What's the best butterfly fish or any fish to get to eat aiptasia?

[CLowe92]

Looking to get a fish to eat some aiptasia but I don't want it to destroy my corals if anyone has some suggestions let me know. Thanks


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[wilfx]

I have had good luck with a Copperband butterfly.

 

[PSU4ME]

CBB is the usual choice. Pepermint shrimp won't work?

 

[CLowe92]

I tryed CBB but my tang killed him but I don't have the tang anymore so I'm gonna try again just wanted to hear some opinions an I got a big wrasse that would most likely just eat the shrimp


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[s_kelley]

Heard good things about matted filefish, never had one but have seen em in a ton of tanks

 

[CLowe92]

Will they eat coral?


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[s_kelley]

I think they nip at stuff occasionally if you don't keep em fed
Google matted file fish there's a ton of people saying they're reef safe but a couple that say otherwise

 

[Platehead]

+1 on file fish. Had good luck with mine. However, you may need to rehome after aptasia is gone.

 

[CLowe92]

Yeah I'm gonna try the file fish I just ordered one today.. Can't stand the aiptasia just hope it doesn't destroy my corals. I tryed a queen angel before but it was eating to much coral so I gave it to my buddy an it did eat all his aiptasia along with a lot of his coral thou


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[this is me]

Have you tried Aptaisa X? It takes care of my Aptaisa in the tank. However, I use it as soon as I see an aptaisia.

 

[CLowe92]

Yeah I have a big bottle but I have way to much to keep up with an it just seems to come right back


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[daves-reef]

In past I had a major Aptaisa out breaks. It was so bad I cared not for anything but getting rid of them. Tried the file fish. He loved eating them Wiped them out in weeks. He ate manoj anemones too. Unfortunate he also liked mushrooms and green palie's. Wiped a colony of blue and one orange mushrooms. Just about any softie/aneome family I think. Not my BTA and not ricordia mushrooms. Those did not get touched. But any other zoa, paly, or mushroom.

After I removed him, to my surprise the blue and orange mushrooms recovered. Even though there was no visible sign after he ate them. There must have been some left in cracks and they grew completely back. Right in same place as before. So did some of the nuclear green palyies. Unfortunately I think that their maybe a grow back issue with manoj and aptasia also. I have also had lemon peel angels eat aptasia. Same issues though. They will go after corals too.

For my last rebuild I had placed all my rock in trash buckets of SW with powerhead and lids for two months (Search cooking rock). Hoping that would help kill any remaining pests. When I got the system up and running after a month or two I found that a few aptasia had returned. I did add half a dozen peppermint shrimp. They wiped out any visible aptasia right away. I think its hit or miss with shrimp. Its been 6 months and I just saw my first aptasia again hidden underneath a rock in a crack. I don't know if the shrimp just haven't found it. Or if they lost the taste for aptasia since they been eating fish food for months now.

 

[2386]

I had a Copperband Butterfly that devastated my aiptasia population. However, it also ate all my feather dusters. It didn't bother any corals. I will say, though, that buying a fish to get rid of a pest isn't necessarily the best long-term idea unless you genuinely like/want that fish. Good thing Copperbands are such beautiful fish.

 

[CLowe92]

File fish will be here in the morning so I'll see how he does. I try'd twice with CCB but they both died.. One because of my tang an the other idk but I'll take an ugly looking fish in my tank over a tank full of aiptasia any day lol can't stand the stuff


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[mystereef]

My matted filefish cleaned out my 55g that was completely infested with 1000's of aptaisia of all different sizes. It took him about two months. They're not the prettiest fish but they have a neat way of moving about the tank. FYI Mine bit the all of the "nose-things" off my nassarius snails, the ones that survived just have small stubs now. Also my Duncan hasn't opened in the 6 months he's been in the tank.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

I tried the filefish method. As soon as I moved him to another tank, the aptasia came back twice as bad. They can eat the tops, but they can't get into the nooks and crannies of the rocks. It's just a temporary fix unless you plan to keep him indefinitely. They aren't pretty fish, but they are very nice.

 

[CLowe92]

I got the file fish but he wouldn't eat anything at all an then died after like 2 weeks


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