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Aiptasia: Berghia or File Fish?


MantaFan

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I've got a pretty bad aiptasia outbreak, and need some advice. I've got 2 peppermint shrimp in the tank and they're useless. I've also tried Aiptasia-X in another tank of mine and that just made them mad and spawned an army.

So, I'm looking into a better battle strategy. I like the idea of a reef-safe option in the Berghia Nudis, but with a 150g I'll need at least 10 and that's going to be expensive. What do they eat after they've eradicated the aiptasia?

I've also looked at a Matted Filefish, but I've heard the success rate is less than 100% and they'll chomp my zoas after the aiptasia is gone.

Please weigh in with your experiences.... Thanks!

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A copperband butterfly might make short work of all the aiptasia... they are just very sensitive fish and have a lower survival rate.

Maybe try the overpopulation method, just buy a ton of peppermint shrimps and let them loose in your tank and don't feed if you can so they are super hungry. Maybe even stab a couple of aiptasias to put some blood in the water? Just a thought here, I have never tried that.

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Berghia's will die out after eating the aiptasia. You can catch and then resell any left at that point to another member (good idea as well in case you miss some and the aiptasia come back). Copperband's are awesome, but will also starve after the aiptasia are gone unless you get lucky or have other live food sources.

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I have the same problem in my 150 and I'm going to go ahead and order some berghia's. I used them many years ago and they did the trick. They seem to be my best option although expensive. You can use the water bottle trick to catch the peppermint shrimp and get rid of them or put them in your sump like Roy V mentioned.

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I have an aptasia eating file fish and he does a good job of keeping them at bay. Aptasia are now only present in my sump and in little crevices he can't reach. He also eats meaty foods so doesn't starve when there aren't many aptasia to eat.

Is that a certain type of filefish? Do you have a pic?

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I have an aptasia eating file fish and he does a good job of keeping them at bay. Aptasia are now only present in my sump and in little crevices he can't reach. He also eats meaty foods so doesn't starve when there aren't many aptasia to eat.

Is that a certain type of filefish? Do you have a pic?

I think a lot of LFS have been selling the matted filefish as the aiptasia eating filefish. It's really hit or miss. The last time I tried one, it swam by a rock with 3-4 aiptasia on it daily and never ate them. It did, however, devour a good assortment of zoas before I realized it was the one doing it.

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I have an aptasia eating file fish and he does a good job of keeping them at bay. Aptasia are now only present in my sump and in little crevices he can't reach. He also eats meaty foods so doesn't starve when there aren't many aptasia to eat.

Is that a certain type of filefish? Do you have a pic?

I think a lot of LFS have been selling the matted filefish as the aiptasia eating filefish. It's really hit or miss. The last time I tried one, it swam by a rock with 3-4 aiptasia on it daily and never ate them. It did, however, devour a good assortment of zoas before I realized it was the one doing it.

I remember that. I was hoping this was a different type. Bummer. Back to the berghia idea.

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FWIW I've noticed that peps tend to avoid the bigger aiptasia, but once they get blasted with aiptasia-x the peps make quick work of the little ones that pop up. I've also observed that peppermint shrimp will tend to avoid territories that other, larger, inverts occupy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I have an aptasia eating file fish and he does a good job of keeping them at bay. Aptasia are now only present in my sump and in little crevices he can't reach. He also eats meaty foods so doesn't starve when there aren't many aptasia to eat.

Is that a certain type of filefish? Do you have a pic?

I think a lot of LFS have been selling the matted filefish as the aiptasia eating filefish. It's really hit or miss. The last time I tried one, it swam by a rock with 3-4 aiptasia on it daily and never ate them. It did, however, devour a good assortment of zoas before I realized it was the one doing it.

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's just a matted filefish. He's pretty good at changing colors and turning green when hanging around my vast algae beds doh.gif but he has never touched any of my zoas, and I have 4 different zoa colonies. Just like some fish that nip corals, it's probably hit or miss

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I have an aptasia eating file fish and he does a good job of keeping them at bay. Aptasia are now only present in my sump and in little crevices he can't reach. He also eats meaty foods so doesn't starve when there aren't many aptasia to eat.

Is that a certain type of filefish? Do you have a pic?

I think a lot of LFS have been selling the matted filefish as the aiptasia eating filefish. It's really hit or miss. The last time I tried one, it swam by a rock with 3-4 aiptasia on it daily and never ate them. It did, however, devour a good assortment of zoas before I realized it was the one doing it.

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's just a matted filefish. He's pretty good at changing colors and turning green when hanging around my vast algae beds doh.gif but he has never touched any of my zoas, and I have 4 different zoa colonies. Just like some fish that nip corals, it's probably hit or miss

Okay, thanks!

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Filefish and Peppermint Shrimp will work sometimes, maybe most of the time and maybe not. Read stories all the time about those that do and those that don't. Reason being is that neither species feeds entirely on Aptasia. They do feed on it but it is not their only diet, so many choose the easier path and eat other things available to them. However the Berghia Nudis eat only Aptasia and therefore are a sure thing, accepting of course they take to your system and acclimate like any invert.

I can say I bought $150 worth delivered price for my 75 which ahd a medium infestation and they eliminated allof them in a relatively short period of time. It does take a while for them to propagate and begin hunting. But when they do they work pretty fast.

I got mine from http://www.reeftown.com/called them and got a lot of info from theowner. Sorry can't remember his name. But he delivered the package as promised on time and alive. I followed his simple instructions and acclimated at night so my Wrasses would not feed on them and I still have a pest free tank many months later.

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