Who is using Berghia nudibranchs to control aiptasia?

[Mathfreak71]

I have a few small aiptasia (10 or so). I have added a couple of peppermint shrimp but they don't seem to be doing anything.

I have used injection methods to kill individual specimens but more always pop up. The simple explanation for this is that there are aiptasia in the rock work that I can't see and when I do kill one it might be releasing spores to create new ones.

So I emailed www.berghia.net and asked about their berghia nudibranchs. They sent me back a very nice email saying that essentially that a 75 gallon tank is large enough to support a colony but I don't have enough aiptasia yet to successfully start a colony.

Berghia seem to be a great long term management solution because they eat the entire aiptasia and leave nothing to create new ones. Also, you are not introducing chemicals into the ecosystem you are trying so hard to create.

So my question is: Who is and has used berghia to control aiptasia, what size tank, and how many did you have in the tank before you introduced the berghia?

 

[Mathfreak71]

No one?

I have read a couple articles about these and I think they seem to be a great solution to a very common problem. They are a bit expensive. But the time saved, less frustration, and a natural solution seem like huge positives. With all the money we spend on corals, certainly someone is or has used these. I am looking for bad experiences as well.

 

[Amoore311]

Honestly, for 10 aiptasia just use Lemon Juice, Boiling RODI Water, Kalk Paste, or Aiptasia X.

Berghia are VERY fragile and tough to ship, they need a ton of aiptasia to sustain themselves, and they take forever to start to work.

The reason they take so long is the few you buy need to grow, mate, and lay eggs... sometimes multiple times before you have enough berghia to fend off your aiptasia outbreak.

They are also extremely small, and tough to keep tabs on. You really will have no idea whether they are in the tank or not unless you see some kind of result.

Many common reef fish will eat them also. Most wrasse, like Sixlines, will eat nudibranch. There are quite a few other fish that will eat them as well.

 

[sharky334]

I have had aiptasia too and used Joe's Juice on them (also used peppermint shrimp, but no luck either). I know it is a pain to try and find them all and try and kill them, but when you do find one, and use Aiptasia X or Joe's Juice, they are dead in minutes!

 

[tedmc2]

I used Berghia in my 75 gal but did not have much luck with them. I added them to the tank and never saw them again or saw any effect on the aiptasia. And I had a load of aiptasia for them to eat. I have had good luck with pepermint shrimp but with peps it is hit or miss.

I agree with Amoore311, if there are only 10 or so, I'd just blast them with Joe's Juice, lemon juice or boiling water.

 

[Gdevine]

If your Pep's aren't eating them there's a couple of reasons for that:

1. They are not true Peppermints
2. The Aiptasia are too big for the shrimp
3. You're over feeding your tank thus the shrimp have better fair than Aiptasia...

 

[insane]

The best way to use peppermints to eliminate aiptasia is that you have to starve the tank. If you put any food in the tank the peppermints will eat the food instead of the aiptasia. This is best done without having any fish in the tank of course.

Since I have no fish in my new used setup with the hundreds of aiptasia in it, I am going to try the starving peppermint thing to see if it will work before attempting the Berghia method.

Berghia should be stored and bred in glass jars with loose fitting lids to get them to breeding size before putting them to work. They start laying egg strings when they get to about 1/2" long. They can live in non aerated, non moving, non filtered saltwater as long as it is kept topped off and free from too much aiptasia slime. Aiptasias to feed to them should also be kept in similar jars. Feed them smaller aiptasia and never drop a Berghia on top of an aiptasia or it will be eaten. Placing adult Berghia in a QT with a rock infested with aiptasia is the best method so the Berghia are not eaten in a display tank. They do not ship well so the glass jar method helps in their recovery from shipping.

I haven't tried this for myself yet but it is recommended from a very good source. If you would like to know more about aiptasia control methods, shoot me a PM with your email address and I will send you the document on all of the methods. It is copyrighted so I can't post it without permission. I just rattled off some stuff I learned from it about using Berghia and Peppermint Shrimp.

 

[roblack]

Berghias worked great for me.

 

[Laddy]

I don't know, I've been tempted in the past when dealing with the hard to reach ones which grow between rocks and are stinging hard to move SPS. However in the back of my mind I keep hearing caveat emptor.

 

[TonyOrlando]

Email me on how to control aiptasia please!

Email me on how to control aiptasia please!

Hello, if you could please email me that article or info that you have on controlling aiptasia that would be awesome. I got a bunch of it in my tank and keeps spreading. I have been using the aiptasia x drip formula only so far. My email is tonytaffi@yahoo.com. Thank you sooooo much.

The best way to use peppermints to eliminate aiptasia is that you have to starve the tank. If you put any food in the tank the peppermints will eat the food instead of the aiptasia. This is best done without having any fish in the tank of course.

Since I have no fish in my new used setup with the hundreds of aiptasia in it, I am going to try the starving peppermint thing to see if it will work before attempting the Berghia method.

Berghia should be stored and bred in glass jars with loose fitting lids to get them to breeding size before putting them to work. They start laying egg strings when they get to about 1/2" long. They can live in non aerated, non moving, non filtered saltwater as long as it is kept topped off and free from too much aiptasia slime. Aiptasias to feed to them should also be kept in similar jars. Feed them smaller aiptasia and never drop a Berghia on top of an aiptasia or it will be eaten. Placing adult Berghia in a QT with a rock infested with aiptasia is the best method so the Berghia are not eaten in a display tank. They do not ship well so the glass jar method helps in their recovery from shipping.

I haven't tried this for myself yet but it is recommended from a very good source. If you would like to know more about aiptasia control methods, shoot me a PM with your email address and I will send you the document on all of the methods. It is copyrighted so I can't post it without permission. I just rattled off some stuff I learned from it about using Berghia and Peppermint Shrimp.

 

[mojo10]

Begrhia

Begrhia

This was for me a huge wast of money, did nothing never saw them after i put them in my tank bought 15 @ 13.50 a piece. Do your self a favor buy 1 medium Kline Butterfly and sit back and wait 2 weeks and most of it will be GONE...
B

 

[hogben]

If your Pep's aren't eating them there's a couple of reasons for that:

1. They are not true Peppermints
2. The Aiptasia are too big for the shrimp
3. You're over feeding your tank thus the shrimp have better fair than Aiptasia...

You could also buy more peppermints. You may get lucky with a small number, but the results are dramatic when you add a lot.

 

[Snowmass80]

i've had good luck with Aiptasia X.