Matted Filefish or Copperband Butterfly?

[dnalamb]

I currently have two matted filefish in the same tank and neither have touched corals. I have Kenya tree, brain, zoas and acans and my aiptasia is quickly dissapearing

[Reef Pilot]

I've had both Copperband and Pearlscale Butterfly fish. The Pearlscale were the best at ridding my tank from a severe aiptaisia infestation. When I first got them (about 2 years ago) they would nip at some corals, but now don't touch them. I feed them well, and they seem to have changed their tastes. However, they still constantly scour the rocks looking for a bite. Not sure what they are finding, but haven't seen an aiptaisia for a long, long time.

The other advantage with Pearlscales, is that you can have more than one in a tank, unlike Copperbands.

[ponokareefer]

Has anyone had problems with yellow tangs and copperbands?

[Reef Pilot]

Yup, Yellow Tangs really go after Copperbands when first introduced. Good news is that after a couple weeks, they settle down. However, during that time, you need to do what you can to protect the Copperband and distract the Yellow Tang. Mirrors and pics taped to the glass help.

[ILIKECOUGARS]

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

Has anyone had problems with yellow tangs and copperbands?

Only for the first week or so my yellow tang chase the copperband. All get along now.

[ponokareefer]

Thank you for everyone's input. I was going to go with a copperband, but the place I went to only had a healthy looking filefish available, so I grabbed it. It was in a tank with all types of corals and the staff told me that it wasn't picking on any of them, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[mark]

In a tank full of aiptasia why are Copperbands difficult, would think they have a good food source? Don't they go for the aiptasia from the start?

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by mark

In a tank full of aiptasia why are Copperbands difficult, would think they have a good food source? Don't they go for the aiptasia from the start?

Most CBB's don't live over a few months in captivity, even if there is aiptasia for them to eat. Also CBB's can eat tons of aiptasia fairly quickly so once it runs out if they are not eating frozen they can starve before the aiptasia comes back.

[Treebeard]

I have had 3 CBBs. The first two were small and only lasted a few weeks and died. I decided to try a larger one which was eating very well in the fish store. I had few aipitasia which it never touched, but it readily ate mysis and seemed to be thriving. It also cleaned every single feather duster from every rock. Eventually it stopped eating, got thin and perished. No more CBBs for this guy.

I have had a matted file fish for around 12 months and it cleaned up all of the aipitasia, although I never saw him eating it, I have none left. He picks away at the rocks but does not touch the corals.

Originally Posted by mark

In a tank full of aiptasia why are Copperbands difficult, would think they have a good food source? Don't they go for the aiptasia from the start?

[mike]

ive never owned a filefish, but i purchased a copperband about 6 weeks ago. for the first 2 weeks i didnt notice the decrease in aiptasia. after that they were disappearing nightly. i now have none. i borrow rocks with aiptasia from my lfs, copper cleans them in a day or 2.