Who has had good luck with these? I tried a couple in the past and neither lived very long or seemed to be interested in aiptasia. My current tank is 580 gallons and has a serious infestation. I’ve tried some nudibranchs and peppermint shrimp but haven’t noticed any impact. I understand a large tank would take an army but I would also think I’d notice some anemones disappearing eventually
Aiptasia filefish
- Thread starter ptreef
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Filefish always end up eating my zoas. CB Butterfly works for me
@Rickdareefa had success with a filefish: https://atlantareefclub.org/threads/my-filefish-experience.1184618/
I’m worried that a CBB would be too fragile with all my tangs. I’ve never tried to keep one of them
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I would throw multiple interventions at them. I had a single filefish wipe out all aiptasia in my 200. But then it went on strike. CBB good too. And manual removal when you can. Takes a village. With a tank that big, you could throw 3 filefish in there and see which one takes to them.
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they work amazing well and fast… than move onto everything else or simultaneously. They are however pretty easy to catch
Easy to catch is a huge deal with my tank. I mostly assume any fish I put in there had better stay for life unless it will voluntarily go in a trap. I’m going to give one a try and hope for the best
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I’ve have 4 in my lifetimes all sleep vertically at a corner or by overflows . Maybe I was lucky
They don't eat until they have developed a taste for them. I had 2 of them and both did not eat anything (except fish pellets) for a few months then suddenly all the aptasia disappeared in a 2-3 days after no progress for months. One later moved on to eating zoas too. The other stayed aptasia only until he managed to find a gap in the tank cover after I had him several years. On a complex system with big sump and lots of plumbing/overflows the fish can't get to all the aptasia and they will migrate into the display.
I have had very little if any progress with peppermint shrimp vs aptasia. But berhingia nudibranch cleaned out my badly infested system (7 tanks +sump/overflows etc) all plumbed together pretty in a matter of a couple months. The aptasia returned about 3 years after the nudibranchs so not a permanent solution. I managed to get the nudibranchs to lay eggs and live 3 months in a separate 10 gallon tank but I did not see the eggs hatch and grow.
I have had very little if any progress with peppermint shrimp vs aptasia. But berhingia nudibranch cleaned out my badly infested system (7 tanks +sump/overflows etc) all plumbed together pretty in a matter of a couple months. The aptasia returned about 3 years after the nudibranchs so not a permanent solution. I managed to get the nudibranchs to lay eggs and live 3 months in a separate 10 gallon tank but I did not see the eggs hatch and grow.
I have a lead on getting one this weekend. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll let you know for sure
