Lettuce nudibranches?

[Dollarbill]

Ive bought 2 of these things now and they disappear? Do they crawl out of the tank? Does anything eat them? Thank you for your help. db

i wonder if they crawled through my overflow? any suggestions would be appreciated..............tanks

 

[bertoni]

You probably have lettuce slugs. They aren't really nudibranches, but are algae eaters. They often crawl into pump inlets and get killed. They can also be eaten by predators. Hard to say what's happening in your tank, but they do seem to have short life expectancies in most systems.

 

[Dollarbill]

Wow, thats good to know. Ill check my sump tonight after work. Thanks bertoni! db

 

[bertoni]

You're welcome!

 

[papagimp]

Lettuce Slugs will eat on algae, absorbing and using the clorophyll to produce their own nutrients. The clorophyll doesn't last long and they eat more algae. So if he's not in the sump, as they tend to venture down the overflows like suicidal idiots, check out in the open light basking.

The last one I had would get sucked down the sump over and over again, and when I was finally convinced that he had died, I found him several months later, amazingly, still alive. Looking horrible, but alive.

bertoni, they just have short live spans anyways. but even shorter in home aquariums it seems.

 

[Dollarbill]

interesting...very interesting. I cant wait to get home to see if he is there in the sump or the overflow. How long is the life span if he was to live a normal in aquarium life? Thanks for all of your help. db

 

[greenbean36191]

A little over a year.

 

[Dollarbill]

Thanks. I havent seen him yet. Ill keep looking. Maybe ill find two when i do spot it/them. Thanks! db

PS. I dont know who that girl in the pic is (above) but she is smokin hot! Sorry, couldn't hold back. <sigh> db