Matted filefish

Discussion in 'Tropical Fish' started by colodan, Dec 31, 2010.

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  1. colodan

    colodan Fire Shrimp

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    so I am thinking of adding a matted filefish to my tank, they are supposed to eat apptasia of which I unfortunately have plenty. I've done a little research and think it may be a good fit. I do have a couple questions though.
    1. I'm not sure if it will try to eat my bubble tip nem, pretty sure the clown wouldnt let it close, but don't want to risk it.

    2. I have a powder blue tang, a melonarouse wrass, maroon clown, and a foxface. The tang can be a bully, maybe the wrass too. I think the filefish could probably hold his own, but not sure. Has anyone kept one of these filefish? and if so, do you think it would work in my tank?

    Thanks in advance for any replies.

    btw my tank is 90gal with about 40 gal sump.
     
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  3. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    I have these in a lot of customer's tanks. I have not had one eat an anemone but I suppose anything is possible. I would go for a smaller one.
     
  4. colodan

    colodan Fire Shrimp

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    Do you think the tang or wrass would bother it,or the other way around? They are all compatible, but the tang did chase the wrass around for a day after the wrass was added.
     
  5. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    re-arrange the rock some prior to placing one in the tank. That messes with "THEIR" territory and they'll be busy re-establishing it. That often helps with fish aggressive to newcomers.
     
  6. colodan

    colodan Fire Shrimp

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    Thanks for your help inwall75..... talked to a friend that owns a fish store about ordering me one and she said that they put one in a customers tank and over night it completely shredded the bta. Now I think the bta was about a 1/4 the size of mine and didn't have a mean maroon clown protecting it, but still scares me just the same, I'm wondering if they just got unlucky and got a bad fish as we all know every fish is different. This was the 1st and last time they tried one of these fish for apptasia control. everything that I have read on them says they will quickly consume apptasia and only coral that may get eaten is zoas and pollops. I dont have many of those, so I am not too worried about that, I would really hate to lose my gbta though, Ive had it for about 4 years now and it has split for me in the past. I know peppermint shrimp would probably be a safer way, but I have a coral banded shrimp about the size of a VW in the tank that im sure would love if pep shrimp was on the menu. I do use joes juice, but you can never get them all, and nuking the rock is not an option with all the corals attached to the rock. I was thinking the filefish would be my best option. Any way, my question to you, or anyone else.... have you kept this fish with an anemone successfully for a long period of time? I put a picture of the nem that I don't want eaten just because I know you guys like pics.
     

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  7. colodan

    colodan Fire Shrimp

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    Bump..... anyone?
     
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  9. TheSaltwaterGuy

    TheSaltwaterGuy Banned

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    you could try aiptasia X; i've heard that it can work, and a friend of mine used it to kill all of those aiptasia SOBs XD. if its not reef safe then i would go for the filefish and move the anemone
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2011
  10. colodan

    colodan Fire Shrimp

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    I've used that, it works good, but you can never get all of them because they are either to small or hiding. That is what I am doing now, I would just like to get something that will take care of them right when they show up, would make it easier to manage.
     
  11. TheSaltwaterGuy

    TheSaltwaterGuy Banned

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    i guess get the filefish... or you can always move the corals out of the rocks and burn those aiptasia SOBs XD
     
  12. SushiGirl

    SushiGirl Barracuda

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    I had one for a short while. It made quick work of my aiptasia-infested nano tank, but it was the only fish in there. I never saw it actually eating the aiptasia, but they sure were gone LOL. It must've been eating at night. A thunderstorm killed it before I got a chance to move it into the large tank as its final home. It was very shy and I've read several other threads that say they're very shy and that they may jump because they can be skittish. During daylight hours, it mostly hid in the corner. Not sure how it would fare with aggressive fish, especially if it was small. I tend to only keep non-aggressive fish, myself.

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    Last edited: May 2, 2012