aiptasia eating berghia nudibranch

SWRV · Jul 24, 2020

Does anyone know where i can buy some aiptasia eating berghia nudibranch in the Phoenix Az. area?

Jman76 · Jul 24, 2020

Interested myself, curious to see what you find

BigPanda · Jul 24, 2020

I've never been but a just saw a FB post that The Pet Shop in Mesa has some. I'd give them a call first to double check.

justinmatt79 · Jul 24, 2020

Wildfire Corals gets them on occasion but hasn’t had them lately. I ordered some from Salty Underground and I am pretty happy with their customer service. I was able to get free shipping overnight to a UPS drop off location so I wasn’t worried about a box full of cooked slugs.

noonelikesadrytang · Jul 24, 2020

The Pet Shop in Mesa has some. I think they’re $15 each.

adrianr514 · Jul 25, 2020

Rommel Mesola is breading them. No clue if he’s on here or not.

vanpire · Jul 25, 2020

How viable are these nudibranchs? How many do you need to eradicate a tank? Since I lost my copperband, I am beginning to see aptasia. Want to control before aptasia get out of hand.

justinmatt79 · Jul 27, 2020

vanpire said:
How viable are these nudibranchs? How many do you need to eradicate a tank? Since I lost my copperband, I am beginning to see aptasia. Want to control before aptasia get out of hand.

Van, the jury is still out for me. I added them about two weeks ago because every time I gave my aiptasia a blast of Aiptasia X, they multiplied like crazy. I’m a slight skeptic on the nudis because I am concerned something else may eat them. But, I have seen a minor improvement in the area where I added the nudis, and I also have seen one or two at night time if the tank is dark. And I have noticed some aiptasia that were there suddenly disappear. The process does seem slow, though. Some things I read was it could take months for them to breed to a population large enough to do the trick.

vanpire · Jul 27, 2020

Thanx Justin. Glad there is improvement. That’s what matters. I ordered 13 of them. Don’t have a lot of aptasia and planned on 6-8 but with shipping included, 13 was about the same price. I hope I can rehome them when I am done. They were not cheap.

How do find them in the dark? How large is your tank?

justinmatt79 · Jul 27, 2020

I have a 75 gallon. A couple hours after lights go out and there is no ambient light I’ll search the tank with a flashlight. Aside from one cruising the glass one night, I have generally seen them in the vicinity of where I released them. You really have to have a keen eye. They are small and blend in pretty well. I bought 10 for the 75 gallon and watched one immediately lay eggs on a closed up zoa as I released them, so I know they can and will breed. I just hope the population gets to that ‘critical mass’ where they can start taking out the aiptasia in greater numbers.

Buffalou · Aug 11, 2020

I have released about ten of them in one of my overflows that I shut down, it was filled with aiptasia, a week later I have one aiptasia left. I need to move them into main tank rock now, not as easy as it sounds. Any tips would be welcomed. I plan to try to blow them free from wall with water and then capture them with large baster. Or open valve and capture them in net as it flows to sump.

justinmatt79 · Aug 11, 2020

The other night I was looking in my tank after lights out for the berghia. Instead I saw a peppermint shrimp that I assumed was long dead. Hadn’t seen it in many many months. Turns out, the only thing more sure than berghia eating aiptasia, is peppermint shrimp eating berghia. I dropped $125 on tasty morsels for a shrimp I don’t care about. So there is that...