Watch This Before You Get An Aiptasia Eating File Fish

Aiptasia eating filefish might sound like the perfect solution to an aiptasia outbreak. But that's probably not quite the case...

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[KaltrinaDemiri]

I had a major aiptasia problem when I went and purchased his guy. I added him to my tank and he ate all of them. Don’t have that issue anymore. He’s a good fish. He eats flakes and whatever else I drop in there. I love him!

[tylerclontz]

I felt this was a very well balanced and well made review for this fish. Great video.

[TenorCantusFirmus]

If I'd have a marine aquarium, I wouldn't buy this fish just because he's known to eat Aiptasias - I'd buy it because it's amazing! Being a Monacanthid (filefish), it practically has all the personality and intelligence of a Balistid (triggerfish), without having to contend with the larger size and unpredictable temperament of the latter. Also, it can be bought as captive-bred, which means you can have an amazing, hardy (and broad-range omnivorous, which means it will both readily eat most commercial foods and also nibble on "live rocks" for a supplement) fish without having to fear you are denting on wild stocks. Maybe it's not the most vivdly-colored fish you can have, but its personality is more than enough to compensate.

A fish-dominated tank, with other small or mid-size, mild-tempered (and more colorful, if that's a problem for you) fish could be a better choice than a reef aquarium, but still I wouldn't buy just because it eats Aiptasias. That's not fair, it's an amazing small fish and deserves to be better recognized as such.

[BigFishLittleFishAquatics]

You can tell they are related to triggers with their fins, although got to love the dorsal, reminds me of a cockatoo! - great info

[pedro]

Thanks Alex. Greta timing too. My LFS have just got these in and I was actually looking forward to going to pick one up and it clearing my tank of Aiptasia. I don't think I'll be taking the risk though in my reef tank.

[jonathanfrank]

Haha! Fair enough. I actually got one of these guys, yesterday, bc I found him absolutely captivating compared the other usual suspects...and he checked out pretty well w my quick research on the phone at the store. He’s been a very enjoyable addition so far and am only worried that he’s actually finding what he’s looking for w his 12 pecks per hour! Anyway, your videos are always fun to watch and I appreciate the upbeat attitude, along w the great insight. Thanks for whatcha do!

[superdragon]

i dont even have aptasia im just here for the tiny filefish its so adorable and i will get one in the no coral 40g tank with a dwarf angel and a valentini and maybe some other fish and some inverts

[LightSearch]

I got 2 large females. One of them ate brown xenias and that was it. None of them touches anything else.

[eal]

I have one in a fowlr about 3 yrs in he eats everything - lettuce, seaweed, dried shrimp, pellets etc very interesting colour changes like a chamelion depending what its swimming past and great personality but one day he sort of inflated and has been that way for about four months can swim to all levels and continues to stuff himself. I have no idea what the cause is but he's starting to look like he swallowed a golf ball.

[ireneklauber]

I just added a file fish to my reef tank and he has been picking at my Duncan's and torches.

[blunderbuss]

there are already so many fish with eyebleeding colours, it's sort of damn refreshing to have something brown and cream honestly

[Mike__B]

The problem with these aiptasia eaters is sure they may clear all the aiptasia that you see, and the smart reefer will say "ha! lets remove them" however as great as the regenerative capabilities of aiptasia are they're bound to come back in the same exact spots. That's why I never epoxy or permanent attach rocks to each other, if I see an aiptasia I remove the rock, and remove the piece of the rock with said aiptasia, no worries about regeneration, it's just gone, sure I lose some of the rock, and sure it's a pain in the butt to do it, but it's better than the alternative... having aiptasia that just go crazy in a tank.

[EIY_Kumar]

can I keep a filefish inside my sump (30 gal apprx) and just put the rocks having aiptasia inside sump for the filefish to eat.. and when they are free of aiptasia move them back to main tank

[spicyreef]

Haha, this was the unanswered question I asked when u were on Lauren's channel live yesterday. Glad to see you have a whole vid dedicated to it.
Been noticing mine hovering over monti's and gorgonians but also aiptasia. I don't actually see them nibble on the coral but they hover so close I'm rethinking my purchase... did you end up giving them away or?

[nodrush]

Nothing beats a Copparband for apraxia eating.

[danhogan]

They offer captive bred pygmy ones that I guess dont nip corals. Might want to look into those.

[antjohnson]

I dont keep any corals in my tank yet so is a file fish a good idea before I start using things like aptasia x to get rid of my aptasia? I prefere to use a natural resource rather than chemicals.to get.rid of things in my tanks

[grantlewis]

I’m getting one because it’s the closest thing to a triggerfish I can get for a 30 gallon tank.

[sammybeeslaar]

Bought a filefish 2 weeks ago, he want back to the shop last week after he took a chunk out of my lumo green candy canes

[running-with-scissors]

I had aiptasia. It spread all over. I bought a file fish and it seemed to make no difference. Frustrated I bought some berghia nudibranch. I tested them in the sump to begin with. They obliterated it. I then put the nudibranch into my main tank. To my complete horror the filefish ate them right before my eyes. I was going to get rid of the file fish and buy more nudibranch, but in the couple of weeks before I bought more, my aiptasia seemed to be disappearing. Some of them were around 3 to 4 inches in size. I decided to wait it out. The file fish single handedly wiped out every last one over the course of a few weeks. I've been aiptasia free for 6 months now and feeding him a regular diet.
4 weeks ago, I bought a new coral for my kitchen aquarium. It came with a tiny aiptasia anemone that somehow snuck past me. Naturally, I was cheesed off. So I captured the file fish and put him in. Within 1 hour it was gone. I left him in for a couple of days just to be sure. Both my aquariums are now aiptasia free. He's never been any trouble for my corals the whole time I've had him. I know there are some horror stories, but this was my experience. I hope this helps anyone struggling with aiptasia.