Best Creatures for an Aiptasia Removal Force

[Gtinnel]

I recently added a CBB to my tank that I kept in qt for months. In qt he was eating aiptasia, now that I moved him to my display tank he hasn’t touched them. So now I’m also trying to decide between filefish, peppermint shrimp, or Berghia, but for the last two I’d have to remove my wrasse. I’m also leaning towards getting a filefish.

 

[VSVP bet]

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

good to know, and they dont go after any corals?

 

[areefer01]

good to know, and they dont go after any corals?

I had a post earlier saying I've owned 3 different matted filefish. One from the LFS and two directly from Biota. LFS bought was larger, older, and was nipping at my Xenia frag. I returned that one to the LFS as I needed the Xenia frag to take hold first. Other two are from Biota and one went after a small Frogspawn frag I introduced. Similar to the Xenia I needed it to take hold so I sent that Matted filefish to the LFS. Few months later after the frogspawn increased in size I ordered another Biota matted filefish and still have it today. I do not see it nipping at anything but then again most of my corals are larger now or mini colonies so if it does nip they are able to manage.

One thing to note is that filefish, when young, bite down on soft coral polyps while they sleep so they are not swept away in the currents. So the behavior I saw could be related to this behavior if truth be told. I've seen both my Matted and Radial do this. Matted sleeps in a Corky Sea Finger and my Radial sleeps in the GSP along the displays back wall.

I think it is important to note this while also saying we all have different levels of tolerance for coral nips and tucks. In my case it is an acceptable risk now that I understand them more. I let the aiptasia into my system and need it managed. I am not able to manually remove them nor is it possible to remove them all. They are in my overflow box, they are in the sump, and I'm pretty sure they are in the plumbing lines. So I have them. The Matted filefish keeps them in check in both display and refugium. It works for me.

One other idea is to try a laser. You could search on reef beef and see what laser Rich uses but I know he has success with them if you have visual. Something else to consider I guess.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

As I have several wrasses, peppermint shrimp are out, CBB is too fickle and berghia, same issues as peppermint shrimp. Filefish is doing a great job and isn't destroying my corals.... Yet.

 

[Will_W]

I have peppermint shimp and a file fish and I haven't had a problem with them picking at the corals. The shrimp will steal the coral food pellets but other than that I can't say I've had any issues. The file fish likes to peruse the rockwork and pick at it but leaves everything alone

 

[Singspot]

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

if you have 20 aiptesia on 1 rock .. you got more in tank elsewhere too ...

Ber

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.

Hi There, can you elaborate your experience - you menation " It needed time to mature so this filefish was traded in at the LFS. " - do the filefishes NOT eat corals when matured (At what age/ size) and they DO CONTINUE to eat Aiptesia?

Do Melanerous wrasse eat the Bergia?

What about CopperBand Butterflyfish - anyone experience with CBB?

 

[areefer01]

Hi There, can you elaborate your experience - you menation " It needed time to mature so this filefish was traded in at the LFS. " - do the filefishes NOT eat corals when matured (At what age/ size) and they DO CONTINUE to eat Aiptesia?

Hi - when I noted 'it needed time to mature' I was referring to the coral frag. The coral was a very small frog spawn. Single head, and tiny. The filefish in question went right up to it, in front of me, and ripped a good chunk of the flesh off. Right down to the skeleton. When I said I needed it time to mature I was talking about the coral. If it was larger, multi head, and more growth I wouldn't care because it could withstand the nip.

Not a great picture but this is the frogspawn today and it is almost the size of a volleyball. If anything was to nip it today I wouldn't care because it could, in theory, manage it. Then again I also don't think the same fish would nip it. At that time I had a large hammer about the size of a basketball and it didn't give it one look.

I have a radial and matted filefish and they more or less leave all fleshy type LPS alone. Even a flowpot and goni. Could be the fish just wanted to give it a nip, or taste, or latch on to nap.

Hopefully that makes sense. Last part of your question they don't stop eating aiptasia to my knowledge. At least with mine and my experience. As I said I move mine between display and refugium and it always seems to clear whatever is visible. I will always have aiptasia as it is in my overflow box and sump. So I'm also sure plumbing. The filefish keeps it in check.

 

[Singspot]

Thanks for detailed response. What types of main corals and fishes do you have ... trying to understand if i can keep a file fish in my tank ..

Here is my tank:

 

[anthonygf]

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?

