There are nudibranchs that eat only xenia. Xenia grows stupidly fast. Therefore, it should be possible to grow enough xenia to feed one or more nudibranchs. Maybe keep some in a little 5g and put new xenia in once they eat most of it? Keep a 20gish tank full of xenia and swap out small rocks to let the stumps grow back?
Xenia-eating nudibranch possible to keep?
- Thread starter Betta132
- Start date
Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
There's more to it, unlike other species that eat easy to keep aiptasia.. xenia still needs the lighting, filteration, and water movement to substain them. Which is pretty big for a "food storage" only aquarium. Likewise, the nudibranch has special needs in their tankmates due to their small size, requiring screened filters and powerheads, and generally just overdemanding for an animal that's not exactly the best showpeice and stays a little bigger than a grain of rice. They are not the most common thing to see in the hobby either, berghia is bred and sold to deal with adverage hobbyist problems such as aiptasia.. whereas xenia isn't a huge problem.. lowering the demand for the animals.
Plus.. xenia is pricey. Buy 200 dollars in frags, let them grow for a few years, and then atempt to find the species available? That would take a long time.. atleast aiptasia people will pay you to remove from their tanks!
Plus, the nudibranch breeds rapidly to their food supply. Berghia is well known for doing their job, and then starving once the job is done. (Or passed on to an LFS, if they have aiptasia as well.. which chances are slim) Those who do breed berghia mostly do it out of financial gain knowing some will be passed, or out of interest/for science!
I'd be interested to see how it works out breeding and raising xenia eating species, (probably no different from soft coral predatory aeolids right?), but it's not something I'd personally give a go myself.. but likewise I have/had plenty of things people said the same.
Plus.. xenia is pricey. Buy 200 dollars in frags, let them grow for a few years, and then atempt to find the species available? That would take a long time.. atleast aiptasia people will pay you to remove from their tanks!
Plus, the nudibranch breeds rapidly to their food supply. Berghia is well known for doing their job, and then starving once the job is done. (Or passed on to an LFS, if they have aiptasia as well.. which chances are slim) Those who do breed berghia mostly do it out of financial gain knowing some will be passed, or out of interest/for science!
I'd be interested to see how it works out breeding and raising xenia eating species, (probably no different from soft coral predatory aeolids right?), but it's not something I'd personally give a go myself.. but likewise I have/had plenty of things people said the same.
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