Berghia Nudibranchs for the Dreaded Aiptasia Anemone

[GoVols]

Great write up Freddie!

Hybird,
I'm glad you like it.

I wanted to submit it to Reef 2 Reef in the proper manner as an article.
I do not have the create button to do that, so you found me away to do this write up to best way, that you could come up with.

Hybird,
I can't thank you enough for staying up with me during that long night.
It would be nice if it gets turned into and article but it's out of my control.

I truly hope this write up helps others in making a decision, to treat an aiptasia outbreak by means of the Berghia Nudibranch method.

Freddie

 

[EHerbert]

Would you happen to know of their natural predators?

 

[GoVols]

Would you happen to know of their natural predators?

I'd rather let @Ryan2428 from Salty Underground take that one.
I know that some wrasse species will eat them if they get a chance.

 

[Ryan2428]

I'd rather let @Ryan2428 from Salty Underground take that one.
I know that some wrasse species will eat them if they get a chance.

I will answer this in the morning. Lol

 

[TimT]

I'm tagging along.....Very interesting!

 

[Pete Witteried]

I bought five of the Berghia several years ago. Took them several months to clear the tank. Had many babies over that period. After Aiptasia disappeared I traded some with other reefers for corals and sold the ones I could fish out of the tank back to the local supplier. Made $500.

 

[HolisticBear]

This post should be locked in for future people to read. Well done Govoles.

If it's not turned into an article, it should be locked and pinned under a new Case Files heading. There are only a few threads that describe a problem, a treatment, and carry us all the way thru. Especially with back to back posts without a lot of chatter that requires parsing 20 pages to get the OP's report. Whether the treatment works or not doesn't take away from the valuable nature of threads like these. Thanks @GoVols.

p.s. I can imagine Case Files for all sorts of treatments (pests, diseases, algae). Parsing 300+ page threads with dozens of authors is much harder than reading a handful of case files with pro + cons. So much effort from @GoVols to put this together, much appreicated

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Perfect timing. I have a dozen of these guys headed my way on Thursday to rid my 90g of the dreaded aiptasia. I have tried everything else with some success but I just can't get to every spot in my tank.
I am hoping that these guys can/will. Your success makes me feel better about my investment. I just wish there was a way to keep them long term. I hate that they help us out so much and are then going to die of starvation once they have completed their job.
I have thought about splitting them into two groups of six each and put them in different areas of the reef. I know everyone says to place them in a group, but how big of a group does it need to be to be successful? Which do you think would be better. Two groups of six or one group of 12?

 

[GoVols]

Just curious where you got your nudis from?

When I used them back in 2012 my local reef shop had them.
This year I did call them and they don't carry them anymore, because they don't keep enough live rock in stock with aiptasia to keep them alive.

I started trying to find someone on Reef 2 Reef who had them but I had no luck, at that either.

So, I went online and started researching and Salt Underground seemed to be the right choice.
The next morning I gave them a call and talked to Lisa. She was great, and said 15 nudi's should do the job.
So, I went back online and bought the 25 - 1/2" bundle package.

With that said:
We have the best reef site in the world and @revhtree keeps us on the cutting edge.
I do feel like that Salty Underground should become a R2R sponsor member.
It could help their business and it would also help Rev pay the bills and keep Reef 2 Reef on the cutting edge.

 

[GoVols]

Perfect timing. I have a dozen of these guys headed my way on Thursday to rid my 90g of the dreaded aiptasia. I have tried everything else with some success but I just can't get to every spot in my tank.
I am hoping that these guys can/will. Your success makes me feel better about my investment. I just wish there was a way to keep them long term. I hate that they help us out so much and are then going to die of starvation once they have completed their job.
I have thought about splitting them into two groups of six each and put them in different areas of the reef. I know everyone says to place them in a group, but how big of a group does it need to be to be successful? Which do you think would be better. Two groups of six or one group of 12?

I would place them as one group.
You want them to be together so they will breed and lay egg sacks.

I placed mine on top next to the green sps because it was the only (one) part of my rock work that was not covered in aiptasia.
I stayed patient and they worked their way down and out, starting at the top of the scape to the bottom.

I wanted to catch them too, so that they would not starve, but that's easier said than done.

 

[GoVols]

If it's not turned into an article, it should be locked and pinned under a new Case Files heading. There are only a few threads that describe a problem, a treatment, and carry us all the way thru. Especially with back to back posts without a lot of chatter that requires parsing 20 pages to get the OP's report. Whether the treatment works or not doesn't take away from the valuable nature of threads like these. Thanks @GoVols.

p.s. I can imagine Case Files for all sorts of treatments (pests, diseases, algae). Parsing 300+ page threads with dozens of authors is much harder than reading a handful of case files with pro + cons. So much effort from @GoVols to put this together, much appreicated

Micheal,
Thank you for the kind words.
I too read articles that are so long that you lose interest and never get to a conclusion.

So, I wanted to do this write up with enough info, but to get down to the business, in a quicker manner.

