Nudibranchs

[morphriz]

When my LFS got a new shipment in last friday there was a bunch of nudibranches in it. From what I can tell they are all Hypselodoris bullockii, or maybe Chromodoris bullocki.

Is there any chance to keep these? Like growing sponges in the fuge to feed them with or? The info I've found so far is that they are a big no-no and will starve from lack of suitable foods.

Has anyone kept these? I feel compelled to try and save a few since I know they will starve to death at the LFS or in the hands of un educated buyers.
cheers
Mattias

 

[greenbean36191]

Chances of being able to keep them are pretty close to 0. The big challenge is finding the right species of sponge for them to eat. That's hard for two reasons- 1) No one has done the work to properly identify its food sponge, so you'll find conflicting IDs of what it eats. 2) Sponges are nearly impossible to identify, so even if you did know for sure what species you wanted, chances of being able to either order it from a wholesaler or find it in a shop are slim to none.

IME, even if you do have a large amount of the correct sponge, it's hard to get it to grow faster than a nudi can eat it, so you need a constant supply.

By buying the slugs, you aren't saving them. You're only encouraging the LFS to buy more since there is a market for them. Let them die in the shop.

 

[morphriz]

A well,
suspected as much. Thanks for your reply!
//Mattias