tell me..who protects your reef?

[Reef Pilot]

Pearlscale Butterfly fish,... totally got rid of my aiptasia problem. A few years ago, I inherited a 100g SW that had hundreds, maybe over a thousand aiptasia. They were everywhere,... whole back glass was covered with them. It was totally hopeless trying to eliminate them with Aiptasia X or any other injection method. I got a Copperband, but he didn't make a dent. I think they were all too big for him. He spent a lot of time picking in the rocks, but I think the aiptasia were all too big for him, and wouldn't touch them (or at least not that I saw).

Then after some online research decided to try some Pearlscale Butterfly fish. Besides I think they are pretty, too. I originally bought 5 (initially got 3 and lost some due to various mishaps), but still have 2 now, one in each of my display tanks. They are about 2 1/2 years old now, and still doing great. Unlike Copperbands and some other butterfly fish, you can have several of these in a tank. They do establish a pecking order, and after that, all is fine.

I started them off in a hypo QT tank, to get them feeding on a variety of frozen and dry foods. I later put in a rock with aiptasia on it, and knew it was a very good sign when they almost immediately went after the aiptasia. The other good thing about these butterfly fish is they are much easier to get feeding (unlike Copperbands).

When I added them to the main display tank, they did not take long to acclimatize. Their biggest challenge was avoiding my bully Yellow Tang. But because there were more of them, the attention was divided and they were able to escape more readily. Fortunately, the tang left them alone after a while, as long as they kept out of his way. And very soon, the Pearlscales went after the aiptasia, and with gusto. It was a great sight seeing them tear into one, like a bunch of chickens after a worm.

It took about 3 or 4 months, but they actually cleaned out the whole tank. I never thought I would see that happen!! Of course the aiptasia are never really totally gone. I still have them in my overflows and in the sump. And occasionally, I see one or a few pop up in my display tanks. At this moment, I can't find any in the downstairs tank, and only about 3 in the main display tank upstairs. But if someone came to see my tank, they would probably be hard pressed to find even one.

Oh, and they don't eat my corals either. When I first got them, they would pick occasionally at some of my LPS and some softies (palys and mushrooms). But they soon lost the taste for them. Probably because I kept them well fed with mysis and pellets. They eat pretty well everything, including flakes. I now have SPS, and they never bother them. Worst I have seen is them picking off the long slime threads after introduction or fragging. They have got me nervous a couple times after adding a new frag, when they come by to check it out thoroughly. But after a short while, they lose interest.

I will say they are still a delicate fish, and are particularly weak coming from the LFS. So a long QT time is a must to get them healthy and strong. I also had one killed by a clown fish, before it learned to stay clear. Also, if you have ich, or any other disease present, they will be the first to show it. But if you have a clean and healthy tank, they thrive.

So for me, this is the most valuable reef protector I have.

[Proteus]

For me it's all about cuc

I'm not a huge fish fan so a couple chromis are there to feed coral

I employ a army of inverts
Emerald crabs, cleaner shrimp, conch, snails and urchin

They do a great job of cleaning up uneaten food. I had a small small amount of bubble algae. Emeralds have taken care of that and my urchin polishes rock and tile

On a smaller note the sponge, fan worms, turnicates that take up residence in my sump and cryptic zone polish my water leaving a great home for acros

[JDigital]

180G - Axilspot Hogfish. This guy picks at any new coral rock I put in and is constantly hunting in the rocks. Mated Diamond Gobies keep my sand incredibly white. Tangs and Foxface seem to keep any algae in check.

62G - Yellow Wrasse is likely keeping any pests or bugs at bay. or the Candy Stripe Hogfish.

[The Grizz]

I would have to say it's my Checkerboard Wrasse when I got him just over a yr ago he was only about 2" long. Now he is HUGE, around 4" & a good 1" thick. Haven't seen many little pests in the 165 gal for a while now except for the colonial hydroids.

[Wayne]

I would have to say it was my Coral Banded Shrimp, I hate bristle worms and he just destroyed them before he got too old

[neoh]

bicolor angel. She's a beast.

[pinkreef]

Sailfin tang and tailspot blenny take care of algae
filefishes take care of the aptasia
porcelain crab takes care of floating stuff
wrasses take care of snails and teenie seastars and worms
gobie keeps sand clean
regal tang keeps everybody in check by stopping any fights

[kien]

My regal anglefish.



He is such a workhorse as he constantly picks at my weedy SPS corals. The result is very little polyp extension during the day and likely slowing down the growth of my SPS. Without him my tank would probably be completely overgrown with SPS. Who wants that?!

All kidding aside (actually I wasn't really kidding), I would have to say my entire army of inverts truly help keep my reef ticking along. From my hermit crabs, my sand sifting starfish, sea urchins, crabs, to various shrimp (peppermint, fire, skunk cleaner, etc). You hardly see them do much but they are hard at work constantly performing chores. Cleaning rocks, cleaning the sand bed, cleaning corals, cleaning fish. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! They are my All-Star team. Always cleaning and doing something useful!























Go team go!

[tony_3a]

Love my coral beauty angelfish, basically the mod in the tank, swims around and nobody screws with her but if others are fighting/getting abused she will just swim by and it will stop. Pretty funny to see actually.

Copperband I bought just because it was eating everything, and it turns out when I got it home it also liked aptasia, so that was a plus.

And of course the Lawnmower blenny, one of the most inexpensive fish but looks pretty cool and does an amazing job of keeping all the algaes in the tank in check.

[asylumdown]

Doliatus rabbitfish. There's not a species of algae it won't eat. Even picks at dinos. The only place I have algae growing is where corals have grown in to tight for it to reach.

Second to that is my Copper Band butterfly. I cleared out the aiptasia problem in my tank with berghia, and now I'm pretty sure my Copper Band is responsible for keeping them out as a few have popped back up in the sump, but not a single one in the display.

Finally, and probably most important of all - my long horn cowfish, because it's so freaking charismatic even my partner Kelly, who sees my tank as nothing more than a giant money devouring vortex, loves it. The amount of leeway I've been given on the tank and the relationship/tank capital I've banked by having that guy floating at the glass begging all our dinner party guests for food while Kelly talks about how cool he is is quite literally worth that fishes weight in gold.