Hello Friend. Are you still having aiptasia issues? I also have tried everything under the sun for the past couple years, helps to some extent but still spreads. Several months ago my skimmer started releasing lots of micro bubbles into the main tank, I only run the skimmer when lights outs so I wasn't in a hurry to fix it. After several months I have noticed 2 things, the water is clearer and the aiptasia numbers are dropping and not spreading. I think the micro bubbles are toxic the them and the bubbles attach to solid particle waste and keeps it suspended in the water column for the filter to remove.

Honestly, my filefish and a peppermint help somewhat but I do notice the micro bubbles are keeping the aiptasia from spreading/multiplying. Try it, what have you got to loose, and it is free. So far no problems with other corals, I don't have any nems so I can't comment on that. Good luck.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Once you have aiptasia you will always have it . Your just maintaining it

 

[fasterznu]

Once you have aiptasia you will always have it . Your just maintaining it

Agreed. The only true way to irradicate them is a hard reset. Even then its possible to reintroduce them yet again. They are the STD of the reefing hobby

 

[OrionN]

CBB is the best for me. Beautiful fish to boot. I keep him because he is beautiful. He keep the tank free of aptasia is icing on the cake. Elimination of all my wormy fauna are collateral damages.

 

[jmichaelh7]

CBB is the best for me. Beautiful fish to boot. I keep him because he is beautiful. He keep the tank free of aptasia is icing on the cake. Elimination of all my wormy fauna are collateral damages.

Are these guys hard to keep?

 

[RichReef]

Berghia is the best. They get down into the crevices. However if you have crabs or wrasses' they will eat them.

I used peppermint shrimp in my display. They ate everything on my rocks. Then I had to remove them because they were going after my LPS. But the aiptasia never returned.

They key to elimination is getting down to the root.

The fish work well for control but they can't get into tight spots.

The Berghia wiped it out in my frag tank. It never came back. Never even saw them after adding. I keep rocks in the bottom of it so they had plenty of places to dissappear.

 

[OrionN]

Are these guys hard to keep?

CBB is one of the harder, but not impossible, fish to keep. It is difficult to get them acclimated. Once they are acclimated, they are hardy. A tank full of fauna will help getting the acclimated, and they will eat frozen food once acclimated easy enough. I often provide the CBB with treat, a rock full of aptasia for him to graze on, or frozen clams. When I drop the frozen clam in the tank, it started to thaw our and crack open. With his long snout, the CBB is the only fish that can eat the clam at this stage. He gets his fill. Once the clam fully open, the rest of the fishes move in and finish it off.

 

[dwest]

CBB is the best for me. Beautiful fish to boot. I keep him because he is beautiful. He keep the tank free of aptasia is icing on the cake. Elimination of all my wormy fauna are collateral damages.

@OrionN That is a beautiful fish! I have lots of aiptasia in my 180 gallon mixed reef but have always been hesitant of trying a CBB as I have two yellow tangs, a purple tang, and a hippo. Do you think I have a reasonable chance of introducing a CBB? I don’t want to harm one. But I do have lots of experience introducing new tangs. Any advice appreciated!

 

[OrionN]

@OrionN That is a beautiful fish! I have lots of aiptasia in my 180 gallon mixed reef but have always been hesitant of trying a CBB as I have two yellow tangs, a purple tang, and a hippo. Do you think I have a reasonable chance of introducing a CBB? I don’t want to harm one. But I do have lots of experience introducing new tangs. Any advice appreciated!

CBB will hold his own. Tangs does not bother mu CBB

 

[dwest]

CBB will hold his own. Tangs does not bother mu CBB

That is surprising! Thank you.

 

[Gtinnel]

@OrionN That is a beautiful fish! I have lots of aiptasia in my 180 gallon mixed reef but have always been hesitant of trying a CBB as I have two yellow tangs, a purple tang, and a hippo. Do you think I have a reasonable chance of introducing a CBB? I don’t want to harm one. But I do have lots of experience introducing new tangs. Any advice appreciated!

I recently introduced a CBB to my tank which already had a purple tang. At first there was some aggression but with the mirror trick a day or so later it calmed down. The tang will occasionally chase the CBB but not badly. Now if only my CBB would eat aiptasia.

 

[OrionN]

I recently introduced a CBB to my tank which already had a purple tang. At first there was some aggression but with the mirror trick a day or so later it calmed down. The tang will occasionally chase the CBB but not badly. Now if only my CBB would eat aiptasia.

How recent is recent? Give him a little time. Overnight the aptasia will be gone.