berghia experience

gotoneon

New member
What kind of experience have people had with these little guys? How many are needed? Do they reproduce if there are enough Aptasia? Those kinds of things. Thanks
 
I bought 6 of them. Started to culture them in jars (standard method, you can see tutorials online), eggs hatched, but nothing grew. Tried add hatched youth to the different tanks with aiptasia - nothing again.
Then cold season started, too cold in jars without heating.
Moved adults to the refugium type of tank, with no predators, except bristle worms and amphypods. They laid eggs for a few days, then disappeared. Aiptasia continue to flourish.
$100 experiment :(
 
That is what I was afraid of. I have my 55 QT set up with a bunch of infested rock in it. I put a copper banded in there, $40 wasted. Now I have Five pepermint in there, another $40 wasted. I was going to catch the shrimp and put them in the main tank and try the Nudies but really don't want to throw more money around if they don't work.

I will post in the reef section, good sugestion.
 
I had a couple pepp's added to control my problem. At first I didn't think they were eating any of them but about 2 months later I had 1 left in the whole tank from the orginal 100+. I know these get mixed reviews for aiptasia control but worked for me.
 
I had an aptasia problem in my 3 tanks on a single fuge system. I started with Joe's Juice, then went to my homemade recipe with Mrs. Wages. They both worked, but was too much work for me.

I bought 2 bergia's and help them in a 10G trank all alone with some live rocks with aptasia on it. The reproduced and I had 100's of babies, then my heater stuck on and I boiled them all.

Next thing I tried was Copper Band butterflies. They kept dying, but by the 4 or 5th one I purchased I had my aptasia well under control. One butterfly went into the display, and another is in my frag tank and there are but a few aptasia to be found anywhere.

Moral of this story is, keep up the fight, you will win. I would try another copperband and leave the bergia alone. granted it cost me $200 in CB's, but I have no more aptasia, and 2 beautiful fish on duty to keep it that way.
 
Thanks,

I'm tempted to keep the 55 setup and throw a clown trigger or simular in there just to watch him whip up on the aiptaisia. Just keep rotating the rocks through that tank.
 
I'm also thinking about using Berghia to control my Aiptasia population. I don't have that many Aiptasia in my 240 gallon tank and I would like to keep it that way ;) Unfortunately I would also like to keep all my feather duster worms so butterflyfishes are really not an option...

One questions though: why didn't you guys didn't introduce them to the main aquarium immediately? I've heard success stories where many aquarists just added a few of them straight in to the display aquarium.
 
I tried 2 different times with no results. I then bought 6 and added them only to my fuge. A few weeks later, it was berghia central. I didn't realize it until someone told me that they only come out at night and after an hour or two after the lights go out. I went to my tank with a flashlight and there were berghias everywhere. The munched down all of the aptasia and then I collected as many as I could and gave them to a buddy that cultured them and used them in his tanks.

Best aptasia control there is. IMHO, you need to add them only to your fuge. If you add them to your tank, you significantly reduce your chances of success. Make sure you have aptasia in your fuge first. I smashed a few aptasia in my fuge a few times and then the population exploded. After I let them get completely out of control in my fuge, I then started the berghia culture in my fuge. I got them here: www.inlandaquatics.com


Hope this helps.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14734761#post14734761 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jglackin
Best aptasia control there is. IMHO, you need to add them only to your fuge. If you add them to your tank, you significantly reduce your chances of success. Make sure you have aptasia in your fuge first.
Jim,

Any thoughts why it's bad to add them to display tank?

TIA!
 
Berghia tend to float when startled. With the high flow of the display tank, they can easily get sucked into pumps and killed. With the slow moving fuge, and a good food supply, they will breed like rabbits and their larvae will get pumped up into the display. By sheer number, the larvae will survive and populate your display tank.

I am getting ready to start a new culture of berghia. I have access to a unending supply of aptasia, so I can breed them without fear of running out of food. I'll breed them in a 10 gallon tank I have and then trade them for frags. :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14737172#post14737172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jglackin
Berghia tend to float when startled. With the high flow of the display tank, they can easily get sucked into pumps and killed. With the slow moving fuge, and a good food supply, they will breed like rabbits and their larvae will get pumped up into the display. By sheer number, the larvae will survive and populate your display tank.

Thanks, good to know! Naturally all my Aiptasia grow in rocks I can't or don't want to remove from the display tank :rolleyes:
 
Not a problem. Get a good amount growing in your fuge and start the culture in your fuge. They will take care of all of them in the display tank in no time.

If you don't have that many aptasia, you might be better off doing something else, because you may not have enough aptasia to get a good culture going. I suggest using berghia when you have lost the war and the tank has been overrun.
 
Jim,

Thanks again :thumbsup:

I really don't have that many Aiptasia now. I have tried Red Sea Aiptasia-X but it doesn't seem to work: the anemones almost die but grow back a few weeks later :mad2:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14737698#post14737698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jglackin
Peppermint shrimp are good for when you only have a few.

I would like to add small to these statement. From what I have seen with the peppermints I added they have not gone after the medium to large ones. Maybe they will get more aggressive with time?
 
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