Hardy Reef Safe Fish for Aiptasia Control?

[CoralReefer1019]

Hi everyone, looking for a hardy and reef safe fish for dealing with aptasia? I tried peppermints but not sure what happened to them. Not sure if my yellow tang, melanarus wrasse or blue side wrasse ate them? BUT I am having trouble with Aptasia but fish needs to be hardy and reef safe. Thanks

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Pretty sure my blue pigmy dwarf angel is taking care of my Aptasia.

He is the bully of the tank full of peaceful fish though.

 

[xionggotstyle]

There's no fish that is really reef safe. Copperband and filefish are hit or miss whether they will eat it or not

 

[CoralReefer1019]

Pretty sure my blue pigmy dwarf angel is taking care of my Aptasia.

He is the bully of the tank full of peaceful fish though.

does it harm your corals? they say it eats LPS and clam mantles

 

[CoralReefer1019]

There's no fish that is really reef safe. Copperband and filefish are hit or miss whether they will eat it or not

which one is more reef safe and hardy? Also they have different variations of butterfly fish I like the smaller variety

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

does it harm your corals? they say it eats LPS and clam mantles

I have no clams in that tank. I do have a huge bubble coral it pokes from time to time w no damage. I also have a large candy cane and frogspawn I have never seen it molest. Gsp Xenia dendro and sun corals as well.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

I have no calms in that tank. I do have a huge bubble coral it pokes from time to time w no damage. I also have a large candy cane and frogspawn I have never seen it molest. Gsp Xenia dendro and sun corals as well.

sometimes it’s tough a hit or miss

 

[xionggotstyle]

Possibly. For me it didn't but mine didn't touch my apitisia either. I ended up buying the berghia nudibranch. They are expensive as hell ($12 each) but they worked.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

sometimes it’s tough a hit or miss

Yup. I tried a file fish once.
It ate my shrimp, crabs and started in on my fish.
That was my murder fish experience.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

Yup. I tried a file fish once.
It ate my shrimp, crabs and started in on my fish.
That was my murder fish experience.

thinking a species of butterfly

 

[CoralReefer1019]

not really sure so many varieties out there

 

[xionggotstyle]

Practically all butterfly fish nip corals except a few like pyramid butterfly fishes.

 

[JaimeAdams]

copper banded butterfly fish, but there is indeed a chance that they may nip coral. Mine doesn't bother anything. I know other friends with them that don't bother anything, but there is always the chance.

 

[jozekgawlak]

I've had luck twice with copper band butterfly! I would recommend..

 

[CoralReefer1019]

copper banded butterfly fish, but there is indeed a chance that they may nip coral. Mine doesn't bother anything. I know other friends with them that don't bother anything, but there is always the chance.

what corals do they nip at and are they hardy

 

[CoralReefer1019]

I've had luck twice with copper band butterfly! I would recommend..

you said “twice” was that due to mortality?

 

[jozekgawlak]

you said “twice” was that due to mortality?

Yes after it ate the aptasia the first it died, then the pest came back bought another copperband ate the aptasia again and didn't want to eat anything after that

 

[JaimeAdams]

what corals do they nip at and are they hardy

My experiences with them is that they do not bother any coral. As Saltyfilmfolk said it pokes his bubble coral but doesn't do any harm. The biggest concern would be clams and wells/trachy types. I have them in my home tanks, the coral tanks at the store where I work and in tanks that the store maintains. They are usually good, but to be fair there is some risk.

They are hardy once they eat. The biggest problem is getting them to initially eat when they come into the retail market prior to customer purchase. Usually once they are eating they can easily be transitioned to other foods. We use live black worms to trigger feeding response and then ween them onto Larry's Frozen Foods. As a hobbyist I would probably just buy one from a store after they show me it eating frozen food.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

Yes after it ate the aptasia the first it died, then the pest came back bought another copperband ate the aptasia again and didn't want to eat anything after that

they’re hard to eaters after they eat aptasia? Just don’t want them to turn to my Softies and LPS

 

[jozekgawlak]

My experiences with them is that they do not bother any coral. As Saltyfilmfolk said it pokes his bubble coral but doesn't do any harm. The biggest concern would be clams and wells/trachy types. I have them in my home tanks, the coral tanks at the store where I work and in tanks that the store maintains. They are usually good, but to be fair there is some risk.

They are hardy once they eat. The biggest problem is getting them to initially eat when they come into the retail market prior to customer purchase. Usually once they are eating they can easily be transitioned to other foods. We use live black worms to trigger feeding response and then ween them onto Larry's Frozen Foods. As a hobbyist I would probably just buy one from a store after they show me it eating frozen food.

My experiences with them is that they do not bother any coral. As Saltyfilmfolk said it pokes his bubble coral but doesn't do any harm. The biggest concern would be clams and wells/trachy types. I have them in my home tanks, the coral tanks at the store where I work and in tanks that the store maintains. They are usually good, but to be fair there is some risk.

They are hardy once they eat. The biggest problem is getting them to initially eat when they come into the retail market prior to customer purchase. Usually once they are eating they can easily be transitioned to other foods. We use live black worms to trigger feeding response and then ween them onto Larry's Frozen Foods. As a hobbyist I would probably just buy one from a store after they show me it eating frozen food.

That was the reason mine kept dying it never wanted to eat anything I fed it.. never nipped at my corals either..