Freddie

 

[prsnlty]

Micheal,
Thank you for the kind words.
I too read articles that are so long that you lose interest and never get to a conclusion.

So, I wanted to do this write up with enough info, but to get down to the business, in a quicker manner.

Freddie

Yes I agree and thus the reason for the "Articles" section of the forum. I agree and believe this very well done thread should be moved there... (the writeup of course without the following chatter).

It is the main reason I haven't done one for the DIY Rock columns/sculptures and overflows. It takes a ton of hard work putting it together and very difficult to do on a thread without interruption before you can complete it.

 

[GoVols]

Yes I agree and thus the reason for the "Articles" section of the forum. I agree and believe this very well done thread should be moved there... (the writeup of course without the following chatter).

It is the main reason I haven't done one for the DIY Rock columns/sculptures and overflows. It takes a ton of hard work putting it together and very difficult to do on a thread without interruption before you can complete it.

Jackie,
Thank you

I wanted to submit it as an article in the proper manner, but I do not have the create button under my articles tab.

So, @hybridazn told me to create it over here as a thread. He also told all the other mods what was going on, so that I could get it done with out any postings from others members as I went along and we worked threw the night.

It does take a lot of time and I started at 11:30pm and when I was done, it was 4:30am.

It will be reviewed and cleaned up in the proper manner, if it makes the cut, to become an R2R article.

I think you should do a write up (article) on your DIY Rock columns/sculptures and overflows.
I've read your entire 180 build thread, and it's truly unbelievable and a gift to us all.

Freddie

 

[prsnlty]

Jackie,
Thank you

I wanted to submit it as an article in the proper manner, but I do not have the create button under my articles tab.

So, @hybridazn told me to create it over here as a thread. He also told all the other mods what was going on, so that I could get it done with out any postings from others members as I went along and we worked threw the night.

It does take a lot of time and I started at 11:30pm and when I was done, it was 4:30am.

It will be reviewed and cleaned up in the proper manner, if it makes the cut, to become an R2R article.

I think you should do a write up (article) on your DIY Rock columns/sculptures and overflows.
I've read your entire 180 build thread, and it's truly unbelievable and a gift to us all.

Freddie

I looked for the Create tab/link/button also and couldn't find one either. I'm thinking it's a permissions issue in the forum software (most likely it was inadvertent) because Rev sent out an email a month or two or so ago requesting and inviting all to create articles. I'm sure it'll get sorted out

 

[prsnlty]

Got mine today, very excited! A beautiful sight they are Lol!

 

[GoVols]

Got mine today, very excited! A beautiful sight they are Lol!

Jackie,
I'm happy that you've bought some and I hope you have the same success that had in 2012 and 2017.

Thanks for tagging along for the ride on my build. We did have some holding the breath moments on that build but in the end, they always kicked back in and got the job done.

If you remember someone said to use super glue on the blasto (their never going get those aiptasia). We held the ground, stayed the coarse, and the nudi's took care of that coral.

So, We got down to one aiptasia and if my memory is correct we waited about 10 more days. Started thinking again and wondered if I might have to try A-X.
I'm starting to see baby nudi's on the glass but the big guy was still smiling at us.

Once again we held the coarse and by 8am on the 25th I see the budge and took a couple on quick shots and headed to work. Later on I took a closer look at one of the shots, blew it up and I could clearly see two nudi's around the base and the one on the inside of the aiptasia. That could be a shot of a lifetime, and 36 hours later it was totally gone.

I did use them in 2012 but I really took the nudi's for-granted. So, this year I wanted to document, to the out come, for the better or the worse, but in the end they did the job, again.

I truly wish that I had taken more pictures at the start. I had so much aiptasia that I could only find that one rock ,to place the group that I bought.

Aiptasia is the only food source for Berghia Nudibranchs, and as @MrMichael said. "They will eat or they will starve"

Berghia Nudibranchs, have two purposes in life. They want to live / and they to breed, to carry on the next generation. It's called survival.

Aiptasia is their only food source, and hunger, conquers... all.

 

[prsnlty]

Jackie,
I'm happy that you've bought some and I hope you have the same success that had in 2012 and 2017.

Thanks for tagging along for the ride on my build. We did have some holding the breath moments on that build but in the end, they always kicked back in and got the job done.

If you remember someone said to use super glue on the blasto (their never going get those aiptasia). We held the ground, stayed the coarse, and the nudi's took care of that coral.

So, We got down to one aiptasia and if my memory is correct we waited about 10 more days. Started thinking again and wondered if I might have to try A-X.
I'm starting to see baby nudi's on the glass but the big guy was still smiling at us.

Once again we held the coarse and by 8am on the 25th I see the budge and took a couple on quick shots and headed to work. Later on I took a closer look at one of the shots, blew it up and I could clearly see two nudi's around the base and the one on the inside of the aiptasia. That could be a shot of a lifetime, and 36 hours later it was totally gone.

I did use them in 2012 but I really took the nudi's for-granted. So, this year I wanted to document, to the out come, for the better or the worse, but in the end they did the job, again.

