LF: Berghiac Nudibranchs

[FloMotion]

You guessed it... I'm sick of manually getting rid of aptasia for then to reappear within a couple weeks.

Please share you experiences, recommendations, where to purchase, other options, etc... I'm open to ideas.

I've read that after they eradicate the aptasia population, they may die off due to a depleted food source. So the question is, does anyone have a couple they could sell/donate?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[chris.scang]

I've had success using peppermint shrimp to get rid of aiptasia.

 

[FloMotion]

I've had success using peppermint shrimp to get rid of aiptasia.

Thanks for the advice Chris. I should have also mentioned that I have a yellow wrasse that is notorious for picking on hermits... I'm afraid the peppermint shrimp won't stand a chance.

 

[oblio]

A couple years back I bought 4 nudibranches. My90gallon has 1k aptasia without exageration. I brought then home put them in a nano tank and fed them aptasia 4 a few weeks. This allowed them to lay eggs. Then I moved the adults to the main display. You have to offer small aptasia to the baby's but they grow pretty fast. I ended up with 6 more. After a month I moved them to the display. Please Google how to move them with a pipette, they are really fragile.
You will not ever see them as they will eat the aptasia that allows them to hide and eat. It takes a few months, you will swear they a re all dead and you wasted your time. But all of a sudden you will notice the aptasia diminishing. It takes time but they do an amazing job.

 

[FloMotion]

A couple years back I bought 4 nudibranches. My90gallon has 1k aptasia without exageration. I brought then home put them in a nano tank and fed them aptasia 4 a few weeks. This allowed them to lay eggs. Then I moved the adults to the main display. You have to offer small aptasia to the baby's but they grow pretty fast. I ended up with 6 more. After a month I moved them to the display. Please Google how to move them with a pipette, they are really fragile.
You will not ever see them as they will eat the aptasia that allows them to hide and eat. It takes a few months, you will swear they a re all dead and you wasted your time. But all of a sudden you will notice the aptasia diminishing. It takes time but they do an amazing job.

Thanks oblio, this is very helpful. A few more questions: do you remember where you purchased them? Have you had an issue with keeping the nudis alive after they do their job? How many would you recommend for a 75 gallon with approximately 5 aptasia (that I can see)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[rcamar813]

I bought 4 from creative aquariums approx 2 months ago. The only place i found them locally and they went fast. It seemed like they had special ordered them bc they dont keep them in stock. I also thought they were dead bc after I introduced them to my tank i never saw them. But about 2 weeks ago i got a glimpse of one. So i guess they are still there.

 

[oblio]

Thanks oblio, this is very helpful. A few more questions: do you remember where you purchased them? Have you had an issue with keeping the nudis alive after they do their job? How many would you recommend for a 75 gallon with approximately 5 aptasia (that I can see)?

Thanks in advance.

I found them from a guy in Largo via craig's list. For 5 I would not follow this route as aptasia are the ONLY thing these guys eat. And you are not likely to be able to pull them back out. I dislike the idea of introducing something that will die when there job is done. I justified my purchase because the expected life span is roughly 8months as I remember. And it took these guys about that long to finish the job.
For 5 Aptasia, go get some "pickling lime" from ACE hardware. about 8 bucks for a bag. This is kalkwasser, mix it fairly thick in a small cup, get a syringe and just blast the aptasia with the mix. They will die, the white crap that floats around is harmless to the inhabitants and clears up after a few mins. Sure this process forces the aptasia to panick and throw spores into the water column but if you do it right you can minimize this, just get the syringe very close, then blast them in the face, they cant react fast enough. and if you see another, repeat.
5 aptasia is no cause to bring in a nudibranch, he will run out of food in a month and die.

 

[TampaSnooker]

mix it fairly thick in a small cup, get a syringe and just blast the aptasia with the mix. They will die, the white crap that floats around is harmless to the inhabitants and clears up after a few mins. Sure this process forces the aptasia to panick and throw spores into the water column but if you do it right you can minimize this, just get the syringe very close, then blast them in the face, they cant react fast enough. and if you see another, repeat.

I disagree with this method somewhat. The "white crap" is most certainly NOT harmless - it is super caustic and can burn or kill corals that land on it and fish will try to eat it. Make the paste as thick as you can suck into a syringe and carefully smother the entire polyp. Start with a bit on the oral disc and see if it will injest any and burn it internally as well. Turn off pumps before starting the treatment and allow the slurry to burn the aiptasia for about half an hour. Remove slurry and dead aiptasia with syringe, baster or siphon (airline works great here). If you coat the entire polyp, you will entomb the spores that would otherwise repopulate.
I agree that for only 5 aiptasia, you should just treat manually.

 

[FloMotion]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I just nuked the ones I could see with Kalk paste. I've done this in the past, however I am looking for a less aggressive, more hands off, approach. I like the idea of nudis, but don't want them to be doomed from the start, I'm looking for a sustainable solution. Maybe a butterfly of some kind (I know there is not a guarantee they will eat aptasia), but heck, it's an excuse to get a beautiful fish...

 

[Jlentz]

I've been recently contemplating getting some of these nudis. Only big problem I can see is my yellow coris wrasse. (And a couple flashers)

Has anyone had luck with the bergias with wrasses?

 

[Tim Cannon]

I ordered some Nudis about a year ago to wipe out a small infestation I had, at first I was worried I wasted money but sure enough they did a great job in less than a month. I was hoping to sell them when my aptasia were gone but I rarely saw one out in the open, I went this route because of the cautions giving about corals with butterfly fish and peppermints. i have 5 wrasses and I never witnessed them eye any Nudis, unfortunately I have a few aptasia magically appear again so I'm pretty sure I'm going to use them it again in the near future.