To file fish... Or not.

[paddyob]

I have a few Aiptasia. That I try kill over and over.

Tried peppermints, berghias and treatment crud. Still here.

Considering adding a file fish.

What corals are they drawn to? I know they might be pickers.

Worry mostly about my LPS being eaten.

[emerald crab]

I have a matted filefish. He is a model citizen, doesn't touch corals and has a big appetite for aiptaisia and mysis shrimp. My tank is SPS only, so I can't tell if they pick on softies or LPS.

[reefwars]

mine did well in my 33g zoa tank ate all my aiptasia and only thing it nipped was a candy cane and a nuclear green zoa, i found after owning 2 that the juvie was the nippy one and the adult never touched anything in my 110g mixed reef.

that said....theres lots of stories opposite of this so i guess its hit or miss depending on your corals:)

[Cal_stir]

my matted filefish ate all the zoos off a rock and left the aptaisia, doesn't seem to bother anything else

[Proteus]

Once the aptasia was gone it started to chow on Acan lords

[paddyob]

Or a hearty butterfly? No, not copperbands.

[emerald crab]

What do you have against CBBs? They're a really nice fish, good aiptaisia eaters, don't grow very big and not very fast. Mine have been in my tank for about 4 years and I love it. All they require is a stable system with good water quality and to be fed at least twice a day.

[paddyob]

What do you have against CBBs? They're a really nice fish, good aiptaisia eaters, don't grow very big and not very fast. Mine have been in my tank for about 4 years and I love it. All they require is a stable system with good water quality and to be fed at least twice a day.

Most CBBs die. It's a well known fact. Well known. Search the forum. No matter how well yours has done, it's not a hearty fish.

Thanks for your input.

[Proteus]

When I had mine ( filefish). I would keep a mag cleaner at top corner of tank and that's where the filefish slept. When aptasia was gone I scoop it up and put in sump till it was needed good. Now mind that the sump compartment it was in was 40g and full if sand rubble mangroves. So it was a cozy home for a few months at time

[emerald crab]

[QUOTE=paddyob;736846]Most CBBs die. It's a well known fact. Well known. Search the forum. No matter how well yours has done, it's not a hearty fish.

Unfortunately in quite a few tanks CBBs are slowly starved to death. The irony is that the people that killed their CBB by starvation, often become quite vocal against this fish rather than upgrading their water cleaning capacity (skimer, algae scrubber, DSB etc.) to be able to feed their livestock as needed. Diversity of the food they get is another can of worms.

[paddyob]

When I had mine ( filefish). I would keep a mag cleaner at top corner of tank and that's where the filefish slept. When aptasia was gone I scoop it up and put in sump till it was needed good. Now mind that the sump compartment it was in was 40g and full if sand rubble mangroves. So it was a cozy home for a few months at time



Funny. Mag host.

[Parker]

I have two and they eat nothing but flake and mysis, they have never touched aptasia.