Let's say you wanted an aiptasia farm...

[revhtree]

NO I'M NOT GOING TO BE RAISING AND SELLING Berghia Nudis! Just thought the question could be fun!

Let's say you wanted an aiptasia farm...

What would your set up look like and what would you do to grow thew most?

 

[Tamberav]

Do they spread much or are they isolated?

they split and can move but don’t do so too much. They don’t seem to just pop up at random on the other side of the tank like Aiptasia. They seem to repopulate more like a traditional nem.

There is a member in nano reef who keeps a Aiptasia tank. Literally a tank dedicated to them.

 

[Peace River]

Are Aiptasia like the weeds in your yard that grow out of control until you decide you like one particular one and then try to go it...then you realize that it is harder to grow than you thought?!? Aiptasia grows when we overfeed our reef tanks, so it would imply that if you are trying to grow aiptasia then that tank should be overfed, but how much is too much? How would you set up the filtration to pull out enough, but not too much? Is there a way to measure what would be the "best" parameters for growing Aiptasia?

 

[BeltedCoyote]

I read somewhere about a person who had infested rocks, broke down the tank and had the rocks dry for something like a year.

Guess what showed up once water was back in the equation….

 

[DeniseAndy]

Just make sure where ever the tank is it is miles from any other reef systems. Otherwise, you will have to answer to any nearby reefer.
Also, try not to sell your frags, just give them away. That way you can make sure if your system fails, you have others to recolonize your system.

 

[jgirardnrg]

Are Aiptasia like the weeds in your yard that grow out of control until you decide you like one particular one and then try to go it...then you realize that it is harder to grow than you thought?!? Aiptasia grows when we overfeed our reef tanks, so it would imply that if you are trying to grow aiptasia then that tank should be overfed, but how much is too much? How would you set up the filtration to pull out enough, but not too much? Is there a way to measure what would be the "best" parameters for growing Aiptasia?

They're photosynthetic as well. You don't have to overfeed to have an outbreak.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Turnage]

NO I'M NOT GOING TO BE RAISING AND SELLING Berghia Nudis! Just thought the question could be fun!

Let's say you wanted an aiptasia farm...

What would your set up look like and what would you do to grow thew most?

 

[Koigula]

First you try to kill them with aprasiaX then feed reef roids. They will EXPLODE!!!

Not joking

 

[reefinatl]

10 gallon tank with HOB filter and heater. I feed them Reef Chilli and baby brine shrimp. I call this the "Nightmare Fuel Tank":

Jeez, I joke about my 13.5 fluval being a tank of doom since it's stocked with xenia, gsp, Kenya tree and yellow polyps but you really took it up a notch....

 

[Rjramos]

NO I'M NOT GOING TO BE RAISING AND SELLING Berghia Nudis! Just thought the question could be fun!

Let's say you wanted an aiptasia farm...

What would your set up look like and what would you do to grow thew most?

A popular guy we know from down here in Miami was recently looking for lots of aptasias to feed Berghia Nudis, lol! That’s the only thing they eat otherwise they starve.
I would say a conventional reef ready tank. Cheap lighting. And cross the tank baffles made of eggcrate, they love eggcrate especially under frag plugs! Feed, and feed some more, nitrates and phosphates won’t bother, although you don’t want the algae to smother!
Then raise the Berghia and open up an offer to sell the Berghia and payback 50% value if returned after they clean the clients tank.

 

[Ardeus]

I setup a small tank for 2 aiptasia and I couldn't keep them alive. Expert only animals.

 

[Robertellis30]

I literally have. 15 gallon covered. I want to order a few nudi and start a farm. Every ones in a while I’ll stick my hand in there and torment the entire lot to try and produce more.

I should use my time else where haha.

 

[M Stein]

I setup a small tank for 2 aiptasia and I couldn't keep them alive. Expert only animals.

You could make a fortune in aquarium maintenance. Just take care of infested tanks until they're gone

 

[KrisReef]

Let's say you wanted an aiptasia farm...

What would your set up look like and what would you do to grow the most?

I'd start with a 12' long 18" X 30" reef flat tank with all the bells and whistles. Best lighting for Aiptasia? I don't know but it would have to be expensive. Lots of water flow, ATO, fully automated especially to add drift food every couple of hours. Then I'd buy a nice rock of them from some poor soul that was giving up and tearing down their tank because it was overrun with them. I would mix that seed in with Fresh Gulf Live Rock, crank up the lights and wait for them to blossom.

I'm not sure this would work when I think about it. Everything else I've ever tried to grow crashed. I suspect the Aiptasia would also die inside a week if I was trying to get them to explode?

 

[twiatr2001]

There is actually an excellent article here by sixty_reefer that shows how to propagate aiptasia, it actually goes into depth on what they like and don't like to further grow or starve, here's the link, https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/how-to-propagate-aiptasia.764/

 

[Peace River]

I’d go to the bad cheap section at my lfs and get aiptasia covered zoos. I’d feed daily

Interesting thought and please bear with me while I try to follow the idea. As I think this through, I have a serious question - wouldn't this approach be prone to also introduce other unwanted pests that may be problematic in an aiptasia farm? Is there such a thing as "clean aiptasia" and would it matter? If someone were to get aiptasia to feed their nudibranchs would "pest-free" aiptasia be important?

 

[jgirardnrg]

My fail proof plan for establishing an aiptasia farm:
1. Set up a saltwater tank
2. Wait
Poof! Success guaranteed! Hahaha!

This is not as easy as you might think. And the more nudibranch you have to more difficult this task becomes. They are not as tough as everyone thinks they are.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Easy find a single aptasia and every morning poke it with your finger. Make sure to have good flow. Presto epic outbreak in a week.

Speaking of Presto...what about Petco?

 

[Anchor]

I find greatest success by seeing one and disturbing it by poking at it with a stick. seems the more you bug them, the more they reproduce.. also, let the tank go, dont do water changes, just top off. Lots of slimey red algae helps. Feed the tank a lot or sparingly but the secret is ticking them off. they respond by reproducing.. Aiptasia X, pokey sticks, try and suck them out with a siphon, anything. more threatened and mad they get, the more they create offspring to make you poke them more.. I have a 40B getting close to wall to wall with this method. cant wait for the day I drain this tank.. and bake it in the sun.. then refill it and have a monster crawling out to eat me.

 

[Anchor]

Interesting thought and please bear with me while I try to follow the idea. As I think this through, I have a serious question - wouldn't this approach be prone to also introduce other unwanted pests that may be problematic in an aiptasia farm? Is there such a thing as "clean aiptasia" and would it matter? If someone were to get aiptasia to feed their nudibranchs would "pest-free" aiptasia be important?

Is this an attempt at logic humor?