Copperband Butterflyfish

Care Summary

The Copperband is the fish most hobbyists buy as a biological solution for Aiptasia, and it does work, but the success rate depends almost entirely on getting a specimen that actually eats prepared foods. Many Copperbands arrive emaciated from collection and transit and refuse everything offered, so buying from a store where you have watched it eat is the only way to shop for this fish. Some individuals leave corals completely alone; others develop a habit of nipping LPS polyps and tube worms that never fully resolves. The ones that work out are extraordinary: healthy, copper-banded, active, and genuinely useful in a reef, but the path to getting there requires selectivity.