My new best friend... and it's not a dog!

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dragoneggs

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
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1,140
Location
Seabeck, WA
About a month ago I purchased a filefish (Acreichthys tomentosus) from my closet LFS in another attempt to battle the aiptasia outbreak that was worsening. I tried peppermint shrimp, and a couple of copperband butterfly fish after using Joe's Juice, and boiling water. I am not sure the Joe's Juice didn't actually cause a spreading of the weed. Sure it killed the parent but I wonder if the legs floated around and actually spread becuase of what I was doing. Worse... the juice killed some prized Zoa's nearby. That made me stop. The boiling water wasn't effective either and was also harming the Zoa's. The copperbands didn't touch them and even though they were feeding, they didn't last long. The peppermints... who knows what they are doing, I never see them in the vast amount of rock I have.

After introducing this funny looking, very slow, deliberate, some say ugly, filefish I waited as he did nothing and I wondered if he would survive. People say they eat aiptasia but after about 10 days I was getting discouraged... again. But amazingly after returning from 9 day business trip I got home and was staring at my tank when I suddenly realized the aiptasia (lots of it) was gone! I couldn't believe it. I looked everywhere and could not find any! It was a huge victory. Something ridded me of hundreds of aiptasia, a couple were even getting to be monsters. Three weeks later, the filefish seems very happy, no aiptasia, likes all the food I feed, nori, frozen, pellets, etc. Hasn't touched my various Zoas and Polys and gets along with everybody in the tank!

The funny thing is I have never seen him or anything eat the aiptasia... it just dissappeared. Whether he did it I can't swear to it but he (or she?) is...

MY NEW BEST FRIEND!!! :dance:
 

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That is awesome! I remember when I finally won the aiptasia battle with a bunch of peppermint shrimp I was pretty happy, then they started eating all my snails and I got rid of them lol.
,
Brian
 
I have read on different forums that they will do a good job eating aptasias, but be warned, there is also reports of them going after zoanthids too.
 

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