file fish question and experiences

landon

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I've seen a few people that have file fish in spa and lps tanks. I really like their behavior and would like to introduce one to the tank. My question is which kind have people had the best experience with. A few of my fish have "jobs" within the tank, is their any benefit to having them? I know there are some that eat aptasia but I don't have any.
 
I had a Bristletail Filefish. No issues with lps or softies.
Of course, I feed heavily, compared to most.
 
ive been recommended thems everal times for apstasia...because i had a smaller tank at the time i didnt get them but opted for peppermint shrimp instead...they are definately cool fish though...the people that rec'd them to me swore they didnt nip at their sps but of coarse liveaquaria says they do..sometimes i think liveaquaria says everything does to protect themselves from emails saying why didnt u tell me itd nip
 
I have a Matted Filefish that I move between two tanks and it does a GREAT job of wiping out Aptasia. Other types of filefish are definate coral munchers, and some people have had problems with Matted filefish eating coral - but I have had good luck with this one.

When first purchased, over a year ago, I had a large aptasia infestation that the filefish cleared out in a few months. I also suspect that it nipped at one colony of Yellow Polyps, but not enough to cause extensive damage. It has never bothered any of our LPS coral, but I do not keep a lot of SPS and do not know if it would bother them.

Aside from the benefit of aptasia control, it is simply a cool fish. It floats thru the tank using transparent fins that are virtually invisible, and is able to change colors. Non-aggressive, it gets along with anything in the tank.
 
It's like Angel fish, I guess, some nip, some don't. It's safer to say they do.

My experience is based on 1 fish, so take that for what it is.

They are very cool fish, but like to jump. (unfortunately) Also, very timid, so I don't recommend keeping with aggressive fish. They do the aptasia eating job very well and (as opposed to Copperbands) will eat anything you throw in the tank.
 
yeah ive been wanting an aptasia eating FF for a while.. they have a couple at Blue Planet now. I would get one would my tank is pretty full.
 
Had one a year ago in reef with heavy LPS. Took care of aptasia and was then real easy to catch once the aptasia was gone. Did not have a problem with it bothering corals or anemones
 
I would be caustious with The aiptasia eating filefish with ACans. I had a pair, and they nipped at zoanthids (although not killing them), but MURDERED acans.
 
I had a Mimic Filefish (looks like a saddle puffer) who was awesome. Didn't mess with anything, looked gorgeous.

I just couldn't feed often & heavy enough to sustain him. He died in about 6 weeks. It sucked...
 
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