Blue Velvet Nudibranch Care and Trading

[catiebartholomew]

I have some kind of brown flatworm in my 75 gal. I noticed them condensing in areas with algae and/or copepods. I got a blue velvet nudibranch instead of trying flatworm exit. Here’s what I have learned:

1.) Run activated carbon. I use R0X .8 from BRS.
2.) Nudibranchs have no ability to tolerate moderate - high flow. I had to turn off my wave makers, angle my return pump upwards, and move some rock around to make him happy.
3.) When flow is low enough they are EXTREMELY active hunters.
4.) They eat by extending a proboscis looking apparatus and suck up their prey with surprising force.

If anyone on the west coast needs a blue velvet nudibranch, I will lend you one as long as you pay for shipping and have a plan for how to decrease your flow (particularly on the sand bed).

 

[vetteguy53081]

They feed exclusively on

I have some kind of brown flatworm in my 75 gal. I noticed them condensing in areas with algae and/or copepods. I got a blue velvet nudibranch instead of trying flatworm exit. Here’s what I have learned:

1.) Run activated carbon. I use R0X .8 from BRS.
2.) Nudibranchs have no ability to tolerate moderate - high flow. I had to turn off my wave makers, angle my return pump upwards, and move some rock around to make him happy.
3.) When flow is low enough they are EXTREMELY active hunters.
4.) They eat by extending a proboscis looking apparatus and suck up their prey with surprising force.

If anyone on the west coast needs a blue velvet nudibranch, I will lend you one as long as you pay for shipping and have a plan for how to decrease your flow (particularly on the sand bed).

flatworms and requires utmost water quality and are short lived

 

[catiebartholomew]

They feed exclusively on

flatworms and requires utmost water quality and are short lived

yes. I run an ULNS with a lot of activated carbon. They have put a significant dent in my planaria population. I’d like to find other reef keepers to lend them out to before I run out of food for em.

for further research I highly recommend this source: http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall/chelvar

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Oh, so THATs what they're for. I was wondering who buys these guys. heh. As for myself, my dragonettes controlled my flatworm problems. Why use extra carbon?

 

[catiebartholomew]

Oh, so THATs what they're for. I was wondering who buys these guys. heh. As for myself, my dragonettes controlled my flatworm problems. Why use extra carbon?

hehe ) my dragonette unfortunately does not touch my planaria. the bvn secretes toxins casually; i’ve noticed all of my other inverts give him a wide radius. the activated carbon absorbs the trace toxins he secretes. and if (when ) he dies, the activated carbon will help protect the other tank inhabitants from higher levels of toxins until a water change can be done. i did a lot of research on how toxic bvn can be when they die in an aquarium. i did not find much - only a handful of anecdotal accounts from hobbyists who didn’t seem concerned. because of this lack of information regarding to what degree they can “nuke” a tank, and because activated carbon is relatively safe to overdose, i run a lot of it.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

hehe ) my dragonette unfortunately does not touch my planaria. the bvn secretes toxins casually; i’ve noticed all of my other inverts give him a wide radius. the activated carbon absorbs the trace toxins he secretes. and if (when ) he dies, the activated carbon will help protect the other tank inhabitants from higher levels of toxins until a water change can be done. i did a lot of research on how toxic bvn can be when they die in an aquarium. i did not find much - only a handful of anecdotal accounts from hobbyists who didn’t seem concerned. because of this lack of information regarding to what degree they can “nuke” a tank, and because activated carbon is relatively safe to overdose, i run a lot of it.

oh I see. That's quite a bit of work required to keep them, with all that carbon going, you could also keep the yellow cube box fish in your system! I had no idea they had so many conditions that needed to be met.
As for dragonettes, I find the basic scooter blenny works well. They all have their own personality, which is why I keep multiple. It took a few months for them to learn to eat them all up, They won't eat them from the water column, only off a solid surface. They also won't eat them off glass, unless it was dirty. The last place flatworms had as a refuge, was when I introduced some with my hammer. That species of flatworms would blend right into the hammer, and the dragonettes wouldn't pick them off the polyps, as the worms were very oval in shape, and just hid in plain sight, giving the hammer a dual tone color. Plus those flatworms were so stationary, I didn't think the dragonettes would feed off of them, since they were so particular about their "dining table". I resigned to knowing the flatworms would probably reproduce indefinitely on the hammer, and the dragonettes would at least prevent them from leaving the polyps.
It was months before the dragonettes found them. Since I didn't know which was doing the work, I keep a pair of all of them, mandarin, green spot and the scooter blenny. Oh, sorry to have hijacked your thread, dragonettes have their own "feeding conditions," which may be more challenging for some than your blue velvets. One blue velvet, in an infested system seems like a perfect biological control, similar to the ones that eat aiptasia. I think dragonettes would probably poison themselves if they tried to eat that many, then never eat them again, which is why I keep multiples.
I'm going to add the blue velvets to my "tool box" for future use.

