You Can Succeed with the Copperband Butterflyfish

Copperband butterflyfish (Chelmon Rostratus) are among my favorite fish and have almost always been a staple in my tank since the saltwater hobby started in the 70s. It’s not just the beauty of the distinct black-bordered yellow stripes on a silver body, but the unusual shape of this species that appeals to me. The snout, which is almost as long as its body, ends with a weak mouth that is not designed for defense or much else except to eat soft-bodied prey (or perhaps to blow up balloons).

在海中，这些猎物的大部分都是蠕虫，即使在岩石中的缝隙中，它们也可以捕获。鱼类拥有的唯一防御是将其转向捕食者的僵硬的背刺，但是由于这些刺是锋利的，它可以自我照顾，并且还可以在礁石的缝隙中紧紧地楔入。

一个很好的生存record

Copperbands, like their close cousins, thelongnose butterflies，比我们喜欢保留的大多数鱼更精致，不幸的是，它们在许多家庭水族馆中的预期寿命令人沮丧。但是我知道铜带至少可以像我和其他许多人一样活到十年。

Beware of jumping

他们倾向于用侵略性鱼跳，因为它们倾向于将背刺指向侵略者时朝向表面。当我丢失标本时，通常是跳跃，因为我的100加仑水箱只有14英寸高，铜带通常生活在相当深的水中。

Shipping and handling damage

I believe the biggest problem with these fish is that they are often damaged in collection or shipping. A healthy copperband should have no marks on it, such as faint dark patches, raised scales, or lumps. I have found after autopsying dead fish that those dark patches are from internal bleeding, possibly by internal organs or muscle being pierced by a rib.

任何像铜带一样薄的鱼都将其肋骨几乎靠在身体的外部，介于两者之间。这种“设计缺陷”对这些鱼有很大的损害，因为它们很容易受伤。有时，一两个星期的伤害没有引起注意，但是黑暗的斑块变黑了，鱼最终死亡。无法治愈，鱼永远不会恢复。胖鱼（或者是PC，是“大尺寸”鱼），例如小丑鱼，通常没有这个问题。

Choosing a healthy specimen

The good news is, it’sfairlyeasy to pick a healthy copperband butterfly. If it is swimming around looking at you, the ceiling, or a picture of Paris Hilton on the wall, it may not be in good shape, as they are always hungry. Healthy ones will be constantly staring at something on a rock or the sand that they thought they saw move. If they don’t find it, they move on to the next possible snack.

I have swum with copperbands on the reefs, and they are always on the move. All fish with tiny mouths are always on the move because they cannot eat much at one meal, so they have to hunt constantly. That tiny mouth is not much good for killing anything larger than a fraction of an inch.

A fish on a mission

The copperband is not a particularly fast fish, but it is smart. The only reason it doesn’t do well on standardized tests is that it doesn’t have thumbs to hold the pencil, but trust me, it’s an intelligent fish. How do I know this? You just have to look at a tank full of fish and you’ll see. Most fish, like angels, tangs, and manta rays, just swim around aimlessly, but a copperband seems to have a mission. That’s how you can tell it is healthy. Copperbands also have personality, and each specimen has a different one.

Copperband diet

On the reefs, copperbands live onAiptasia(indeed many hobbyists introduce this fish for the very purpose of eliminating these pesky anemones), tiny shrimp, fish fry, and worms. From my experience with captive specimens, some will eatAiptasia, some eat only clams, and some eat only worms. But almost everything they eat is either crawling or sticking out of a rock. That is the purpose of that snout. They use it to pull tiny creatures out of their niches. So, as I mentioned, a healthy copperband should be constantly looking closely at either thesubstrateor holes in rocks.

The feeding challenge

我们喂的食物copperbands存在另一个challenge. As I said, this fish is designed to eat soft-bodied, live foods, such as worms—and that is the preferred food for this fish. I feed them liveblackworms和白蠕虫每天。当然，他们还会吃其他东西，但是几乎永远不会吃薄片和颗粒，这太多的人试图给这些鱼。

Besides live worms, you can give them small pieces of clam. I buy chowder clams (actually, I make clam chowder for myself and keep some clams for my fish, as they don’t seem to like chowder and it is messy to feed). I freeze the live clams and then, with a sharp knife, shave off paper-thin slices. My copperbands will eat this until they can’t swallow any more, and because clams are a whole food (guts and all), the copperbands thrive.

The only other thing I give my copperbands is frozen mysis, but I like the clams better, as mysis is mostly indigestible shell and provides bulk but not much else.

Ask to see it fed

所以,如果你找到一个copperband警报,明白了ms to be searching for food, doesn’t have any discolorations or missing scales, and is not shaking or staring at pictures of Paris Hilton, then ask the store owner to feed it (something besides live brine shrimp, as even I will eat those). If it doesn’t eat, don’t buy it. I don’t care if the employee says they just got the specimen, it was just fed, it’s a little stressed from transport, it just woke up, or it has a headache (or athlete’s foot or any number of things); don’t buy it!

握住木屑！

Copperbands do not always come from pristine reefs, as they are also found in silty tidal inlets far from the coral reef. They are constant pickers, and a slightly messier tank, in which they can hunt and hopefully find a snack, is better for them. I don’t want to make it sound like the copperband butterflyfish is the easiest fish in the world and can be kept in damp sawdust instead of sea water, but it’s definitely not as difficult as a Moorish idol…or a manta ray.