Copperband round 2!!

OK, im not sure if most of you know this but abt a month ago i purchased a copperband butterfly from dr's foster and smith, quarantined him for abt a week and a half dropped him in the tank and three days later DEAD...after much research and debate I have decided to give it another go..Dr's foster and smith were nice enough to give me a full refund including shipping. My plan of attack is to quarantine him in a five gallon tank for at least a month and until he is eating, i have been running a small 5-10 gal filter in my display to "season" the media cartrige and will do a five gal water change to use in the QT. my ques is....does this sound ok to everone?? should i use some kind of chem for stress etc....?? any help would be great, i know these aren't the easiest fish to keep but i am determined to get this one right!!

 

Perhaps pick up some Prime or equiv. product in case you see an ammonia spike after introduction and can not do a water change right away. Your QT sounds good, but if you had an issue with a disease in the DT it may have carried it to the QT via the seeded filtration.
Sounds like you have a good plan, good luck with the CB.

 

Copperbands are tough to keep. To get him to eat you should get some aptaisa or something similar from you lfs. Once he starts eating the anenome try placing some mysis shrimp on the center of the anenome. This will get him used to eating prepared food. Try different types of food including flakes. I have seen this done and it does work but it requires time and patience. Once you get him eating you should be good to go.

 

great ideas thanks, i also heard of someone using a mussel for him to pick at and when its gone to use the empty shell to put food in...

 

Also your filter for your qt should be in your dt for about 6 weeks for it to be properly seeded. If it is seeded you will not have issues with amonia as I do this on a regular basis and never have issues. IMO a 5 gal tank is a bit small...actually its tiny for a copperband. I use 20 gal and 30 gal qts. That small of a tank could add some major stress. Keep the lights low if you turn them on. Good luck to you.

 

Yep you can do this too. For a Copperband I would go with the aptaisa though imo.

 

my copperband went to town on all my small aptasia but it wouldn't touch any of the bigger ones. I had it in my tank for 2 months but it just died from starvation. i don't know what it was eating to stay alive that long but it never touched the food i put in.

 

I wouldn't put a CB in a 5g....

 

I guess the reason i was going with a 5gal is because my water changes are 5gal and i don't plan on keeping the QT set up after the copperband is in the DT. i'm trying to keep tanks to a minimum. i do have a 10 gal i could use but i don't want the water to just sit there waiting for the next weekly water change...i guess i could just throw a power head in there...idk..

 

I understand where your coming from. I go though salt mix like crazy. But if your gonna do it...do it right the first time. Go out to a lfs and pick up a 20 gallon tank. This will reduce the stress of being in a small tank. You have a small hang on the back filter correct? That will work fine but I would add an air stone to keep oxygen levels high. You will need a heater in there too. I setup my qt a few days in advance of my next purchase so its ready to go and I know all my params are in check. You do NOT want to fight parameter swings in a tank that contains an already stressed fish. Fill your qt with water from your dt and get everything setup at least 2 days in advance.