Best Creatures for an Aiptasia Removal Force

[VSVP bet]

Hey Everyone.

I have a 125-gallon tank with a rock that has aiptasia spreading on it. Some of the aiptasia are pretty big. I'm thinking of adding a filefish and copper-banded butterfly with a couple of peppermint shrimp. Do you think this will work? People say each of them work independently, can I be confident that all together will get rid of the aiptasia? Its a SPS, LPS, and softie reef, should I be worried about the file fish or CB butterfly?

 

[lion king]

They do all work independently, but filefish will nip your corals. I'm not experienced with the cbb.

 

[Reefing Madness]

I used a CBB for a long time, even went as far as turn rocks over for him to eliminate Aiptasia, never poked at my corals.

 

[StatelineReefer]

Berghia, when in doubt, always go with something that is an obligate feeder.

 

[Dburr1014]

Hey Everyone.

I have a 125-gallon tank with a rock that has aiptasia spreading on it. Some of the aiptasia are pretty big. I'm thinking of adding a filefish and copper-banded butterfly with a couple of peppermint shrimp. Do you think this will work? People say each of them work independently, can I be confident that all together will get rid of the aiptasia? Its a SPS, LPS, and softie reef, should I be worried about the file fish or CB butterfly?

Just 1 rock?
Not worth berghia.
Can it be removed and dealt with outside the tank and then put back? Got a pic?

 

[KStatefan]

My File fish has taken care of mine.

 

[VSVP bet]

Good to know. Its like 20 aiptasia on a decent size rock. Appreciate the info.

 

[fasterznu]

They will only spread with any of those choices. The copperband is a messy eater when it comes to aiptasia so it will spread the spores, same with the file fish and shrimp. Your best bet is to remove the rock and treat it alone like mentioned above.

 

[areefer01]

Well you could try F aiptasia if it is on a single rock. Manual removal route. Kaulk paste is another option.

Copperband is hit or miss. Some say they eat it. Some say they don't have success. Who knows. What I do know is that unless you buy a vetted QT Copperband they come with their own risk level of getting them A healthy, B eating prepared foods. Something to consider. I would only recommend one if it is on your stock list otherwise pass. I own a Copperband but only because I like them - not for work.

Peppermints - opportunistic feeders. I've seen them steal food from certain mouthy corals like Elegance. Also some report they do manage the pest others say they don't. Who knows. I have one in my display only because it was part of my tank migration/consolidation and it is about 5 years old or so in my care. It gets a pass.

Matted filefish. I've owned three now and each one clears aiptasia with 100% success rate. One I purchased via LFS the other two direct from Biota. LFS bought, my first one, was great but when I introduced a small Xenia frag it nipped on it such that it wasn't able to handle it and was slowly dyeing. Since it was a small frag and I wanted Xenia at the time I rehomed the filefish. Second one again cleared all signs of aiptasia but similar to the Xenia frag (which was larger now and able to withstand nipping) this one went after a frogspawn frag. Again on the small size. It needed time to mature so this filefish was traded in at the LFS. Current matted filefish, again from Biota, clears aiptasia and lives perfectly fine with all of my corals in a 210 mixed reef. In fact I move it between the display and my refugium which it clears within a couple weeks. Love this lad.

I can't comment on Berghia. Never tried them and they are, in my opinion, greatly over priced. If you plan on a wrasse - it will be food. If you try peppermints then add Berghia, well, there goes another predator. Due to cost and wrasse these are a non starter for me. Edit: once it clears aiptasia the food source will be gone and they will die.

TL: DR - Biota matted filefish will clear your problem if manual removal isn't an option. Affordable. Captive bred. Eating pest and prepared foods. Small size so you know rough age of fish. Matures with displays age. Interesting fish overall and usually a favorite. Note once you have aiptasia and you have plumbing or overflows you will more than likely always have aiptasia. A matted filefish is a good choice all things equal.

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

Started down the F-Aptasia road, but it is never ending. Have since tried Berghias, peppermint shrimp, and filefish. Berghias became an expensive meal (probably for my wrasse - bad choice by me). The peppermint shrimp didn't do much, but remains in the tank. Three filefish in a 180 mixed reef did the trick on the aptasia....and my zoas. Took two filefish back to LFS and the one remaining does the job on the aptasia. Resigned myself to not having zoas for now. I like not having aptasia more than having zoas.

Agree with the poster who said the aptasia is here to stay. It is in my sump and in the overflows, just not in the display.

 

[VSVP bet]

Well you could try F aiptasia if it is on a single rock. Manual removal route. Kaulk paste is another option.

Copperband is hit or miss. Some say they eat it. Some say they don't have success. Who knows. What I do know is that unless you buy a vetted QT Copperband they come with their own risk level of getting them A healthy, B eating prepared foods. Something to consider. I would only recommend one if it is on your stock list otherwise pass. I own a Copperband but only because I like them - not for work.

Peppermints - opportunistic feeders. I've seen them steal food from certain mouthy corals like Elegance. Also some report they do manage the pest others say they don't. Who knows. I have one in my display only because it was part of my tank migration/consolidation and it is about 5 years old or so in my care. It gets a pass.

