Copperbanded Butterflyfish Stocking Help

[edsreeftank]

Hey guys I have anptsia in my reef tank, and unfortunately I can’t put peppermint shrimp in my tank because of my Niger Triggerfish that will eat them. So my plan is to get a Copperbanded Butterflyfish but my question is can the Copperbanded Butterflyfish be kept with the Niger Triggerfish ?

 

[Tony_097]

If you have the system to support it. Have you tried aptasia-x . Would there be any worries of the trigger out competing the copperband after the aptasias all gone ?

 

[edsreeftank]

If you have the system to support it. Have you tried aptasia-x . Would there be any worries of the trigger out competing the copperband after the aptasias all gone ?

Aptasia x won’t work because if some of the areas that the siringe would kill the coral because of hard to reach places. And I’m not really worried about outcompeting for food because I would be feeding copepods to the copperbanded because I’ve heard they eat that too and will offer wide variety of foods. So not really worried about food wise I’m worried of the aggression of the Niger

 

[Jesterrace]

Aiptasia X is really best suited for when you are dealing with a few smaller ones before they really have a chance to spread. You can't treat an entire tank worth of Aiptasia at once with the stuff (actually the instructions tell you not to). Once it gets that widespread only something that eats Aiptasia will keep it in check.

The OP, how big is the tank and how long has the Trigger been in there? The problem I see is that if the Trigger is well established it will view any new addition as competition/threat and a Copperband would be easily bullied. If the tank is big enough (ie over 200 gallons) then it is possible that the Niger Trigger will have enough space that it won't take much notice of the Copperband. The other issue is that although Copperbands are prone to eating Aiptasia, they don't always do it, so you may or may not get the benefit. As for pods? They really aren't pod eaters that I have heard, live black worms is actually what most folks feed them. You also need to be very selective in which one you get because Copperbands don't ship well, so you need to ensure you are getting one of the hardier members of the species (ie one that has been at the LFS for a couple of weeks that is active and eating). An Alternative to the Copperband would be a Matted Filefish as it is more prone to eating Aiptasia and being smaller it might be less noticed by the Trigger. It's also much easier to care for:

 

[edsreeftank]

Aiptasia X is really best suited for when you are dealing with a few smaller ones before they really have a chance to spread. You can't treat an entire tank worth of Aiptasia at once with the stuff (actually the instructions tell you not to). Once it gets that widespread only something that eats Aiptasia will keep it in check.

The OP, how big is the tank and how long has the Trigger been in there? The problem I see is that if the Trigger is well established it will view any new addition as competition/threat and a Copperband would be easily bullied. If the tank is big enough (ie over 200 gallons) then it is possible that the Niger Trigger will have enough space that it won't take much notice of the Copperband. The other issue is that although Copperbands are prone to eating Aiptasia, they don't always do it, so you may or may not get the benefit. As for pods? They really aren't pod eaters that I have heard, live black worms is actually what most folks feed them. You also need to be very selective in which one you get because Copperbands don't ship well, so you need to ensure you are getting one of the hardier members of the species (ie one that has been at the LFS for a couple of weeks that is active and eating). An Alternative to the Copperband would be a Matted Filefish as it is more prone to eating Aiptasia and being smaller it might be less noticed by the Trigger. It's also much easier to care for:

Well my tank is 6ft 90 gallon, so it might not be big enough for the Triggerfish not to be aggressive at the Butterflyfish. I did keep a yellow long nosed Butterflyfish with him before. The only thing I encountered with aggression is the occasional tail fin on the long nose being nipped. The Triggerfish been there for about a year. Are the filefish you mentioned pretty reef safe, because my reef tank is a soft coral reef tank?

 

[Jesterrace]

Filefish can nip at corals (especially if they are hungry and there are no aiptasia present) but then again Copperbands can nip at Corals as well. I don't know of a single aiptasia eater that isn't a bit of a risk with corals (even Peppermint Shrimp can go after certain types of corals).