Aiptasia eating butterfly fish

[fishoholic]

I was thinking there are a few different butterfly fish that are known aiptasia eaters. Copperbands for sure being one of them, however CBB's are notoriously tricky and while I have had some success with them I'd rather find a hardier aiptasia eating butterfly for my 80g. I had a filefish which was eating the aiptasia but he slowed down with eating them after awhile and is presumed dead now since it's been well over a month since I last saw him.

I have mushrooms and maxi mini anemones in my 80g, so I'd like to eventually get a butterfly that eats aiptasia but not maxi minis. While doing some research I found or have heard that these butterflies (other then CBB's) will eat aiptasia:

Raccoon
Klein's
Threadfin
Burgess
Latticed
Longnose
Saddleback
Pyramid

The problem is some people say the above do, and some people say they don't. So I'm not sure what to believe. Also read the some of the above will eat aiptasia but also will eat mushroom anemones (I'm assuming they mean maxi minis) Anyone have any ideas or experiences? Please share thanks

[monocus]

bannerfish

[BlueTang<3]

Every fish is going to be hit or miss whether or not they will eat aiptasia or pick at corals. I used to have a sailfin tang that loved aiptasia. I have heard next to the copperband the kleins are the most successful. Why don't you get Doug to throw a butterfly in a tank with mushrooms and aiptasia at work and see if the fish eats it. Aquarium illusions threw my cooperband now into a tank with corals and aiptasia and left it for a weekend for me. What I have also seen is people calling any mushroom, mushroom anemones. Seems to be a common thing especially in the states.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by monocus

bannerfish

I didn't think bannerfish ate aiptasia? Did/do you own one or know of one that did?

Originally Posted by BlueTang<3

Every fish is going to be hit or miss whether or not they will eat aiptasia or pick at corals. I used to have a sailfin tang that loved aiptasia. I have heard next to the copperband the kleins are the most successful. Why don't you get Doug to throw a butterfly in a tank with mushrooms and aiptasia at work and see if the fish eats it. Aquarium illusions threw my cooperband now into a tank with corals and aiptasia and left it for a weekend for me. What I have also seen is people calling any mushroom, mushroom anemones. Seems to be a common thing especially in the states.

So true about hit or miss, I just thought I'd see if it was more of a hit with some then others.

Makes sense about the mushroom comparison since they are similar. I don't really care about my plain mushrooms but there are some nice ric's in there that I don't want eaten and of course my maxi minis.

[Delphinus]

Laurie, I think pretty much any butterfly except for the 2 or 3 reef safe groupings (pyramids and their cousins, bannerfish, and CBB's and their cousins) are going to be a reasonably sure thing for aiptasia .. it's just that when they say a butterfly might anything ... it truly is the case. You never know what they'll develop a taste for. What I've observed of keeping a few butterflies out of that list so far is that tentacles is where it's at. If it's got tentacles, a butterfly will want to sample said wares. Whether they just sample or decimate after that is pretty much a crapshoot.

Even my pyramids, who are mostly plankton feeders, occasionally nip at my two gigantea carpets. That said they leave the maximini alone.

My ulietensis butterfly (had 2 but down to 1 now) will destroy any aiptasia and majano he sees but I had to put him in a FOWLR because he just did too much damage to everything else. LPS, SPS, gorgonians .. only thing he never sampled were clams and again I think this is due to the fact that clams don't usually show tentacly/dangly bits. That said both were model citizens while there were lots of aiptasia to go around and it was easily 6 months before the other damage started becoming evident. So if a temporary arrangement is OK for you (with a FOWLR in the picture after that), I'd totally recommend these as they are awesome fish.

Other butterflies you should look into - Pakistani or redtail, semilarvatus, and yellow long nose. I'm pretty sure all 3 of these will eat aiptasia while being a 50/50 on the "everything else" part. Actually I think the longnose are supposed to be about the same as a CBB, quite safe in a reef usually. Never tried one myself though.

Ultimately, it's a risk no matter what, but it can be a calculated risk.

[fishoholic]

I only have mushrooms, ric's and maxi minis in my 80g no other coral. Thanks for the info Tony.

[daniella3d]

My copperband does not touch aiptasia with a 10 feet pole. Never.

And I know a few who have the same so don't ever buy a fish just for the purpose of it eating something because it is unlikely that he'll do what you want.

I suspect aiptasias to be toxic anyway..often you hear about a copperband eating all the aiptasia and then dying. I am glad mine does not eat that crap. Get some peppermint shrimps instead and take care of the larger aiptasias with Aiptasia X or something similar.

Originally Posted by fishoholic

I was thinking there are a few different butterfly fish that are known aiptasia eaters. Copperbands for sure being one of them, however CBB's are notoriously tricky and while I have had some success with them I'd rather find a hardier aiptasia eating butterfly for my 80g. I had a filefish which was eating the aiptasia but he slowed down with eating them after awhile and is presumed dead now since it's been well over a month since I last saw him.

I have mushrooms and maxi mini anemones in my 80g, so I'd like to eventually get a butterfly that eats aiptasia but not maxi minis. While doing some research I found or have heard that these butterflies (other then CBB's) will eat aiptasia:

Raccoon
Klein's
Threadfin
Burgess
Latticed
Longnose
Saddleback
Pyramid

The problem is some people say the above do, and some people say they don't. So I'm not sure what to believe. Also read the some of the above will eat aiptasia but also will eat mushroom anemones (I'm assuming they mean maxi minis) Anyone have any ideas or experiences? Please share thanks

[fishoholic]

I have a fu man chu lionfish so peppermint shrimp are out. Every single piece of rock in my 80g has a few aiptasia on it, way to much rock to swap around. Some butterflies only get around 5" max so they should be ok in an 80g.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Some butterflies only get around 5" max so they should be ok in an 80g.

It's not the size of the Butterflyfish that matters though Laurie...

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Myka

It's not the size of the Butterflyfish that matters though Laurie...

I temperally held a very small CBB in a 30g (2 months) and he seemed fine in it, however I remember when I did the same with a 1" tang (was in a 30g for 2 months) it was a different story. I should add that the butterfly and the tang were not in the 30g at the same time. You could tell that even at only
1" the 30g was way to small for the tang and he seemed cramped for space whereas the butterfly seemed fine the whole time he was in there. From that observation I figured butterflies didn't require as much space.

I admitly don't know as much about butterflys/bannerfish as I do about other fish are there certian types that require more space then others? Obviously an 80g would be to small for a 9" butterfly, but I thought it would be ok for one that got to be 5-6". That being said it would probably be 2-3" when I get it and I'd either upgrade the tank or re-home it if it outgrew the 80g.