anybody had success with Berghia nudibranchs?

[Nexus13]

for aiptasia control.

they're pretty costly and I don't have money to throw around unless it'll work.


thanks in advance

[Underwater]

Hey there-
I have had 4 Berghias in my tank now for a few months, and they work like nobody's business.
They are nice option when you haven't had any luck with other remedies or you don't want to add additional chemicals to your tank.

HTH-
Michelle

[Nexus13]

Cool! that sounds promising.

would you recommend them over peppermint shrimp?

and will these little monsters eat big aiptasia or just small ones?

my tank really only has small ones but they keep popping up everywhere, i want a solution to permanently get rid of these things.

[Underwater]

Maybe I haven't been smiled upon by the Peppermint Shrimp "Gods", but I have never had a peppermint that did anything but step over aptasia. Now, don't get me wrong-there are those blessed with PS that will actually earn their keep-I just haven't found one.

Berghia have never met an aptasia they didn't like...:twised: and it really hasn't seemed to matter what size they were, the Berghia's made short work of them in no time. If you are thinking about getting some, let me know. If we can get a big enough group order together before Tuesday, then we could have them by Thursday.

PM me if you have any other questions-
~M

[Drock169]

coralscaping.com has an interesting write up on them, claiming that you shouldnt get so many to wipe out your aiptasia, but just to keep them in check so that the berghia's will continue breeding in your system rather than starve.

[vazgor]

i'm interested in some i would like to get rid of the pest anenomes in my tank but i dont think mine are aptaisa the ones in my tank arnt just brown they acculy look kinda nice with green and yellow centers but they are starting to add up and i know that cant be good :sad:

[Nexus13]

thanks for the advice.

Michelle, were they breeding at all?

and who would you be buying from cause i'm up in Edmonton.


I read that:
"Berghia eggs begin to hatch after approximately 10-14 days."

"It will be some weeks before the juveniles can actually be seen with the naked eye - about two months, in fact. "


maybe you will be a proud mother soon?

let me know!

Daniel

[Delphinus]

I tried one berghia a few weeks ago but it disappeared overnight never to be seen again. Apparently that's normal but unfortunately I think it perished because the aiptasia count is as high as ever and growing by the day. I'm willing to give berghia another go but maybe this time I'll try 2 instead of 1, maybe they need to feel secure to come out or something.

FWIW, I've never had any luck with peppermints controlling aiptasia.

[a4twenty]

my aptasia problem wasn't that bad ( dozen or so ) but i got tired of finally thinking i had gotten them all only to see them start to reappear a week or two later. i got two ( important for breeding to get more than one ) from a local source ( that gets them from Coralscaping ) and after two months i didn't see any aptasia, still haven't and that was over a year ago. i also never saw the nudi's after putting them in, they are very small and don't move very fast.

the cool thing about these little guys is they can get in to places we can't see or get to, and they munch all the aptasia. when we use kalk or joes we only get the ones we can see but there are plenty behind the rock to take their place. i would use them again but now that my tank is aptasia free, i hope to keep it that way :)

[Red Coral Aquariums]

I am now working on a Customers tank that 4 or 500 very large aptasia in it. With Underwaters help and a group order I placed 10 in the tank. On thursday it will be 2 weeks and I am interested in seeing any results. One thing I was worried about a large grouper in the tank and sure enough he swallowed one but immediately spit it out and never came near another.
I am interested in a group order if need be I will co-ordinate it.
Kevin

[Nexus13]

yah that sounds good, i'm definitely down for a few in a group order. I only have 10 ish in my tank but it has been an ongoing battle over the past 4 months and everytime i kill some, they keep coming back and basically i'm sick of it.

any suggestions on # of nudibranchs to put in tank?

my tank has:
1 true clown
1 babe flame angel
1 dragon goby
1 sand sifting star
1 super sexy shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
3 blue legged hermits
3 scarlet hermits
and some snails

any of these will be a problem?

also got lots of corals

its all cramped into my 29 gallon, w/ 10 gallon sump.

[Underwater]

Well, for your sized tank (Nexus13) I would only put two in. They have no known predators, so compatibility isn't a problem. Any more than that and like what Drock169 said-they will starve.

As far as breeding goes, I have had them mate...they laid a string of about 500 eggs (at least that's what it looked like-grain of sand size or smaller). It's hard to tell if they hatched or not because they are so dang small. I put them in a 10 gal tank that I keep just for "farming" aptasia for them to eat. (Strange-I know). I thought I would be able to dig them out when someone wanted some, but I have played heck trying to find the buggers. I know they are in there-aptasia disappears all the time-but I NEVER see them. :rolleyes:

Although they have both male and female organs, they need at least two to breed. With that, they are "pack hunters" (have you seen a Berghia? There's nothing "pack" about them-but oh well...). You need to have more than one so that while one is distracting the aptasia, the other can swoop in and bite it. It's also REALLY important how the Berghia are placed into the tank (that was another lesson learned the hard way...:sad:)

I have been working directly with the breeder to start bringing these guys into the Western half of Canada, so if we can get enough people interested, I can place a big group order for everyone. (It helps on the price). If Kevin is ok with spearheading the order, everyone can contact him to let him know how many Berghia they want and pay him for them (the final price will depend on how many we are ordering). We'll set a predetermined cut-off time and I will place the big order. (Usually, if we can get the order placed by Monday we can have the shipment in less than a week.)

The only thing we need to have an understanding of is that when I get the package, they need to be picked up the same day. They come in little containers that will keep for a while, but I don't like pushing it.

Hopefully, I have answered all of the questions, but if not, please feel free to post or PM me.

[sharuq1]

i'm interested in some i would like to get rid of the pest anenomes in my tank but i dont think mine are aptaisa the ones in my tank arnt just brown they acculy look kinda nice with green and yellow centers but they are starting to add up and i know that cant be good

Those sound like majano anemones. Not good.