Live mussels, clams or black worms for CBB?

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phantom phish

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I bought a Copper Band Butterfly fish about a month ago. I saw it eat frozen mysis shrimp in the LFS before bringing it home, so I had been feeding that primarily. It initially was eating frozen mysis in my tank (not voraciously, but would eat a few pieces at each feeding), but has recently stopped. I've tried feeding frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, Rod's food, and frozen Formula 1, but it's not eating any of those. It's starting to look "skinny" with a pinched in stomach, and I'm afraid it's starving.
I've read that CBBs will sometimes eat live black worms, live black mussels, and live freshwater clams. Anyone know where I can get any of those locally, before my CBB starves to deat? :sad:
 
Marine fish used to always have live black worms. Been awhile since I've been there though.
 
Thanks to all for the input.

I went to the "Dug Out" tackle and bait shop. They don't carry live black worms. So then I went to Marine Fish, and they do carry them. I got 4 "portions" (each portion is about a tablespoon), which cleaned out their stock.
I stopped by the Marietta Harry's Market on the way home, and picked up some black mussels and a few what they called "soft shell" clams. I'm not sure if they are alive or not (they were on ice in the store), so we'll see.
Any way, thanks for the help, and wish me luck.
 
can you give use a time line did the store tell you how long they had had the CBB?
i have an idia not plesent but would need more info

from wikipedia
Cyanides are illegally used to capture live fish near coral reefs for the aquarium and seafood markets. This fishing occurs mainly in the Philippines, Indonesia and the Caribbean to supply the 2 million marine aquarium owners in the world. In this method, a diver uses a large, needleless syringe to squirt a cyanide solution into areas where the fish are hiding, stunning them so that they can be easily gathered. Many fish caught in this fashion die immediately, or in shipping. Those that survive to find their way into pet stores often die from shock, or <u>from massive digestive damage</u>. The high concentrations of cyanide on reefs on which this has occurred has resulted in cases of cyanide poisoning among local fishermen and their families, as well as irreversible damage to the coral reefs themselves and other marine life in the area.

this is only a posobility what happens is over time the fish's digestive ensimes in there body die cosing the fish to starve to death
 
I lost a few fish early on in my time in this hobby to those exact same symptoms, and I'm convinced they were cyanide caught.
 
I have seen and read about alot of CBB's that were cyanide caught lately.
My lfs has raised seahorses for years and has had great luck with copperbands. Lately all die with poisoning symptoms. He changed vendors on them 3 weeks ago and they are all still kicking and doing well just like the ones in the past he recieved and cared for for a month before he letting anyone take them home
 
Gotta love wiki and its misinformation. To my knowledge, cyanide has never been an issue in the Caribbean. Quinaldine - another story. Florida still issues permits for its use, but that's another post.

It could be cyanide, but it could just be a picky fish too. Have you tried garlic in the food, or Entice? That can stimulate a feeding response in picky fish. It also could be intestinal worms - try metronidazole and focus in the food if you can get it to eat.

I'm not saying to rule out cyanide - but it's not necessarily the automatic answer either.

It's tough for LFS to source clean stuff because everybody claims to import only net-caught fish - and we all know that some folks have to be fibbing about that - there's no test for it on this side of the pond.

As a LFS, if one is receiving fish that routinely drop dead for no apparent reason, it's time to rethink sources... but one fish here or there that just fails to thrive is not suspicion enough to assume it's juiced.

Talk to your LFS - let them know what's happening and see what they suggest.

Jenn
 
The LFS had the CBB in house for a little more than a week when I bought it. I saw it eat frozen mysis in the LFS. When I bought the CBB, I had a discussion with the two best people (IMHO) who work there (and whom I trust as knowledgable and honest) , and they mentioned that they get their CBBs from a reputable dealer with whom they have had good experiences regarding CBBs. I don't recall if we specifically talked about cyanide, but I guess I could ask them.
I have tried feeding Rods food, which does have garlic in it (you can smell it), but that didn't help. I'll try soaking some mysis in garlic and see if that helps.
Yesterday afternoon, I boke open the shells of 2 black mussels, and put them in the tank (they were still alive, at least marginally). The CBB picked at them a little, and seemed to take a bite or two, but not much. I'm going to try the live black worms this afternoon when I get home from work.
Jenn, how can you tell if a fish has intestinal worms? Do they cause the belly to look bloated, or sunken in? The belly of my CBB is sunken in.
 
IME they get thin, or they are thin overall but with a bit of a belly bulge.

Try Entice - it smells like bananas and who knows why, but fish go totally nuts over the stuff.

Jenn
 
Well, nothing seems to be working. I got some Entice and Seachem Garlic Guard, and have tried soaking mysis in those, but the CBB hasn't touched them. Its also not eating live/fresh foods; its not eating the live black worms, mussels or fresh clams. I'll keep trying, but I think I'm likely to lose this fish. :( Its still foraging in the live rock, and I do have a good pod population, but it's definitely losing weight.
I'm starting to think it might be something other than just being a picky eater, whether its cyanide, some other poison or parasite/disease. Otherwise, you'd think the biologoical drive to survive would entice the fish to eat, wouldn't you?
 
Well if it's picking at the rock, it is likely eating something.

Some have tried smearing food "paste" onto a rock and letting it pick at that - that more simulates its natural behavior. A dead goniopora skeleton works well for this, but any small-ish piece of rock will work. Take the rock out, smear some frozen food on it (not too much or you risk messing with the water quality) and see if he'll pick from that.

Jenn
 
Well, I lost my Copperband today.
I tried smearing a paste of food on a piece of rock, but it didn't touch it. It never did eat hardly any of the live foods, or foods soaked in Garlic or Entice. It even quit foraging on the live rock.
The last couple of days it was looking pretty emaciated and listless, so yesterday I netted it and put it in a 20 gallon tank I had set up that had Metronidazole in the water. This morning, it was dead. :(

Thanks to everyone for trying to help
 
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