ISO Aiptasia eating File Fish

[TheRealChrisBrown]

Looking to see if anyone has a file fish that is known to eat apitasia and be reef safe with corals. I had a Copperband and it did really great, but recently passed away. It seems like he was being picked on by a few fish in my tank, so my thought was maybe the file fish might be a little more hardy with the aggressors. Let me know, thanks!

 

[zombie]

I wouldn't trust a fish for that problem. I would do either or both of:

1. A small to large army of peppermint shrimps
2. Kalk paste and a syringe to kill them as you see them.


Guaranteed reef safe and worked for me as well as tons of other members on here in the past.

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[TheRealChrisBrown]

The CBB was doing a great job, I just didn't recognize the aggression from other fish soon enough. I kalk paste with a snorkel and dive mask on, but there are areas that I either can't get to or that I am missing. So the aiptasia come back in a week or two. Last time I introduced a shrimp my large melanurus wrasse made a snack out of it in a day. Just looking to try something new and effective, seems like file fish work as well and I've never tried one.

 

[zombie]

Have you tried introducing them when the malanarus is sleeping? Mine never bothered shrimp that I introduced at night (mine was like 6 in) but did chimp one that I dropped in cause he probably thought I was feeding it.

I've heard filefish have a nasty tendency to eat nems torches and frogspawn, and some grow a taste for acans, brains, and zoas.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

 

[aquarius]

I'll second the filefish eating nems and torches, I just had to pull 7 torches and a sunburst nem from my 120 because my filefish decided they tasted good, they completely ate an 8th torch before I caught them eating another one.

 

[Andrew_bram]

The CBB was doing a great job, I just didn't recognize the aggression from other fish soon enough. I kalk paste with a snorkel and dive mask on, but there are areas that I either can't get to or that I am missing. So the aiptasia come back in a week or two. Last time I introduced a shrimp my large melanurus wrasse made a snack out of it in a day. Just looking to try something new and effective, seems like file fish work as well and I've never tried one.

That would make a great photo

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[zombie]

Another option is a berghia nudibranch or two.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

 

[jda123]

Nearly anything that will eat the aips can eat the coral too. Even copperbands will eat some fleshy coral on occasion. The filefish are a risk. Heck, I have one that won't even eat the aips.

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

That would make a great photo

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I have one somewhere...

 

[timnem70]

Yep. With a bigger tank such as yours finding and Aptasia X ing is super difficult. Most effective way though. I have a hard time getting to the ones in back of my rockwork and I have a 30 gallon. Cant see the Ap till it gets to be a maneater. Then, it takes a bunch of paste to kill it. I usually just wait til I see quite a few and do them all at once. It's a task but effective without introducing a fish I dont know will coexist with others and the Aptasia X paste is reef friendly. Sorry to run on. Best of luck

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[Andrew_bram]

I have one somewhere...

Pics or it didn't happen

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[TheRealChrisBrown]

I just spend about an hour injecting everyone I could find in my display. In some ways it was nice because we just got back from Hawaii and the snorkel stuff was sitting in the middle of the living room floor! Found a couple "nests" of aiptasia in the back where I tried to patiently inject each aiptasia. Once I was done I stepped back and saw more tiny tiny babies. It's almost like conditions were right and the aiptasia had a spawning event in my tank while I was away. (Aiptasia orgy?)

Good news though, the tank watcher used the Flipper while I was gone and I didn't need to do any major scraping to the glass!