I have been hearing a lot of buzz about these berghia nudibranchs lately for aiptasia control. If you are friends with ABC Reefs from here in Syracuse on facebook then I would have to assume that you might have seen them advertise that they bought a bunch and are now breeding them. I've been able to keep aiptasia to a minimum in my tank since I started it up 3+ years ago but I have to admit these little fella's have me intrigued. Supposedly completely reef safe and the best thing since sliced bread. Anyone have any feelings or experience with these creatures?
berghia nudibranchs
- Thread starter Salty Red
- Start date
SkiFletch
New member
There's only two downsides to Berghia for control of Aiptasia in a reef tank environment. First is predation. MANY of the smaller fish we keep in our aquarium will eat them. Wrasses, dottybacks, blennies and more can/will/do eat berghia. Second, powerheads chop them to pieces, and most of us have a bunch of those... You'd need to cover every last inlet with foam which isn't always feasible for us.
They do however eat aiptasia quickly and divide really fast when there's a lot of prey around. Very easy to "breed" provided you have enough aiptasia to feed your population of them. I put some berghia in a plastic bin with rocks covered in aiptasia in my tank and they mowed the aips down in a couple days and grew a nice little colony. Tried releasing them all into the display after dark... Never seen again
They do however eat aiptasia quickly and divide really fast when there's a lot of prey around. Very easy to "breed" provided you have enough aiptasia to feed your population of them. I put some berghia in a plastic bin with rocks covered in aiptasia in my tank and they mowed the aips down in a couple days and grew a nice little colony. Tried releasing them all into the display after dark... Never seen again
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Lots of threads on Aiptasia eating nudis in the URS forum
Use search
Use search
erndog1001
Premium Member
I had a terrible Aptasia problem about a year after setting up my 125 gal. Got them off live rock I purchased from Petland in N Syracuse. Not that I'm blaming them. Anyways I tried everything under the sun to no avail. At some point ( I really don't recall the exact timeline) i put about a dozen of these guys in the tank. They promptly disappeared never to be seen again. The good news is I am aptasia free now. but I cant say the nudes are the reason bc I really don't know for sure what killed them off
