Aptasia eating Filefish

[luke33]

Well, I just dropped on in my SPS dominant tank last night, then prayed! So far it hasn't picked on anything. Reason I added it is because i have 4 or 5 aptasia in my tank and joe's juice and all that stuff doesn't do anything for me. Pepermint shrimp are hit or miss, and are usually miss in my tank. Copperband's are so finicky and ick ridden, so we'll see what happens. Anyone else around here have one of these guys? So far all it has done is mimic a leaf, which tells me two things. Its either trying to hide or thats how it hunts, nice set of jaws on it. I'm guessing both.

 

[Stray32]

I added one a few days ago. He has finally settled in after being harassed by my Sixline for a day or so. I haven't noticed him snagging any aiptasia yet, but I have heard they need a week or two to settle in completely. I also added 10 peppermint shrimp. I figured out of 10, I may find 1 or 2 that with eat them.

 

[jaytizzle]

Mine took a week or so to settle in before I noticed any aiptasia gone. It was actually really awesome because I went out of town for the weekend and when I came back my aiptasia were more than 75% gone!

I have grown to really like my filefish. He has a lot of personality but is really skittish when anyone comes near the tank. The camo response is awesome to watch him swim around and change colors as he moves to different areas. He also likes to swim loops around my vortech powerhead???

 

[luke33]

The problem I've found with pep's is once in an established tank they find many more things to eat before they try an aptasia. Mine completely cleaned me out of stomatella's, which stinks!

Did you drop yours in a mixed reef or what kind of coral do you have? Are you worried about any nipping?

 

[lazyreefer]

Mine got stuck in a rock. It was a piece of tonga with maybe 6 branches all running parallel to each other. I couldn't find it all day when I happen to see his head sticking out, I gently prodded it to no avail. I had to tear down some rockwork and literally pulled the rock out of the water with the fish stuck in there. I took some wire cutters and cut the branch of the rock off and plop the fish fell back into the water. A few days later now he's doing fine, I think my LFS spoiled him because he comes right to the surface of the water come feeding time.

He's all alone in a 50 gallon frag tank filled with mixed SPS, LPS, and lots of zoanthids. Can't really tell if he's eating aiptasia or not as most were small.

 

[luke33]

Well they are relatives of the trigger so the rock incident doesn't surprise me! What a pain! Good to hear he's not ripping apart any corals.

 

[Paul_N]

What kind of filefish did you guys get? Was it the matted or bristle tail?

Jared, where did you get it?

 

[Paul_N]

It seems the bristle tail is the smallest. Some like the tasseled can grow to 12". It also says it will go after coral if they look like aiptasia like duncans or zoas.

 

[luke33]

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Matted Filefish

Thats the one i got. I'll be watching him like a hawk. The lfs here has sold a dozen to mixed reef tanks and so far no nipping, but seems like my tank always has diff results so i'll be on the lookout.

 

[puntific]

I got a matted file fish and he ate all my aptasia.... then started on my sps. To the sump he went. Unfortunately, he got caught on the netting and it was too stressful. He didn't make it.

 

[luke33]

Thats what I'm scarred of ^^^

 

[Stray32]

What kind of filefish did you guys get? Was it the matted or bristle tail?

Jared, where did you get it?

I got mine from Wet Pets. Brian had them labeled as a Jade Filefish, but it's the same one, same color pattern as the Matted. As far as I can tell, the Matted and Bristletail are the same species: Acreichthys tomentosus

 

[Paul_N]

I got mine from Wet Pets. Brian had them labeled as a Jade Filefish, but it's the same one, same color pattern as the Matted. As far as I can tell, the Matted and Bristletail are the same species: Acreichthys tomentosus

Do they have any more? How much was it?

 

[Stray32]

Do they have any more? How much was it?

As of Tuesday, they had two more in stock at $29.99.

 

[Paul_N]

I am going to have to give it a try. My Aiptasia population is out of control. They are all along the back bottom coming out from under the rocks. I can't even get close without tearing it apart. The only thing I have to worry about is my purple tang harassing it.

 

[luke33]

Idono if a tang is going to mess with it. Filefish are pretty tough cookies and have a nice set of teeth so it should be fine. They are $26bux here. Copperband's are $50 here : ()

 

[Paul_N]

Idono if a tang is going to mess with it. Filefish are pretty tough cookies and have a nice set of teeth so it should be fine. They are $26bux here. Copperband's are $50 here : ()

I never thought of that about the teeth. Good maybe he will bite the purple in the A** for a change. He runs around bullying everyone in my tank. I am going to call Wet Pets and have them hold one for me and pick it up Monday. I gotta clear the problem up before I set the 220 up.

I forgot to ask; how about clams, do you think they will go after them?

 

[Stray32]

You should be able to tell pretty quickly if he is picking at the clams. I hear they are safe with caution, which is a very vague statement, but the good thing is these guys move pretty slow, so catching them should be easier than say a wrasse or damsel.

 

[luke33]

Clam free here so idono. They are related to the trigger so i'm going to guess they are not invert safe, but its going to depend on the fish. I had a filefish around 4yrs ago and had to get rid of it for tearing up most of my fish. It was mean as crap. Thats why i was so hesitant to try this one out. This one seems more of a camoflauge (sp) artist than a open reef feeder. But time will tell. I would be even more hesitant if i had a clam. The issue i'm worried about is if he is a nipper, how do i catch him out of my tank?

 

[Paul_N]

You should be able to tell pretty quickly if he is picking at the clams. I hear they are safe with caution, which is a very vague statement, but the good thing is these guys move pretty slow, so catching them should be easier than say a wrasse or damsel.

None of the pages I pulled up with experiences with these fish mentioned about them touching clams so hopefully they are ok.