Anyone have some berghia nudibranch?

[Silencer]

Does anyone have any berghia nudibranch that I could have or buy?

I've got a fairly serious aiptasia problem and could really use some, but with the weather and time of year shipping them is not so easy or safe. Any help or information would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[1010]

peppermint shrimp is the way to go. make sure to buy more then one

 

[sTang]

You might also want to buy or borrow a Copperband Butterflyfish. Some are hit and miss with Aiptasia, but mine loves it. He continuously hunts for it in my display. You need to make sure that it is eating and has an appetite for Aiptasia. On a bad note, mine also devoured most of my Featherdusters and Spaghetti worms. Apart from this, I find them quite reef safe. If I had to do it all over again though, I would just borrow one from a a fellow reefer for immediate Aiptasia control and then just get a handful of Peppermints as a continued control measure. HTH

 

[Silencer]

I've considered and am still considering those options but I'm not sure they are the right choice for me. While there are numerous reports that both will eat aiptasia there are from what I have seen an equal amount of reports that find they do not. It seems to be hit or miss at best. At the same time they both have a fairly high potential of eating at least something in the tank that I do want.

Don't get me wrong I like both of them very much and may get them anyways, but for now it seems like I'm better off with Berghia that are guaranteed to eat all of the aiptasia without touching anything else. I figure the best way to get some is to get some locally from somebody who already has them breeding in their tank and has a ton of them that will soon starve to death, but if not I know at least one person I can go in with to order some online for fairly cheap.

 

[zoebeaglezoe]

If you end up ordering them let me know I might be interested in going in on an order. I think you need quit a bit of them when you
have a large number of aptasia. I put in both copperband and 8 peppermint shrimp and haven't noticed any reduction in aptasia
I have had luck with peppermint shrimp in the past but not this time in an old setup I had

 

[jmkins]

but for now it seems like I'm better off with Berghia that are guaranteed to eat all of the aiptasia without touching anything else.

I know this quote is a little out of context but,

They are guaranteed to not eat else, they are not guaranteed to clear you aips though.

I've had a 40 for a couple of years now. When I started it had no aips and a lot of feather dusters. After about a year I put in more rock and the aips came in.

I got a cbb and he ate the feather dusters, the aips kept growing. Then the cbb got an appetite for the aips. He devoured the things within two weeks or so, and I'm talking hundreds. After a year I went on vacation and didn't get my tank topped off so the cbb passed unfortunately.

The aips came back this year, something fierce. Almost every square inch of rock was covered at the end of this summer. I ordered 5 berghia to fight it. They have done nothing noticable after 4 or 5 months. I think they may be eating off the very small baby aips as of recently but at this rate they will never finish the job. Waste of money.

I'm looking at putting in some peppermints soon. They are way cheaper so even if they dont work it isn't much of a loss. Also if they dont work I'll be able to pull them out and bring them back to the LFS so I dont have to keep them. I'd be hesitant to ever put berghia back in my tank unless they were going for a couple dollars each and I could order the actual number I needed. If you have a 180 I really think it would take a lot of them to do anything.

 

[1010]

The pet store told me to buy 2 because one will tag along with the other in eating. 8 seems like alot, or maybe in a mature tank there is alot of other things to eat.

 

[botp2k1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8719796#post8719796 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zoebeaglezoe
If you end up ordering them let me know I might be interested in going in on an order. I think you need quit a bit of them when you
have a large number of aptasia. I put in both copperband and 8 peppermint shrimp and haven't noticed any reduction in aptasia
I have had luck with peppermint shrimp in the past but not this time in an old setup I had

Are you sure your Peppermints are the correct ones? Also, what I've done in the past is use a siphon on the Aiptasias during water changes. This causes them to shrink in distress. This may help encourage the Peppermints and Copperband to "attack" and nip at them. Since this distressed animal "may" cause the shrimp or fish to "realize" the opportunity.

I know some of my past Aiptasia were big when fully expanded, and after I did this, now I'm practically Aiptasia free, almost. You have to repeat it, just bug it everytime you are working in the tank, etc. No guarantees, just an observation.

I don't think Berghias are the answer for our tanks, I truly feel the environment in our main tanks are not 100% friendly for them. Maybe in the lab, nature, and a controlled environment such as a slow flowing refugium. I think we are feeding into the frenzy and just putting them to their deaths. Just my opinion.