Matted Filefish

[PurpleCarpet]

So I had an extremely awful breakout with Aiptasia and purchased the matted Filefish to take care of them. Well he did and like a champ wiped out literally a thousand of them. Then he ate my frogspawns, hammers, torches, candy cane, and my zoas. He's left alone GSP, and assorted mushrooms. My question is, would a rather larger Bubble Tip Anemone be safe with this guy in the tank still? Thank you!

 

[WatDatThing]

Do you still have aptasia problem? If not, get rid of the fish. Any fish that touches my torch is a dead fish....lol

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[PurpleCarpet]

I've not seen an Aiptasia in months thank goodness. He did such a great job I can't find it within myself to get rid of him. There's nothing left with regards to corals in the tank that he's going after, I miss the corals he did take out but thankful he took care of the Aiptasia. I'm just wondering if a BTA will be in the clear?

 

[ThRoewer]

If you have an anemonefish hosted by the BTA who protects it, the anemone should be safe. Otherwise all bets are off.

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[PurpleCarpet]

If you have an anemonefish hosted by the BTA who protects it, the anemone should be safe. Otherwise all bets are off.

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Thank you, perhaps I'll just have to muster the courage and get rid of the little guy so I can bring back corals that I love. I've got a Darwin clown along with an Onyx that are a breeding pair. Don't know if they'll take to the BTA or not.

 

[WatDatThing]

If you have a sump, give it a shot. If the filefish bothers the BTA, you can sump it while looking to rehome it.

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[ThRoewer]

Thank you, perhaps I'll just have to muster the courage and get rid of the little guy so I can bring back corals that I love. I've got a Darwin clown along with an Onyx that are a breeding pair. Don't know if they'll take to the BTA or not.

I'm assuming the clowns are captive bred. Those are usually less picky with their hosts.
I would just give it a shot and see what happens. Even if the filefish starts nipping on the anemone it is rather unlikely that the damage will be severe right away.
Another option would be to detain the filefish in the sump or a acclimatization box until the clowns made up their minds. Once they moved into the anemone you can release the filefish again.

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[PurpleCarpet]

You know I may just end up going with a Haddoni and call it a day. The Filefish won't mess with that and the clowns will have a natural host. Thank you!

 

[ThRoewer]

You know I may just end up going with a Haddoni and call it a day. The Filefish won't mess with that and the clowns will have a natural host. Thank you!

I'm not sure if the black Darwin "ocellaris" are found in haddoni carpets in the wild and if it is their natural host, but my darwins hopped right into one when I offered it to them.

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Haddoni is definitely not a natural host for percula. The one pair I offered one gave it one look and then chose to ignore it. They rather kept hanging out in a ceramic flowerpot. previously they had a gigantea, their natural host, and now they seem to refuse cheap substitutes.
But if one of your pair goes in the haddoni then the other may just follow...

The one thing to consider is that a haddoni needs a deep sandbed.
The other is that they are probably the most dangerous to non-anemonefish. My haddoni have already made a few fish disappear...

 

[PurpleCarpet]

I'm worried about the Haddoni now eating my other fish and would rather avoid that situation. With that said I'm wondering if I remove the Filefish would the Aiptasia problem come back? I can't see a single head and have combed the tank for the last few weeks. My concern is that if I remove the Filefish the Aiptasia will come back with a vengeance or is that just me worrying and them little pest things are gone for good?

 

[ThRoewer]

I'm worried about the Haddoni now eating my other fish and would rather avoid that situation. With that said I'm wondering if I remove the Filefish would the Aiptasia problem come back? I can't see a single head and have combed the tank for the last few weeks. My concern is that if I remove the Filefish the Aiptasia will come back with a vengeance or is that just me worrying and them little pest things are gone for good?

I would think that your concerns are valid. A filefish can only reach the parts of an Aptasia that stick out of the rocks. Only a few cells of the foot being left behind can be enough to grow into a new Aptasia. That's one of the reasons why fish are not really suiably as "seasonal" Aptasia fighters. For them to be effective they need to remain in the tank as part of the permanent stock.
Same goes for peppermint shrimp, thought they are generally better at getting all of the Aptasia.

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[PurpleCarpet]

That's not too good to hear but one I was kind of prepared for. I couldn't stand the Aiptasia and would hate for an outbreak to happen again. I'm thankful it's under control but then again I do miss keeping LPS and zoas of course. The joys of reefing continues.