DaveInSavannah
New Member
I've had an "aiptasia eating" filefish that I picked up from Petco when first stocking my 75 gallon tank because it was the one fish my wife requested. I've also tossed in items from my LFS that I could almost guarantee you had aiptasia present given the state of their aquariums. I never had any aiptasia problems in the tank, and the filefish seemed keen to eat about anything in front of him. From that point I mostly ignored the filefish.
Fast forward a few months and I tried a rock flower anemone. It stayed on the move, regardless of where I placed it, until it found a rock crevice at the bottom of the tank. There it slowly died. Two months later I tried a pair of bubbletip anemones from a different vendor. They looked great the first day or two. Then they would detach and blow away in the current until they could hide under a rock. Lots of water testing occured while one and then the other slowly shrunk and disolved.
I waited another couple of months and then ended up trying a pair of maxi mini carpet anemones and a waratah anemone. (Can you tell that I REALLY wanted to pass this hurdle and have anemones?) The water was great. No fish issues. The only unhappy coral was the acro frag that likely wasn't getting enough light. That, and I went on an ebay bid fest and managed to get the first carpet anemone for $4 and change. The three new anemones all looked great at first and were all eating. Then one carpet anemone tried to run and hide. Then the other. I would try another spot that would work for a day or two, and then they would be on the move again. They were in a state of decline, with me scratching my head, until I finally caught the bugger red handed! I watched the filefish aggressively dive in and carry off what was left of one of the carpet anemones.
Maybe he was acting as clean up crew? Perhaps he was doing me a service. Then again, aiptasia are anemones. Did this mean that filefish ate all anemones? I checked reef2reef and couldn't find anything. I gave the filefish the benefit of the doubt and moved what was left of the two carpet anemones to a 15 gallon tank. This was about a week ago. The waratah looked fine at the time, and I figured his longer stinging tentacles would keep the filefish away. It seemed a better bet than moving him to the freshly set up 15 gallon. Boy, was I wrong...
The waratah, who had been constantly out and inflated, was now closed up tight. I watched him for a while until I saw the filefish float over and take up position right around the corner of the same rock. The little scamp would slowly move forward to see if the anemone had come out, and then float back into hiding. I moved the waratah with the entire rock over to the 15 gallon. That was yesterday. This evening he has opened back up. Where he used to have 1.5" tentacles, now he has 1/8" little fingers.
As a public service announcement; some filefish may eat aiptasia while some may eat your entire anemone collection.
Fast forward a few months and I tried a rock flower anemone. It stayed on the move, regardless of where I placed it, until it found a rock crevice at the bottom of the tank. There it slowly died. Two months later I tried a pair of bubbletip anemones from a different vendor. They looked great the first day or two. Then they would detach and blow away in the current until they could hide under a rock. Lots of water testing occured while one and then the other slowly shrunk and disolved.
I waited another couple of months and then ended up trying a pair of maxi mini carpet anemones and a waratah anemone. (Can you tell that I REALLY wanted to pass this hurdle and have anemones?) The water was great. No fish issues. The only unhappy coral was the acro frag that likely wasn't getting enough light. That, and I went on an ebay bid fest and managed to get the first carpet anemone for $4 and change. The three new anemones all looked great at first and were all eating. Then one carpet anemone tried to run and hide. Then the other. I would try another spot that would work for a day or two, and then they would be on the move again. They were in a state of decline, with me scratching my head, until I finally caught the bugger red handed! I watched the filefish aggressively dive in and carry off what was left of one of the carpet anemones.
Maybe he was acting as clean up crew? Perhaps he was doing me a service. Then again, aiptasia are anemones. Did this mean that filefish ate all anemones? I checked reef2reef and couldn't find anything. I gave the filefish the benefit of the doubt and moved what was left of the two carpet anemones to a 15 gallon tank. This was about a week ago. The waratah looked fine at the time, and I figured his longer stinging tentacles would keep the filefish away. It seemed a better bet than moving him to the freshly set up 15 gallon. Boy, was I wrong...
The waratah, who had been constantly out and inflated, was now closed up tight. I watched him for a while until I saw the filefish float over and take up position right around the corner of the same rock. The little scamp would slowly move forward to see if the anemone had come out, and then float back into hiding. I moved the waratah with the entire rock over to the 15 gallon. That was yesterday. This evening he has opened back up. Where he used to have 1.5" tentacles, now he has 1/8" little fingers.
As a public service announcement; some filefish may eat aiptasia while some may eat your entire anemone collection.
