Anybody got Berghia Nudi's local to North Burbs?

[sugartooth]

I had 4 of these guys, and they were pretty big. They disappeared about 15 minutes after I put them in the tank and thought 4 weeks later I would see a decrease in population of aiptasia.
Ummm, it doesn't look like that's the case. Either they are not making a dent, or they were eaten. Possibly by some aiptasia. I got some MONSTERS that I can't get to that is just driving me nuts.
Anyway, if someone is done with theirs, or had babies...I would be happy to buy some.

 

[botp2k1]

Problem with these are they only eat aiptasia and they can easily get eaten/lost in our tanks. Good luck with your 2nd try.

 

[sugartooth]

What eats them? I thought they were distasteful to others so the only hazard was large aiptasia.
I'm still holding out hope that they are okay, but just really slow to do the job.
I was also tossing around the idea of copperband, but that's a hit or miss as well, I read.

 

[sugartooth]

WAAAAHOOOOO!
Spotted 1 nudi today on the rock that is infested with aiptasia! It looks like it's been eating well.
I hope they get at those monster aiptasia. I was getting worried that these suckers are going to catch and eat my clowns soon. Hopefully all 4 got together at some point and had babies.

 

[saltyunderground]

Berghia are not an overnight fix. They can take a few weeks to get established and really begin eating heavily. It can take at least a few weeks before you start seeing a difference. There's also a fine line between the number of aips you have and the number of berghia you need to stay ahead of the aip reproduction. It's a very good sign that you saw one alive and heathy.

 

[sugartooth]

Thanks saltyunderground!
Yes, it's been going on 6-7 weeks since I put them in and I thought I would have seen a difference on the main rock that is just completely infested. However, there was no change there or anywhere.
So I grew concerned that the aiptasia got them because I have quite a few that are exceptionally large.
I got 4 initially because I didn't want to put too many in and completely wipe out the aiptasia and have them starve. So I figured that number would allow me to keep the population of aiptasia down and not completely wiped out.
I don't mind having a couple here and there (aiptasia) but there were about 25 just on the one rock and growing. I have some more deep in caves that I can see that are so big I was concerned that it would start grabbing and eating my clowns!
I figured that if the Berghias I got did wipe out the population of aiptasia that I can pass it along to my other tanks or other hobbyists in need.
I was so happy to see at least the one, and it nearly doubled in size since I originally got it!

I appreciate your advice, if there is anything I missed about them, can you provide some more pointers?
I would like to know if there are any fish or inverts that would eat them, so I can try to stay away from putting those in the tank.

 

[saltyunderground]

The following are potential predators: peppermint shrimp, camel shrimp, coral banded shrimp, lobsters, agressive crabs like sally lightfoot, pom pom and arrow, larger coris wrasses and a few other large predatory wrasses, a few dottybacks and larger brittle and serpent stars. Just like everything in our hobby, there is no 100% that the list above will or will not bother berghia. They just might bother them.

If you have a lot of aiptasia on one rock as you described and there are no corals growing over it, I would remove that rock. Make sure your berghia are not on it first of course. Boil the rock on the stove. You can return it to the tank after you clean off any algae left after the boil. Life will regrow on the rock after a time.

 

[sugartooth]

Thanks! Much appreciated. I will be aware of everything you mentioned as long as I have the nudi's.

 

[sugartooth]

Sorry saltyunderground, I have one more question.
Is it normal for the nudi to have a bump on it's back? The one I saw is approx. 1 inch in length, with kind of a hump on it's back.
Well, I got closer to see it and it looks like it's pulsing. Almost like gills during respiration.

 

[ostrow]

That sounds weird sugartooth. Not sure.

Listen, if you ever have extras or need to give some away, I'd buy a few from you. My display is clean but the fuge has a lot so it will be a continuing system problem unless I do something in there. Pepps will hurt the pod population in there so berghias would be ideal.

Thanks!
Joel

 

[sugartooth]

Sure thing Joel! I will definitely let you know if I have babies(cross my fingers) or run out of aiptasia.
Yep, I checked on it again. I can only see part of it, but it looks like a pulsing hump on the back of the nudi. The hump has a grey hue to it, instead of white. Maybe it's eating and that's what it looks like?
Whatever is going on, it's like a SciFi show where there is a pulsing hump before an alien with large teeth burst out!

 

[saltyunderground]

It's possible the hump is just a part of their normal anatomy. If you have a minute, check out the berghia pics on the QA page on our site and see of the hump you are referring to looks like the segments on the berghia in the pics.

 

[sugartooth]

I went the the site, and it does resemble one of the berghia in your picture showing many berghia's attacking an aiptasia. There is a grey looking hump just behind their antennae.(?)
It's just kind of creepy seeing it pulse.

 

[saltyunderground]

Kinda cool though too.