Should i get the aptasia eating filefish
- Thread starter vito.bosnar212
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I've heard so many horror stories I would personally just stick to berghia nudis. Aiptasia filefish (trade name more than one species are sold under this name) love eating softies and fleshy LPS. They'll eat zoa's and nip at toadstools so they'd likely eat your anthelia. Some species of filefish eat more small inverts/algae than they do soft coral but that doesn't mean they're "reef safe" I'd consider any species of filefish a gamble.
BryanM
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My filefish ate my cynarina.
I have successfully treated all of my aiptasia with Joes Juice.
I have successfully treated all of my aiptasia with Joes Juice.
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How bad is your aiptasia? I'm wondering if doing something like joes juice or manual removal would be better for you
Peppermint shrimp and CBB have worked for me. I've not tried a file fish or nudis. When I tried stuff like aiptasia x, kalk paste etc the aiptasia just stepped up reproduction
Mr. Mojo Rising
10K Club member
I've never wanted one because of the bad rep, and they are also ugly IMO. I've never wanted a peppermint shrimp either for the same reasonds, so I load up on berghia's.
But I am now getting a lot of aptaisia on the sand so I suspect that berghia's can't crawl on sand very well and I'm not sure what to do about this,
But I am now getting a lot of aptaisia on the sand so I suspect that berghia's can't crawl on sand very well and I'm not sure what to do about this,
Biokabe
Valuable Member
Bristletail filefish, AKA aiptasia-eating filefish, are always a bit of a gamble, both in terms of effectiveness and in terms of coral risk.
I've had 3-4 of them over the years. Here's what I've found:
First, get them small, preferably the ORA or Biota captive-bred specimens. When they're small they're much less likely to go for corals. This also gives you time to train them on another food for their staple; a well-fed filefish is less likely to go for a coral.
Second, not all of them will actually go for aiptasia, and not all of them will go for corals. And it may take them a while to start going after aiptasia, especially if your aiptasia are on the larger side.
Third, they can survive in a smaller aquarium, but there's a risk here. The smaller the aquarium, the fewer forage opportunities they have and the more likely they are to include corals in their diet. Since there are likely fewer corals to forage on, they also are more likely to peck at a coral long enough to kill it.
I had one in my 20g tank. It took him about 2-3 years to decide he liked aiptasia, but then once he did he (mostly) cleared the tank in a couple of months. The tank had dozens upon dozens of aiptasia, but now it's down to probably a dozen or so. I moved him to my 90g to deal with the aiptasia there, and... he mostly has. I can still see about half a dozen that look like they're in awkward spots, mostly retracted to protect themselves from his appetite.
However, he has started nibbling on corals as well. Feeding him the same flakes we fed the 20g tank (Prime Reef flakes) seems to reduce his urge to nibble. His interest seems to be mostly concentrated on acans. He's been in the tank about a month and hasn't nibbled enough on any of my acans to actually kill them. I suspect he also might be periodically pruning a zoa or two of my bland, boring zoas. Which is honestly fine, I have so many of them and they grow so fast that I think they're outgrowing him.
In the past I had a different one that cleared the tank of aiptasia and then completely cleared it of zoas and LPS, so it's always a matter of chance.
I've had 3-4 of them over the years. Here's what I've found:
First, get them small, preferably the ORA or Biota captive-bred specimens. When they're small they're much less likely to go for corals. This also gives you time to train them on another food for their staple; a well-fed filefish is less likely to go for a coral.
Second, not all of them will actually go for aiptasia, and not all of them will go for corals. And it may take them a while to start going after aiptasia, especially if your aiptasia are on the larger side.
Third, they can survive in a smaller aquarium, but there's a risk here. The smaller the aquarium, the fewer forage opportunities they have and the more likely they are to include corals in their diet. Since there are likely fewer corals to forage on, they also are more likely to peck at a coral long enough to kill it.
I had one in my 20g tank. It took him about 2-3 years to decide he liked aiptasia, but then once he did he (mostly) cleared the tank in a couple of months. The tank had dozens upon dozens of aiptasia, but now it's down to probably a dozen or so. I moved him to my 90g to deal with the aiptasia there, and... he mostly has. I can still see about half a dozen that look like they're in awkward spots, mostly retracted to protect themselves from his appetite.
However, he has started nibbling on corals as well. Feeding him the same flakes we fed the 20g tank (Prime Reef flakes) seems to reduce his urge to nibble. His interest seems to be mostly concentrated on acans. He's been in the tank about a month and hasn't nibbled enough on any of my acans to actually kill them. I suspect he also might be periodically pruning a zoa or two of my bland, boring zoas. Which is honestly fine, I have so many of them and they grow so fast that I think they're outgrowing him.
In the past I had a different one that cleared the tank of aiptasia and then completely cleared it of zoas and LPS, so it's always a matter of chance.
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