Matted Filefish Acreichthys tomentosus

[EmilyB]

Well, I lost my favorite fish. Had him about 8 months. He wiped out my entire aiptasia population.

He disappeared two days ago and already the damn things are growing back.

Has anyone had this fish for a long time?

[Namnuta]

Had Mine for almost a year (Not very long). He is getting quite big, and loves my Aptasia. Sorry to hear about your loss.

[EmilyB]

I might try another, where did you get yours?

[Delphinus]

PM'd

[Namnuta]

I got mine from Elite. But im not sure if Colby has anymore.

[fishoholic]

Sorry for your loss :sad:

[Murminator]

How tough are they? I was thinking about getting but I have a yellow tang that rules the tank

[EmilyB]

Found him....another jumper case...after all these years, I just feel so bad for skipping the egg crate. He was just coloring up, and was a real clown.

Murm, my trigger didn't mind him a bit, seemed to be a somewhat bold, yet mellow fish that bothered no one.

I'm on the mission now to get another, or maybe two. I did read about how to sex them, but I think I'd need an expert eye...lol....

[Delphinus]

I lost mine to jumping too. Same deal, never did I anticipate he might have been a jumper, just didn't seem to be that kind of swimmer.

Was speaking to Colby today and he said he hasn't seen any come up on lists lately. Said instead he's seeing lots of tasseled filefish. Maybe it's more a seasonal thing as I seem to recall seeing plenty available in the summer.

[Namnuta]

Mines tough, stick to himself. My Large Yellow tang never really bothered him at all, and he was quite a bit smaller when i got him.

Good eater, but likes to pick at my snails a bit.

[Red Coral Aquariums]

Deb I have one in stock.
Kevin

[EmilyB]

Kevin you have PM

[Murminator]

Picked one of these up from Marine Aquaria thankya Lando....in the 1st 2 hours witnessed him eating aptasia, fugly zoos, pods....he loves pods, and vermetid snails he is a real eatin machine....don't think he will starve anytime soon

[Namnuta]

Mine looks like he has a taste for Xenia now :( . Thank god it grow like a weed in my tank.

[Murminator]

Well I must admit I had well over a 1000..... yes 1000 :redface: aptasia it actually looked really cool and 6 months later I can finally say I see no more in my tank there is still a bunch in the sump and the overflow but he cannot reach them.....he has quadrippled in size to about the size of a small yellow tang

[Llamarama]

maybe I should put a top on my tank :O never thought him to be a jumper....picked mine up at marine aquaria a couple months ago and he eats aptasia like a champ :) plus all his color changing is impressive

[Willito]

Does anyone have this fish in with sps/lps corals? Does it bother your corals?

[reefwars]

i have one in a reef tank with everything under the moon and it bothers nothing, and the aiptasia will grow back when hes gone i removed 3 small pieces of rock that was once covered in aiptasia then was "eaten" by my matted filefish and i watched him nibble it numerous times ,the 3 pieces were covered again in no time once put in a different tank by themselves:)

[Myka]

Does anyone have this fish in with sps/lps corals? Does it bother your corals?

I had to rehome my "tomentosus" Filefish because he ate Zoas and bit all my several different species of brain corals enough to create little white peck marks all over them. I did witness him doing both these heinous acts. :twised: He didn't bother any of my SPS corals or Nepthea.

[Aquattro]

I've had mine a few months now, he doesn't touch anything but aptaisia in my tank, I have SPS, LPS and clams. I do NOT have any more aptaisia !

He eats frozen mysis really well, so no concerns with running out of food.

[EmilyB]

Coming up on six months, and I love this fish ! He eats everything now including flake, and pushes the trigger aside to get it ! Just to be rid of that evil aiptasia is so awesome. Tank is covered this time.

[dreef]

"Fugly" is doing just fine with everyone,i luv him. Thank You. He loves his mysis,he gets PE,nothing but the best for him.,And can gobble them up in 2 bites greedily.He decimated every aptasia that i had,and they were starting to form colonies.Cant see a one too this day anywhere.No zoas in my tank or brains,so no worries.The acropora are only a place too sleep at night.He sleeps pointing his face down in the acro of his choice.

[EmilyB]

Just wanted to update, seems like covering the tank made all the difference. He's been here roughly a year and a half.

I could swear that this fish sheds. He gets a real yellow sheen, then disappears for a few days and I think he's dead. In fact, we are sure we found a floating yellow tail....

Then he reappears all shiny and new and back to brownish. Anyone seen anything like that?

[EmilyB]

So this guy was here for almost three years.

In the one week since he disappeared (and his skeleton reappeared on my urchin) the aiptasia has gone nuts.

I need another one asap. Any ideas where to get???

[EmilyB]

Found one at Gold today, thank goodness!

[Skimmerking]

well I might have to get one this Apatasia is ****ing me off it seems that I always get the crappy stuff \

red turf
bubble
Apatasia.
and even with starting out with brand new rock I have Apatasia

and you always see other with really nice rock all purple and clean

[mark]

good appetite and reasonably long lived, going to be looking myself.

[dreef]

I see my post is over 2 years old and "fugly" is still going strong,great fish..only he destroys duncans and mini maxi nems,oh well sps is where it's at anyway :)

[pinkreef]

I just got one yesterday. He's an interesting fish he ignores everybody and visa versa. havent seen him eat aptasia yet put he seems to eat pods. i have a duncans so i think i will take it out of the tank so he wont eat it. his colour changing is really neat! im calling him Matt
:biggrin:

[mark]

got mine yesterday, picks at something in the coralline on the BB. Haven't seem him go after the Apatasia yet.

[ocean diver]

I have had one now for about two weeks in my reef tank and he doesn't eat any of my aiptasia but has a liking for xenia which is fine with me as I have way too much.

[pinkreef]

saw Mattilda eating an aiptasia tentacle yesterday ( oh happy day!!!) also saw her eating mysis or trying. i think mines a girl as i read males hide more when first introduced and mine only hid for an hour. shes all over the
tank like a mandarin. neat fish
:angel:

[corrosionjerry]

It didnt look like mine ate any Apitasia for the fist month... now I do not see a single apitasia in the tank! Patience is required

[fishoholic]

I find they usually take 2-3 weeks before you notice any aiptasia missing.

[mark]

Damn.

Found mine dead this afternoon. Got it Mar30 so don't think how I acclimatized (cupful not drip), didn't see eating aiptasia but was picking off the rock and didn't look thin, no one was hassling him.

Any ideas before I go looking for another?

[BlueTang<3]

Possibly caught with cyanide? Have had fish before that did great for a few weeks then boom gone even hardier fish.