Matted filefish. I've owned three now and each one clears aiptasia with 100% success rate. One I purchased via LFS the other two direct from Biota. LFS bought, my first one, was great but when I introduced a small Xenia frag it nipped on it such that it wasn't able to handle it and was slowly dyeing. Since it was a small frag and I wanted Xenia at the time I rehomed the filefish. Second one again cleared all signs of aiptasia but similar to the Xenia frag (which was larger now and able to withstand nipping) this one went after a frogspawn frag. Again on the small size. It needed time to mature so this filefish was traded in at the LFS. Current matted filefish, again from Biota, clears aiptasia and lives perfectly fine with all of my corals in a 210 mixed reef. In fact I move it between the display and my refugium which it clears within a couple weeks. Love this lad.

I can't comment on Berghia. Never tried them and they are, in my opinion, greatly over priced. If you plan on a wrasse - it will be food. If you try peppermints then add Berghia, well, there goes another predator. Due to cost and wrasse these are a non starter for me. Edit: once it clears aiptasia the food source will be gone and they will die.

TL: DR - Biota matted filefish will clear your problem if manual removal isn't an option. Affordable. Captive bred. Eating pest and prepared foods. Small size so you know rough age of fish. Matures with displays age. Interesting fish overall and usually a favorite. Note once you have aiptasia and you have plumbing or overflows you will more than likely always have aiptasia. A matted filefish is a good choice all things equal.

good to know, thanks, its like a rock that is central to the aquascape, i cant remove it without messing up my entire tank, there are prob over 20 aiptasia. i always liked filefish, so glad to know this has had success.

 

[VSVP bet]

Started down the F-Aptasia road, but it is never ending. Have since tried Berghias, peppermint shrimp, and filefish. Berghias became an expensive meal (probably for my wrasse - bad choice by me). The peppermint shrimp didn't do much, but remains in the tank. Three filefish in a 180 mixed reef did the trick on the aptasia....and my zoas. Took two filefish back to LFS and the one remaining does the job on the aptasia. Resigned myself to not having zoas for now. I like not having aptasia more than having zoas.

Agree with the poster who said the aptasia is here to stay. It is in my sump and in the overflows, just not in the display.

thats what im going for, what type of filefish? i have palys and some zoas, i guess i will have to roll the dice.

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

thats what im going for, what type of filefish? i have palys and some zoas, i guess i will have to roll the dice.

I bought ORA aqualcultured filefish thru saltwateraquarium.com. First time ordering livestock from them and it was a great experience. Good luck!

 

[locito277]

Hey Everyone.

I have a 125-gallon tank with a rock that has aiptasia spreading on it. Some of the aiptasia are pretty big. I'm thinking of adding a filefish and copper-banded butterfly with a couple of peppermint shrimp. Do you think this will work? People say each of them work independently, can I be confident that all together will get rid of the aiptasia? Its a SPS, LPS, and softie reef, should I be worried about the file fish or CB butterfly?

I had 4 scats eat 100s of them in my 720

 

[areefer01]

good to know, thanks, its like a rock that is central to the aquascape, i cant remove it without messing up my entire tank, there are prob over 20 aiptasia. i always liked filefish, so glad to know this has had success.

Apologies I missed the part about not being able to remove it. With regards to Biota there is a couple videos out there as I know they actually place rocks or pieces of rubble with aiptasia on it for the brood to eat. As with other fish while I am a Biota fan, and own several different fish from them, I would only recommend it if you want the fisk to keep long term. They do work and Biota is a great small business.

 

[VSVP bet]

Apologies I missed the part about not being able to remove it. With regards to Biota there is a couple videos out there as I know they actually place rocks or pieces of rubble with aiptasia on it for the brood to eat. As with other fish while I am a Biota fan, and own several different fish from them, I would only recommend it if you want the fisk to keep long term. They do work and Biota is a great small business.

https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/all/products/aiptasia-eating I would keep it long-term ideally. There is plenty of aiptasia in my overflow/sump/fuge, so this guy could be my management technique.

 

[areefer01]

https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/all/products/aiptasia-eating I would keep it long-term ideally. There is plenty of aiptasia in my overflow/sump/fuge, so this guy could be my management technique.

Yep - mine bounces between my refugium and display. Very easy to catch and doesn't seem to care. At least not that either of us can understand one another

Edit: if you go Biota route please be aware that they are very small. So will need to have low flow and closed off power heads. I think mine was the size of a $0.10 (US Dime). Grew pretty fast though but couldn't handle the flow in my 210 so it grew out in my refugium for a bit. I turned off the power head in there and just let the feeding line manage water turn over which was fine.

Best of luck with whatever you choose.

 

[dstockwell]

A fellow reefer has CBB, it hasn’t done anything to help.

 

[VSVP bet]

YALL ARE GREAT. I think a filefish is my guy.

Yep - mine bounces between my refugium and display. Very easy to catch and doesn't seem to care. At least not that either of us can understand one another

Edit: if you go Biota route please be aware that they are very small. So will need to have low flow and closed off power heads. I think mine was the size of a $0.10 (US Dime). Grew pretty fast though but couldn't handle the flow in my 210 so it grew out in my refugium for a bit. I turned off the power head in there and just let the feeding line manage water turn over which was fine.

Best of luck with whatever you choose.

It thinks its an alien abduction. Which species of filefish is it? Do you have the biota one?

 

[areefer01]

YALL ARE GREAT. I think a filefish is my guy.

It thinks its an alien abduction. Which species of filefish is it? Do you have the biota one?

Yes. Mine is from Biota. Matted filefish ( Acreichthys tomentosus ). Arrives on the smaller size about the size of a US dime or nickel. May need to isolate if flow is high to let grow out. Keep an eye out for power heads as they won't know any better and will get sucked in. I lost one this way thinking I turned one off in my refugium but didn't