copperbanded butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) is one of my favorite fish but I don't know if I would try one in a 90-gal tank. That's a little on the small side for one of these fish.

As everyone has already said, it's not completely reef-aquarium safe all the time. It's still a fish that I would be willing to try and hope for the best, just like I would try a flame angel (Centropyge loriculus).

It is very difficult to find healthy specimens of this species. Be sure to ask the store to feed the fish in front of you before you buy it. This is extremely important.