I truly wish that I had taken more pictures at the start. I had so much aiptasia that I could only find that one rock ,to place the group that I bought.

Aiptasia is the only food source for Berghia Nudibranchs, and as @MrMichael said. "They will eat or they will starve"

Berghia Nudibranchs, have two purposes in life. They want to live / and they do breed to carry on the next generation. It's called survival.

Aiptasia is their food, and hunger conquers, all.

Oh yeah, it was quite a ride for sure Freddie!

Haha I am pretty certain I won't be able to tell if they've eaten any or not for quite a while because there's so much aiptasia in this 29 gallon [emoji33] not one rock was remotely clear of them. I placed 80% of this order in the 29g and the rest in the 45g seahorse tank. There are only about a dozen small aiptasia in that tank that I can see.

..... and.... aptasia-x is how the 29g got over populated with them [emoji30]

Time will tell [emoji2]

Thanks to your thread, you, Ryan and MrMichael for reminding you of berghia, these tanks will be free of those nasty fish and coral killers- hopefully for good!

Jackie

 

[GoVols]

Oh yeah, it was quite a ride for sure Freddie!

Haha I am pretty certain I won't be able to tell if they've eaten any or not for quite a while because there's so much aiptasia in this 29 gallon [emoji33] not one rock was remotely clear of them. I placed 80% of this order in the 29g and the rest in the 45g seahorse tank. There are only about a dozen small aiptasia in that tank that I can see.

..... and.... aptasia-x is how the 29g got over populated with them [emoji30]

Time will tell [emoji2]

Thanks to your thread, you, Ryan and MrMichael for reminding you of berghia, these tanks will be free of those nasty fish and coral killers- hopefully for good!

Jackie

Jackie,
Take plenty of shots. I never saw the big nudi's again until it was all over.
The nudi's do the most work during the night and if you take shots, then you will see where the old aiptasia is gone, as you go along.

Before I bought the nudi's I tried A-X too. It only made them release spores and the outbreak just got worse. Once they hit the blasto, I had to do something. We've had that coral for along time and it's my wife's favorite.

Even if I broke down the reef, I don't even know how I could have got all the ones with A-X near the bottom on my harden sand attached to the base rock.
Those are tough angles and if you don't get them just right with the A-X. You'll just be dealing with more spores.

I don't intend to add anymore corals and when I stopped adding them in 2012 the aiptasia never came back. I did add the big wall hammer last summer and it must have been caring some aiptasia spores from my local reef shops display.

I'm not saying the nudi's are the cheapest way to go but we spend money on things that are beautiful and to me the cost for the nudi's was worth every penny.

To me Filefish and peppermint shrimps can be hit or miss. Copperband's can be hard to acclimate and if you don't QT a fish you could be dealing with another issue in your main display. I don't have a QT tank and I did not have six more weeks to wait, if I had one. I needed something that would get to work ASAP.

Plus, I've already got the fish species and bio-load that I want.

Freddie

 

[prsnlty]

Jackie,
Take plenty of shots. I never saw the big nudi's again until it was all over.
The nudi's do the most work during the night and if you take shots, then you will see where the old aiptasia is gone, as you go along.

Before I bought the nudi's I tried A-X too. It only made them release spores and the outbreak just got worse. Once they hit the blasto, I had to do something. We've had that coral for along time and it's my wife's favorite.

Even if I broke down the reef, I don't even know how I could have got all the ones with A-X near the bottom on my harden sand attached to the base rock.
Those are tough angles and if you don't get them just right with the A-X. You'll just be dealing with more spores.

I don't intend to add anymore corals and when I stopped adding them in 2012 the aiptasia never came back. I did add the big wall hammer last summer and it must have been caring some aiptasia spores from my local reef shops display.

I'm not saying the nudi's are the cheapest way to go but we spend money on things that are beautiful and to me the cost for the nudi's was worth every penny.

To me Filefish and peppermint shrimps can be hit or miss. Copperband's can be hard to acclimate and if you don't QT a fish you could be dealing with another issue in your main display. I don't have a QT tank and I did not have six more weeks to wait, if I had one. I needed something that would get to work ASAP.

Plus, I've already got the fish species and bio-load that I want.

Freddie

So they will also eat blastos or do you mean the aptasia stung it to death? I have both kinds in the seahorse tank.

I wonder if the berghia will eat a rockflower nem..... have one in the 29g. And as far as that one goes I'm not sure I really care. Is pretty as it is it likes to sting other corals too and move all over the tank.

Yes I've taken shots of the tank both with the sump light that I temporarily put up top so I could see what I was doing because I shut the whole system down when I added them, and I took regular tank lighted pictures as well.

I have to admit that I've been in there with my phone flashlight peeking in the tank but I haven't seen them since they disappeared into the rock LOL

 

[prsnlty]

I have 2 impossible to catch wrasses in the 180 or I would've add the berghia nudibranches in there as well. I don't have a lot but we know how that works.... Maybe I'll be able to catch them when I redo the rock work. If so they can go temporarily into another tank.