Hardy Reef Safe Fish for Aiptasia Control?

eatbreakfast · Oct 12, 2017

Copperbands can be finnicky, sensitive fish that may or may not eat aiptasia and may or may not nip corals. The last copperband I had wouldn't touch aiptasia, but enjoyed eating acans.

Matted/aiptasia filefish eat aiptasia in more cases than not, but often when aiptasia are gone will move on to nipping fleshy corals.

Any other fish that will eat aiptasia will also be more likely to go after coral.

CoralReefer1019 · Oct 12, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
Copperbands can be finnicky, sensitive fish that may or may not eat aiptasia and may or may not nip corals. The last copperband I had wouldn't touch aiptasia, but enjoyed eating acans.

Matted/aiptasia filefish eat aiptasia in more cases than not, but often when aiptasia are gone will move on to nipping fleshy corals.

Any other fish that will eat aiptasia will also be more likely to go after coral.

I’m leaning towards a Cooperband or Pyramid Butterfly

Orm Embar · Oct 13, 2017

If you're looking for biological predators, I'd go with Berghia nudibranches if peppermint shrimp can't survive in your tank

CoralReefer1019 · Oct 13, 2017

Orm Embar said:
If you're looking for biological predators, I'd go with Berghia nudibranches if peppermint shrimp can't survive in your tank

those guys are good and expensive, not sure how they would do with my Melanarus Wrasse in the tank

Baldguy · Oct 13, 2017

I'd get a couple more Peppermint shrimp. They worked for me. I understand some don't have a taste for aptasia but most do.

Fishninja · Oct 13, 2017

+1 peppermint shrimp worked for me first try

CoralReefer1019 · Oct 13, 2017

Baldguy said:
I'd get a couple more Peppermint shrimp. They worked for me. I understand some don't have a taste for aptasia but most do.

peppermints have any predators...thinking my Melanarus Wrasses will have a feast

eatbreakfast · Oct 13, 2017

CoralReefer1019 said:
peppermints have any predators...thinking my Melanarus Wrasses will have a feast

Yeah, a melanurus is more than capable of hunting and eating peppermint shrimp.

Baldguy · Oct 13, 2017

My Melanurus has never bothered my peps or any other shrimp I have. I know it's possible but often there is no problem between melanurus and shrimp.

xionggotstyle · Oct 13, 2017

Berghia work on Aiptasia. Not sure for Mojano though.

xionggotstyle · Oct 13, 2017

Reef town has the best price. Google them

Ares · Oct 13, 2017

It's going to be hit or miss. I have a Mel wrasse as well and he eats any snails, hermits, or shrimp that go in the tank so peppermint shrimp weren't an option.

The first aiptasia eating filefish (ORA) split his time between eating my zoas and acans, and aiptasia. I've got another one now (also ORA) and it cleaned my tank up in about 3 months, not a single aiptasia left and he readily eats frozen foods and leaves my corals alone.

roll the dice

UNDRH2O · Oct 13, 2017

Picked up a captive bred (Biota) filefish that was raised on aiptasia and frozen foods. Did a great job on the aiptasia and ate mysis after that. Hasn’t bothered anything else. I should say the tank is just softies and lps , no sps.

bblumberg · Oct 14, 2017

Matted file fish in one tank (150g) and Klein's butterfly in another (75g). Both of these eat aiptasia that they can reach and also take mysis and pellets. Both were quarantined for 6 weeks before going into my systems and were acclimated to eating mysis and pellets from the start.

I have some aiptasia deep in crevices of Pukani rock that the filefish cannot reach. Bought a CBB but it died in quarantine. Will try another. Peppermint shrimp are hit or miss as others have said.

Bruce

HereWeGoAgain · Oct 15, 2017

I bought the uber-expensive bergia nudibranchs. They ate all the aiptasia in sight. Then the nudibranchs disappeared (I assume they died, since their only diet is aiptasia).
Then, new aiptasia began to appear (I assume they were too small for the nudibranchs to see/eat before they starved).
Sigh.

bblumberg · Oct 16, 2017

HereWeGoAgain said:
I bought the uber-expensive bergia nudibranchs. They ate all the aiptasia in sight. Then the nudibranchs disappeared (I assume they died, since their only diet is aiptasia).
Then, new aiptasia began to appear (I assume they were too small for the nudibranchs to see/eat before they starved).
Sigh.

Sad, but true. I think that once you have aiptasia, they are always around at some level. Fish and peppermints can keep them mostly under control, but once they are gone, the aiptasia will probably return.

CoralReefer1019 · Oct 16, 2017

I’m kinda stuck on my choices, if I get some peppermint shrimps my Melanarus Wrasse will have a feast. If I get a CBB my yellow tang will probably kill it. Not sure what else to do. Some filefish and CBB can also eat coral...sigh

jda · Oct 16, 2017

Peppermints from the Florida Keys are good aip eaters. The ones from other places in the caribbean are so-so - once I started to order direct from a diver in the Keys, then they worked out much better.

Copperband is less than 50% for me.

There are always some baby aips hid out somewhere - if you have an effective solution, don't ever let them go.

Jacobscorals · Oct 16, 2017

Have a peppermint rids them completely and have none left so I've been feeding him and make sure he eats every couple days to keep him satisfied and am so proud of him and he checks every frag or anything I move on the tank and this Saturday morning I woke early to check new frags I'm starting in the frag tank from the day before and he was in the front row of the tank on top of a stripped to bone neon green montipora and is in my display with no issues so far and I guess he just decided montipora digita was tasty and he smoked the quarter sized frag overnight.it is growing back polyps and tissue but man it sucked.he went from #1 of frag tank to last in display on the liked list