 

[catiebartholomew]

I have some kind of brown flatworm in my 75 gal. I noticed them condensing in areas with algae and/or copepods. I got a blue velvet nudibranch instead of trying flatworm exit. Here’s what I have learned:

1.) Run activated carbon. I use R0X .8 from BRS.
2.) Nudibranchs have no ability to tolerate moderate - high flow. I had to turn off my wave makers, angle my return pump upwards, and move some rock around to make him happy.
3.) When flow is low enough they are EXTREMELY active hunters.
4.) They eat by extending a proboscis looking apparatus and suck up their prey with surprising force.

If anyone on the west coast needs a blue velvet nudibranch, I will lend you one as long as you pay for shipping and have a plan for how to decrease your flow (particularly on the sand bed).

Update: bvn grow incredibly quickly. homie has tripled in size over the past two weeks. with this increase in size has come with an increased ability to tolerate flow. he’s about 2.5 inches in length and is now actively hunting in moderate flow. huge dent in my brown planaria population which i’m ironically sad about.

 

[OceanMotion]

I have some kind of brown flatworm in my 75 gal. I noticed them condensing in areas with algae and/or copepods. I got a blue velvet nudibranch instead of trying flatworm exit. Here’s what I have learned:

1.) Run activated carbon. I use R0X .8 from BRS.
2.) Nudibranchs have no ability to tolerate moderate - high flow. I had to turn off my wave makers, angle my return pump upwards, and move some rock around to make him happy.
3.) When flow is low enough they are EXTREMELY active hunters.
4.) They eat by extending a proboscis looking apparatus and suck up their prey with surprising force.

If anyone on the west coast needs a blue velvet nudibranch, I will lend you one as long as you pay for shipping and have a plan for how to decrease your flow (particularly on the sand bed).

Hey, I have large population growth of flatworms and would like to adopt your blue velvet nudibranch. I am willing to pay for the s&h, lmk.

 

[OceanMotion]

I have some kind of brown flatworm in my 75 gal. I noticed them condensing in areas with algae and/or copepods. I got a blue velvet nudibranch instead of trying flatworm exit. Here’s what I have learned:

1.) Run activated carbon. I use R0X .8 from BRS.
2.) Nudibranchs have no ability to tolerate moderate - high flow. I had to turn off my wave makers, angle my return pump upwards, and move some rock around to make him happy.
3.) When flow is low enough they are EXTREMELY active hunters.
4.) They eat by extending a proboscis looking apparatus and suck up their prey with surprising force.

If anyone on the west coast needs a blue velvet nudibranch, I will lend you one as long as you pay for shipping and have a plan for how to decrease your flow (particularly on the sand bed).

That blue velvet nudibranch still available?

 

[catiebartholomew]

That blue velvet nudibranch still available?

hey, sorry, i had to give it to a local lfs so that the lil man could continue to eat and live. highly recommend this method over salifert. best of luck!!

 

[Careefornia]

I have some kind of brown flatworm in my 75 gal. I noticed them condensing in areas with algae and/or copepods. I got a blue velvet nudibranch instead of trying flatworm exit. Here’s what I have learned:

1.) Run activated carbon. I use R0X .8 from BRS.
2.) Nudibranchs have no ability to tolerate moderate - high flow. I had to turn off my wave makers, angle my return pump upwards, and move some rock around to make him happy.
3.) When flow is low enough they are EXTREMELY active hunters.
4.) They eat by extending a proboscis looking apparatus and suck up their prey with surprising force.

If anyone on the west coast needs a blue velvet nudibranch, I will lend you one as long as you pay for shipping and have a plan for how to decrease your flow (particularly on the sand bed).

Do you still have the blue velvet?

 

[Marcel_Paz]

Update: bvn grow incredibly quickly. homie has tripled in size over the past two weeks. with this increase in size has come with an increased ability to tolerate flow. he’s about 2.5 inches in length and is now actively hunting in moderate flow. huge dent in my brown planaria population which i’m ironically sad about.

What fish do you have? Any fish bothering the nudi?