Whitespotted Pygmy Filefish (Rudarius ercodes) vs aiptasia

[dg3147]

Do Whitespotted Pygmy Filefish (Rudarius ercodes) eat aiptasia? I have a pait in my tank. Cool fish...though aiptasia untouched. GRrrrrrr.....

 

[Myles]

how are they doing with your coral and other fish? I've been tempted every time I see them on divers den but know nothing about their husbandry.
Myles

 

[dg3147]

how are they doing with your coral and other fish? I've been tempted every time I see them on divers den but know nothing about their husbandry.
Myles

No issues at all. But never seen it eat aiptasia either.

 

[Myles]

Thanks for the info. I'm not surprised that they don't touch aptasia. I'm assuming they are pretty passive-anyone prone to picking on them.
What kinds of corals are you keeping them with?
Myles

 

[dg3147]

mixed sps tank with clam. Nobody picking on them and they do not pick on anything. Very cool fish;highly recommend them.

Careful with pumps when first introducing them...i had some close calls the first two days.

 

[Myles]

Thanks for the help-maybe next time I see them for sale I'll give them a try.
Myles

 

[dendrite]

bought a captive bred whitespotted pigmy filefish from Liveaquaria four weeks ago which just came out of quarantine, and into a 40 gallon SPS tank along with two flasher wrasses, a bengaii cardinal and a bicolor blenny. Eats everything frozen, along with small pellets and bloodworms, gets along well, and no trouble with eating coral. Nice little fish.

 

[Myles]

Those would have been the ones I almost went for.
Myles

 

[teemee]

i have two ora pygmy files - they are pigs when it comes to frozen food. i haven't seen them touch anything in my tank, though I have an nps dominated one, so maybe they're not interested.

 

[notclear]

Hi teemee, how are your two files doing? Do they touch your corals and do they eat aiptasia if you have any?

 

[GOSKN5]

I got one from live aquaria about a month ago.. doing great so far... no issues with corals and I have a bunch of gorgs and softies... **knocks on wood**

 

[las]

I read all the time that people love these fish. Can u tell me why? They aren't the prettiest fish I've seen. But, what do you guys think makes them so cool to have?

 

[dg3147]

Late reply....but might help someone:

They really are very cool fish. Small so don't increase fish load much and are peaceful. They won't nip corals (but don't think they eat aiptasia eaither). They occupy different region of tank then most fish; often hanging out in a camouflage pattern with staghorn sps). They eat small pellets and most anything else.

Great fish –mine are ORA bred. I tossed 3 individual in my tank with no compatibility issues.

(note: careful is you have strong pumps –especially with new arrivals. With time they will adapt and avoid the pumps, but new arrivals may get sucked in. Turn your pumps to low for a week or so.)

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I know this is an old thread but thought I would add that the ONLY file fish that eats Aiptasia with any regularity is the Matted File fish (Acreichthys tomentosus)

 

[dendrite]

I know this is an old thread but thought I would add that the ONLY file fish that eats Aiptasia with any regularity is the Matted File fish (Acreichthys tomentosus)

I put an ORA Matted Filefish in my 40 gallon reef along with my two white spotted Filefish. Within a month my Aiptasia was gone. No problems with coral nipping. No fighting. Get along, go along.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I'm considering getting one of the ORA ones because the last MFF I got started eating blasto's once the aiptasia were gone. He ate other fish food like a pig and was a really cool fish.

LA has the ORA one on sale but sadly it's to cheap they won't ship it unless I spend another $10. Problem is it's in FL :hammer: I'm not going to pay over price for their frags and I don't want anything else but this fish. :hammer: If they wouldn't have put it on sale it would of been fine.

So what can I get from FL that is about $10

 

[Myles]

I finally got one from divers den a couple of months ago. Doing great-eats like a porker, pokes at the sand but not the corals. Bothers nothing and no one bothers him. Great fish for a peaceful aquarium.
Myles

 

[xxsevxx]

I hate a white spotted one, it was great for about a month then started to destroy my Duncan and my Neon green toadstool. I took him back to the LFS.

 

[TinaMcCord]

I've had two ORA pygmys in the DT for four months, they eat great and didn't touch the aiptasia. Recently added an ORA aiptasia eating FF from LA and it didn't touch the aiptasia in the QT tank. Now that its been moved to the DT most of that nasty stuff is gone, and also seeing the pygmys nipping at them as well as cleaning the rocks. The 3 cruise together and hilarious, love these little guys! They swim along the bottom, come up catch a current and race to the other side. If they see anyone apporaching the tank they are front and center begging for handouts.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Yeah Tina, they're really cool fish. A bit ugly but very cool to watch. I love how they change colors too depending upon the background.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Should I get the ORA one or a wild caught? My last one was WC and like I said it started eating my blasto's so out it came and to a buddies house. Problem is the tank it's in is like 500-1000 gals and no way to find it.