Aiptasia Eating Filefish

[tbrown3589]

Ok so I went and got myself an Aiptasia Eating Filefish today to help get rid of some nuisances. I know the horror stories and will be watching for coral nipping.

I've read through reviews and fish "profiles" on websites and everything I've found says they work well in flow and I don't have a ton of flow (125 gallon with 2 2100 gpm powerheads - one at each end) but when I added him, he went to th back glass and latched onto a piece of coralline algae and is just sitting there kind of rustling in the "breeze".

Does anyone have any experience with higher flow and Filefish or do I need to take the main aiptasia rock and the Filefish and sump them?

I've zapped the Aiptasia multiple times and instead of dying I end up with more each time so I figure this was necessary.

 

[Goaway]

I've never owned a filefish. Does it eat?
Might be weak from shipment and needs time to recuperate.

2nd, terrified after leaving a holding tank into a new territory of unknown.
But, I'm guessing.

Now waiting for someone to give you the correct answers.

 

[Acros]

They struggle with flow initially, but will get used to it in a day or two. My tank has above 100x turn over. I have observed the same with peppermint shrimp as well.

That being said, I had the fish for under two weeks as it only ate my acro polyps.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Ok so I went and got myself an Aiptasia Eating Filefish today to help get rid of some nuisances. I know the horror stories and will be watching for coral nipping.

I've read through reviews and fish "profiles" on websites and everything I've found says they work well in flow and I don't have a ton of flow (125 gallon with 2 2100 gpm powerheads - one at each end) but when I added him, he went to th back glass and latched onto a piece of coralline algae and is just sitting there kind of rustling in the "breeze".

Does anyone have any experience with higher flow and Filefish or do I need to take the main aiptasia rock and the Filefish and sump them?

I've zapped the Aiptasia multiple times and instead of dying I end up with more each time so I figure this was necessary.

You'll be sorry when it eats all your LPS coral overnight.

I'd rather put up with Aiptasia then ever try another filefish.

 

[tbrown3589]

I've never owned a filefish. Does it eat?
Might be weak from shipment and needs time to recuperate.

2nd, terrified after leaving a holding tank into a new territory of unknown.
But, I'm guessing.

Now waiting for someone to give you the correct answers.

The store says he's been there for a couple of weeks. There were two in the tank and both were eating flake food when I walked up.

 

[Goaway]

The store says he's been there for a couple of weeks. There were two in the tank and both were eating flake food when I walked up.

Could be shy for the time being.

Hopefully not waiting to munchy on all the coral at night....

 

[tbrown3589]

You'll be sorry when it eats all your LPS coral overnight.

I'd rather put up with Aiptasia then ever try another filefish.

Super encouraging, thanks!

As mentioned above, I understand the risks and am prepared to move as needed.

For future responses, there are a lot better ways to word this response. I'm not offended because I have thick skin and I've been in the game long enough to understand every fish has inherent risks. Responses like these to new reefers can really ruin someone fast.

 

[tbrown3589]

Could be shy for the time being.

Hopefully not waiting to munchy on all the coral at night....

Yeah, I'm prepared to sump him if need be. The skimmer only runs for 6 hours a day and gets emptied every two weeks or so so removing it from the loop won't hurt too much.

 

[Goaway]

Super encouraging, thanks!

As mentioned above, I understand the risks and am prepared to move as needed.

For future responses, there are a lot better ways to word this response. I'm not offended because I have thick skin and I've been in the game long enough to understand every fish has inherent risks. Responses like these to new reefers can really ruin someone fast.

Gotta try for sure.

 

[00W]

Not an expert by any means but I had one for almost 4 years.
Very shy but super cool personality. Never hurt a thing.
Did not like flow of any kind but he/she got used to it and just hung out where there wasn't as much.
Never touched my coral but I had 3 fast moving spazzes and he was afraid of everything.
I think he finally died due to lack of food. He ate flake and brine but very slowly.
I've learned over the years that all fish in all different surroundings are very different in their behavior.
I really liked my file fish. I also homed him knowing the risks.
Hope this helps if it does.
Joel

 

[tbrown3589]

Not an expert by any means but I had one for almost 4 years.
Very shy but super cool personality. Never hurt a thing.
Did not like flow of any kind but he/she got used to it and just hung out where there wasn't as much.
Never touched my coral but I had 3 fast moving spazzes and he was afraid of everything.
I think he finally died due to lack of food. He ate flake and brine but very slowly.
I've learned over the years that all fish in all different surroundings are very different in their behavior.
I really liked my file fish. I also homed him knowing the risks.
Hope this helps if it does.
Joel

Thanks! Did he do good for the Aiptasia?

 

[00W]

Yes. I only had a small amount (we all know how that goes) and he made quick work of it.
They are incredibly cool fish that blend in with their surroundings like chameleons if you will. They sort of just float in the air but if they get scared man they're quick then!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Im in the it didnt work club, living in my sump currently. Munched hard on my zoas.

 

[tbrown3589]

Yes. I only had a small amount (we all know how that goes) and he made quick work of it.
They are incredibly cool fish that blend in with their surroundings like chameleons if you will. They sort of just float in the air but if they get scared man they're quick then!

Yep! I had 1. I zapped it and super glued it then I had two - one on each side of the superglue. Then I zapped those and had 8, then 16... I stopped zapping and they stopped multiplying but they're bothering my Zoas.

 

[tbrown3589]

Im in the it didnt work club, living in my sump currently. Munched hard on my zoas.

I'm considering that but they're on my Zoa Rock. I could honestly care less about the zoas they're attached to and I can separate the others. If he starts bothering anything beyond Zoas, him and the Zoa Rock will be sumped.

 

[00W]

Yeah I learned that the hard way too! To zap is to grow I guess.

 

[Goaway]

You'll be sorry when it eats all your LPS coral overnight.

I'd rather put up with Aiptasia then ever try another filefish.

Doesn't answer his main concern of the fish.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I'm considering that but they're on my Zoa Rock. I could honestly care less about the zoas they're attached to and I can separate the others. If he starts bothering anything beyond Zoas, him and the Zoa Rock will be sumped.

My larger tank is softies dominated (lots of zoas) thus its bad for me, lol.

I run dual gyres with about 6k gph of flow, it didn't care for the most part. Went in/out the rock work a lot.

 

[tbrown3589]

My larger tank is softies dominated (lots of zoas) thus its bad for me, lol.

I'm heavy SPS with a smattering of LPS, one rock of Zoas, a boulder of GSP and some various Rhodactis mushrooms.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Not going to mention the risks as you already mentioned em. I had a positive experience with mine and they are adaptable to flow, can confirm. Mine took a few days to get comfortable but once it was, it became a curious fellow and got along great with all my fish. They're a lot of fun to watch once they get comfortable...and they do like to periodically hover, so it sounds like yours will be fine.

Ok, I lied - I'm only gonna add one thing and that is when mine turned it happened quite suddenly. They can make short work of stuff. However, he did such a good job in the aiptasia that I was hardly mad. So keep a close eye

I think if you keep it well fed it may feel less inclined to pick at stuff. Either way, awesome fish. Hope it does good work for you.