Berghia Nudibranchs for the Dreaded Aiptasia Anemone

EriksOasis · Sep 14, 2017

What happens when the aiptasia is gone will the nudis survive? Or so you remove them and bring them back to your lfs?

GoVols · Sep 14, 2017

prsnlty said:
Tip: leave lights off after a few weeks to a month for a few days! I still had several noticeable aptasia before the hurricane. The lights were out for 3.5 days and I look in the tank to find them nearly wiped out! There is a couple on the pulsating xenia and a few on the return and that's it

The 1st 2 pics are what's left. The last 2 pics are the xenia rock and the center bottom area to compare the the pics above them. Every rock looked like these or worse! I am VERY PLEASED!!!!! These little critters are worth every single penny

Jackie,
Great point about the lights!!!
I covered my reef each night in blankets to give the nudi's, total black-out conditions

I know that you have a lot going on after the hurricane

but thanks for taking the time to post and your shots are amazing

Freddie

GoVols · Sep 14, 2017

EriksOasis said:
What happens when the aiptasia is gone will the nudis survive? Or so you remove them and bring them back to your lfs?

If you can't catch them to pass along to another reefer, they will starve and fade away.

They are really tough booger's to capture will out killing them.

I wanted to catch them for @prsnlty but they were just too hard to catch, with-in my deep reef.

So, She bought hers from @Ryan2428 at Salty Underground, like myself.

prsnlty · Sep 14, 2017

GoVols said:
If you can't catch them to pass along to another reefer, they will starve and fade away.

They are really tough booger's to capture will out killing them.

I wanted to catch them for @prsnlty but they were just too hard to catch, with-in my deep reef.

So, She bought hers from @Ryan2428 at Salty Underground, like myself.

I will be on the lookout to TRY and catch some at night to add to the 180 if at all possible. That way they may not all perish. The 180 has several aptasia now to eat but the wrasses (that I can't catch) might eat the nudi's... doesn't hurt to try.

prsnlty · Sep 14, 2017

Thank you @Ryan2428!!! They have done an amazing job and have kept this tank from a tear down

prsnlty · Sep 14, 2017

GoVols said:
Jackie,
Great point about the lights!!!
I covered my reef each night in blankets to give the nudi's, total black-out conditions

I know that you have a lot going on after the hurricane but thanks for taking the time to post and your shots are amazing

Freddie

Thank you Freddie!

Lots of cleanup and such here after IRMA and many still without power. Gas is beginning to trickle in and we're slowly bouncing back. Hurricanes Glenn and Shawn went back to work last night so I am also dealing with their aftermath [emoji12]

These nudibranches are fantastic! Are they expensive? It's all in how you look at it. Aptasia-x spread my aptasia to epic proportions. The more I treated and tried to kill them the more abundant they became. So you have to factor in the cost of the aptasia X in the first place and how much you're going through in let's say 6 months to a year. If they had been left alone they would not have been in that type of proportion I don't believe. And even if they had, by the time you save the money for the berghia nudibranches they will take care of the issue and you don't have to worry again unless you reintroduce them. Just put them in the tank at night and wait... no muss, no fuss, no aptasia! Worth EVERY penny!

GoVols · Sep 14, 2017

prsnlty said:
Worth EVERY penny!

...

...+1

And I'm happy that your having the same success, that I had

I can't thank you guys enough for taking the ride with me. I did use them back in 2012 and... (lol) I just took them for-granted ;Cow

I believe we called it "A Wrap" on July the 26th on the build.

This was the last nudi, that I saw, and it was on August the 20th. (looked really thin)

prsnlty · Sep 14, 2017

GoVols said:
... ...+1

And I'm happy that your having the same success, that I had

I can't thank you guys enough for taking the ride with me. I did use them back in 2012 and... (lol) I just took them for-granted ;Cow

I believe we called it "A Wrap" on July the 26th on the build.

This was the last nudi, that I saw, and it was on August the 20th. (looked really thin)

You're welcome! Also thank YOU for creating this excellent article! Or i would otherwise still be battling them or breaking it down

GoVols · Sep 14, 2017

@bif24701
Thanks for taking the ride with us too.
You called it, from the get go

and the nudi's got the job done

bif24701 · Sep 14, 2017

GoVols said:
@bif24701
Thanks for taking the ride with us too.
You called it, from the get go and the nudi's got the job done

I'm glad they worked out for you. Wanna send a few of yours my way? My sons tank staring to get out of control. If you can ship them PM me and we can talk about price.

Thanks again

GoVols · Sep 14, 2017

bif24701 said:
I'm glad they worked out for you. Wanna send a few of yours my way? My sons tank staring to get out of control. If you can ship them PM me and we can talk about price.

Thanks again

I'm sorry, mine faded off and were too hard to catch.

bif24701 · Sep 14, 2017

GoVols said:
I'm sorry, mine faded off and were too hard to catch.

When was the last time you saw an aiptasia? I found nudis in my system many months after I had thought they where gone.

The best way to catch them is a piece of 1/16 acrylic tubing and a bottom. Use suction to suck up the nudis into the bottle.

Well thanks any way.

GoVols · Sep 14, 2017

bif24701 said:
When was the last time you saw an aiptasia? I found nudis in my system many months after I had thought they where gone.

The best way to catch them is a piece of 1/16 acrylic tubing and a bottom. Use suction to suck up the nudis into the bottle.

Well thanks any way.

bif24701,
We called it "a wrap" on the build thread on July the 26th, when the last aptasia was clearly gone.

I saw the last nudi on August the 20th and it was very weak.

I did see the adults back out on July the 27th but it was in the dead of night and I would have had to tear the scape down to catch them. They were on the move like a special forces team and very hungry. After that night, I never saw the adults again.

I saw them when we put them in and on July the 27th.

You know what the nudi's do, and I wish that I could ship some.

Freddie

juanmanuelsanchez · Sep 14, 2017

I bought 3 and I haven't seen them since. Since I have shrimps, cleaning crew, etc I think they were eaten. The aitapsia is still there and growing in numbers. Im wanting to buy some peppermint shrimp soon. Sadly they coming hard to find in Costa Rica where I live.

GoVols · Sep 14, 2017

juanmanuelsanchez said:
I bought 3 and I haven't seen them since. Since I have shrimps, cleaning crew, etc I think they were eaten. The aitapsia is still there and growing in numbers. Im wanting to buy some peppermint shrimp soon. Sadly they coming hard to find in Costa Rica where I live.

Have you ever tried File fish?

Philt56 · Sep 14, 2017

My rock in my 65 was covered with apitasia. It was like a couple here and there and then they were all over and huge. I think I bought 6 x 1/4" berghias and thought they were gone after a couple days ad dinner to my coral banded shrimp, crabs and whatever. Then the apitasia were slowly gone. One night after the lights were out and very late with no room lights on, I poked a flashlight and saw a huge berghia crawling along the back wall. Must have been around 3/4" or more.