Aptasia eating Filefish?

[Poseidon's snail]

Hi ,
I believe to have aptasia in my 15gallon aquarium - can i get an aptasia eating filefish - or is the tank too small?
please visit my thread for more info on our setup.
thanks

 

[pcon]

In that size a tank, I would lean towards berghia or manual removal. Looking at your build thread It doesn't look like you have any other coral but I dislike the propensity the files have to eat corals. They aren't pretty enough for me to tolerate it or stock around them. And you don't have a sixline or other wrasse it seems like, so low risk that the berghia will be predated upon. Without corals manual removal is an even better option because you can just pull the rocks to get at ones in hard to reach locations.

 

[Poseidon's snail]

I kinda like the "utelitarian" fish concept
and we obviously can't have tangs so the filefish is a no go?
thanks

 

[pcon]

Live Aquaria recommends over double your tank volume as the minimum tank size. They get fairly sizable and swim in the water column not like a small rock dwelling goby. Having had them in the past I would not feel comfortable putting one in that size a tank.

Berghia nudibranch would be better biological control. Or peppermint shrimp if you don't plan on adding corals, or are okay accepting the risk.

 

[Poseidon's snail]

so would these work?

Peppermint Shrimp (True Aiptasia Eating)

<b>True Peppermint Shrimp</b></p> <ul> <li>Natural predators of the pest anemone aiptasia (glass anemones) <li>Totally reef safe <li>Can be shy and will mainly come out in the evenings <li>When the aiptasia has been cleared they will happily eat frozen and dried foods </ul>

charterhouse-aquatics.com

 

[pcon]

Yes, peppermint shrimp are known to eat aiptasia but might also go after corals.

 

[HeyJay]

Yes, peppermint shrimp are known to eat aiptasia but might also go after corals.

I don't think peppermint shrimp harm coral. The similar looking camel shrimp will.

They are also hit-or-miss on aiptasia, and if anything will only eradicate small ones

 

[pcon]

I don't think peppermint shrimp harm coral. The similar looking camel shrimp will.

They are also hit-or-miss on aiptasia, and if anything will only eradicate small ones

If it eats aiptasia, and isn’t a nudibranch, it might eat coral. I have seen several species of Lysmata eating various LPS. Including wurdemanni, and boggessi. Camel shrimp are worse with coral but even the “true” peppermint shrimp can go rogue.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

I don't think peppermint shrimp harm coral. The similar looking camel shrimp will.

They are also hit-or-miss on aiptasia, and if anything will only eradicate small ones

Why did my peppermint shrimp eat my brand new favia coral?

I’m upset and stumped on this. All my other corals in my tank are open, polyps out etc. I have seen my 2 peppermint shrimp walk across my corals before but never pick at one. Last night after lights out I placed A new favia frag in my tank. I set it on the sand bed. Today I come home from work...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[User1]

Peppermint shrimp, as cleaner shrimp, are opportunistic feeders. They will gladly walk over your corals such as LPS and rip the food out of their arms and/or mouth. That is why most will say they eat corals. It is more of a food thing.

OP - your tank is too small for a matted filefish. In fact, it is small for most fish. I know you don't want to hear that but that is the simple truth. 15 gallons is dry. Now add in substrate, rock, anything used for water movement, and you no longer have 15 gallons. Math is fun, right?

Your best option for a tank this size is to manually remove it. Grab the rock and use a kalk paste. Should work ok for you. If you want to go a natural route then you can buy the naudies noted above. Maybe a 3 pack. However, once the food is gone they die.

So back to square one. Manual removal is the best option for you due to size.