Copperband Butterfly vs FIle fish

[Deezill]

Hello R2R,
I have a question. I have been using Joe's juice to rid my aptasia however it just pops up elsewhere. I have not added anything new to the tank in quite a while. Which fish would be a better utilitarian for eating aptasia? As always I appreciate your feedback because it's not becoming a problem in the tank.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Your best bet is Berghia Nudibrach but out of the two choices given, I would go with the file fish. Copperbands can be hard to get to eat and are often not an easy fish to keep.

 

[Deezill]

Your best bet is Berghia Nudibrach but out of the two choices given, I would go with the file fish. Copperbands can be hard to get to eat and are often not an easy fish to keep.

I thought Nudibrach also eat montipora maybe that is a different species.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Not the Berghia. Literally the only thing they eat is aiptasia. Once your aiptasia are gone they will starve unless you can find them and get them to someone who has an aiptasia problem.

 

[ReefHog]

My Filefish kept my 220 aiptasia free. He's one of two fish that was completely unaffected by a velvet plague that killed 9 of my 12 fish. There are plenty aiptasia in the sump so I know hes the reason there were none in the DT. Can't wait to get him back in the 220 once the fallow period is over. I'm starting to see a few pop up here and there.

 

[User1]

File fish is the best option depending on the of the tank and corals that you keep. Believe it there are better but they get larger and may eat corals :) With regards to the file fish make sure you get the correct one which is Matted File Fish (Acreichthys tomentosus). They do eat the pest and in most cases will take to prepared food such as pellet, flake, frozen, and even nori.

They are a rather interesting fish. They are slow swimmers but oddly enough similar to a wrasse such as a 6 line. They are moving about, close to the rocks, corals, eyes always moving, foraging. They will change colors to what they are near in some ways blending in.

There is a possibility of nipping on some corals such as zoas and Xenia. LPS a bit. Mine did eath some zoas of mine but I really didn't care. LPS it would nibble but it was growing faster than anything it could damage. Xenia it went after which at the time I introduced a frag that couldn't grow faster than its picking so that is when I moved it. Wish I didn't because it is really a personable fish :).

When I last had this issue that was my go to fish to fix the problem and it did within 30 days.

 

[Deezill]

Not the Berghia. Literally the only thing they eat is aiptasia. Once your aiptasia are gone they will starve unless you can find them and get them to someone who has an aiptasia problem.

@Florida Sunshine I am taking your advice and getting some Bergia. I just ordered 15 of them from Salty Underground. Thanks for the advice.

 

[laverda]

I never had any luck with Bergias. I have had great results with file fish and as Saf1 mentioned they are a very interesting fish. Mine have never bothered any of my corals including Xenia. I do keep my tank well fed so that may be part of it. I have also had good results with peppermint shrimp. I think the issue most people have with either of these is they expect results over night. If you have a lot of aptasia it takes a little time, but soon you will notice less and less of them. Copper bands are very hard to get eating at all for most people.

 

[Montiman]

I am going to disagree with the rest of the community and recommend copperband over bergia or a file fish.

Bergia are very expensive and don’t always work in my experience. Plus once the anemones are gone they die. If you ever get another nem on a frag you will need to repeat the process.

File fish work great but files are uglier and more passive. In my tank the files always get sucked into powerheads or out competed for food.

Copper bands are beautiful more tolerant of high water flow, able to compete for food with aggressive eaters, they stay in the tank and stop future problems, and as long as you buy an eating specimen they are very hardy.

PS I have had both file fish and copperbands eat coral at times but I can’t say one is worse. They usually target fleshy LPS, or clams.

 

[Deezill]

I am going to disagree with the rest of the community and recommend copperband over bergia or a file fish.

Bergia are very expensive and don’t always work in my experience. Plus once the anemones are gone they die. If you ever get another nem on a frag you will need to repeat the process.

File fish work great but files are uglier and more passive. In my tank the files always get sucked into powerheads or out competed for food.

Copper bands are beautiful more tolerant of high water flow, able to compete for food with aggressive eaters, they stay in the tank and stop future problems, and as long as you buy an eating specimen they are very hardy.

PS I have had both file fish and copperbands eat coral at times but I can’t say one is worse. They usually target fleshy LPS, or clams.

OMG i thought I was the only one who thought Files were ugly like uuugggh. I have gyres in my 150 I would hate to see them attached to one. So they much be slow moving fish I presume?

 

[Montiman]

The key to Copperbands is buying a fish that is eating and feeding it what it eats. When I worked at an LFS at least 9 out of 10 copper bands would eat. While I would like 10 out of 10 unfortunately they can be a bit picky. My solution was feeding frozen blood worms which are very affordable. Copperbands are worm eaters in nature and unfortunately there isn't much saltwater worm food. I would feed the blood worms mixed with mysis and once I noticed the fish was eating the mysis I could remove the blood worms. I have had my personal copperband for years and he eats out of my hand. There is aptasia in the sump but none in the display thanks to him.

 

[SteveO83]

In for the info here as well as my tank needs help asap

 

[SteveO83]

Example

 

[Deezill]

@SteveO83 your tank is a delight compared to mine. lol. I am going with a multi-prong attack bergia and I am thinking of getting a majano wand. I am attacking now because this rock will two years old
in September. I am using this rock in my new 180g build so that I can have some real live rock. So I am going to fight this aptasia for it. :)

 

[SteveO83]

@SteveO83 your tank is a delight compared to mine. lol. I am going with a multi-prong attack bergia and I am thinking of getting a majano wand. I am attacking now because this rock will two years old
in September. I am using this rock in my new 180g build so that I can have some real live rock. So I am going to fight this aptasia for it. :)

Started on 1 frag I got in the beginning. Hit it with aiptasia x and it spread. Now they are all over and I have lost corals(zoas)

 

[Jesterrace]

Copperbands can be hit and miss for eating aiptasia. The nudibranch and filefish have a higher chance of success in this area.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Copperbands are the prettier fish but the Files are more functional when it comes to Aips, ime. The Filefish pair in my 300 wiped out every visible Aip in the DT; sump and overflow are still loaded though. The Copperband in the same tank only eats the tiniest of Aips and goes right past any larger than a pencil eraser. Most of the fish in my DT would eat the Berghias so I've never tried them.

 

[OrionN]

CBB id s nicer reef fish. I would get him instead of Filefish. I have both in my 320 but just recently catch my file fish out. They took care of my problem and I put the file fish in my QT system to get rid of the aptasia there. I eventually move the file fish into the sump or sell it to other reefers.

 

[ReefHog]

OMG i thought I was the only one who thought Files were ugly like uuugggh.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder for sure. I imagine there are those that prefer Poodles over Bulldogs. Although I can't imagine why. I think file fish look awesome.

 

[OrionN]

We got to get a poll up and see between the file fish and CBB who is more beautiful according to most people opinions
:)