Am I just really lucky or just good that I can get certain hard to keep fish to eat?

[BMW///M3]

So i'm pretty fortunate to have acquired a BLACK leapord wrasse which is beautiful. At first wouldn't touch prepared food, but now destroys mysiss shrimp like it's his last meal. Whenever I walk to the front of the tank he shoots to the top like my other fairy wrasses.

My other hard to get to eat fish is a copper banded butterfly. I was having a med side aptasia outbreak and no matter how many I killed with elim-aptais, for every 1 I killed 4 would take its place. Finially, I tried pepermints who I havn't seen in a month. So I was at a local lfs and saw a beautiful cbb and asked them to feed him and I saw him eat FLAKE FOOD.....i went . So I brought him home, and my a-hole sohal proceeded to be himself and chase him around the tank, but the funny thing is I saw the cbb stand up for himself and turn sideways and stick his spines up. The sohal went and swam away, but he really doesn't mess with him that much. The CBB is 5 inches, the sohal is 4 inches. So, i've got a feather duster outbreak in my tank and was tired of pulling them off the rocks. Thankfully, the cbb got rid of ALL of them withing a few hours . So I decided to try a few different food to see if I could get him to eat. Low and behold he tried a piece of mysis, spit it back out then finially finished it. This was about 4 days ago, and ever since them he eats so much mysis he throws it up, then eat the throw-up. Boy, am I luck or what?! Lol.....

[CarlC]

Not to be a smart guy but I'd have to say or what. The throwing up is not a good sign. I would take it as the fish is so hungrgy it doesn't realize how much it has eatten. I think I'd be willing to bet it has some type of intestinal parasite. It is eating for two or two thousand.

Do you know if it was ever dewormed? Have you seen any fecals from the fish yet? If so what did they look like?


Carl

[JoeMomma]

"POP!" That was the sound of BMW's bubble.

I hope its not a parasite.

[BMW///M3]

He only throws up becuase he tries to fit 20+ pieces in his mouth at one time. My bluejaw trigger has been doing the same thing for well over a yeah, he's 3+ inches thick. No parasite. Just a case of eyes being bigger than his stomach. Trust me, he's NOT starved, I have a VERY well established 135 and he's the only thing that eats pods. No bubble burst, sorry.....

[adtravels]

[falconut]

How long have you had your CBB? I've tried them 3 different times. Two of them seamed to be eatting great, then after about 6 months they just died. I don't think the hard part is getting them to start eatting, but getting them to survive long term. I could be wrong, but this is what I believe.

[triggerfish1976]

The keys to both fish is getting healthy specimans up front so kudos should go to wherever you got the fish for getting you healthy fish to begin with.
How long have you had either fish?

[BangkokMatt]

I have to say that the only fish I ever kept which vomited was a lawnmower blenny. It started to eat masses of food and was always sick after eating. A few days later I noticed a huge moving bulge in its stomach. A massive parasite. I hope this isn't the case with your CBB.

[bayreef]

i have a bmw ya man

[BMW///M3]

Originally posted by BangkokMatt
I have to say that the only fish I ever kept which vomited was a lawnmower blenny. It started to eat masses of food and was always sick after eating. A few days later I noticed a huge moving bulge in its stomach. A massive parasite. I hope this isn't the case with your CBB.

I'm not going to explain it again....THEY ARE NOT SICK!!!!!! They are VERY healthy

[BangkokMatt]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BMW///M3
[B] This was about 4 days ago, and ever since them he eats so much mysis he throws it up, then eat the throw-up

Fair enough - he sounds like he is VERY healthy!!

[BMW///M3]

Still eating like a pig....he's finially learned moderation and only eats what he can swallow (sp?) at once....

[triggerfish1976]

Sounds good. Like I said previously the key with having success with both of these fish is getting healthy specimans from the get go. Leopards are actually very hardy fish once they get acclimated. They just don't handle the stress from moving.
Copperbands on the other hand are just touch and go for as long as you have them. Slight changes in their habitat can stress them to the point that they just drop dead for no apparent reason so you just need to make sure and watch what other fish you add and keep your parameters as stable as possible.

[paulamrein]

had a copper banded for a week, eating just like you said yours did, had an idiot play with my tank and raise the temp. a few degrees than he was on the bottom within a few hours. EVERYTHING has to be perfect all the time.

[cthetoy]

If your Copperband is 5" then most likely it came from Australia which are much hardier and does better in captivity.

[mile sq. reefer]

Man, I have to say you are just good. Who else but an experienced keeper would put an established Sohal and new CBB together, let alone in a tank that will soon be too small for the Sohal. Who else would know that fish that throw up are healthy. My fish do it every day. Thank you for sharing information on you live stock and husbandry practices. Yes, you are good and yes, you are a student.

[McCrary]

Easy on the students, lol.

[Dan9]

Don't mean to steal the thread, but what do you do with a fish that has an internal parasite and how do you know it has one? I have seen my fish do the throw up thing and it is very skinny. Again sorry if this is stealing the thread. Thanks

[McCrary]

You are definitely going to want to QT the fish and treat it with an antibiotic medicine or a medicine for internal parasites medicine.