The Berghia from down under.

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I'm curious to hear about any experiences within the Australian reefing community with using Southern Baeolidia as a means to control aiptasia in aquariums.

Aiptasia can be quite the nuisance, and without being able to get berghia's here down under I've done abit of research and heard that Southern Baeolidia nudibranchs can be effective natural predator for managing their aiptasia.

Have any of you attempted introducing Southern Baeolidia into your tanks for aiptasia control? If so, what were your results?

 

[tzabor10]

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Where do you get them?

 

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Following
Where do you get them?

I haven't seen any for sale but they are common where I am, I was thinking about just collecting one or two and putting them in a temp tank to see if they do infact eat aiptasia and not corals, would have to test some zoas lol

 

[kevgib67]

I haven't seen any for sale but they are common where I am, I was thinking about just collecting one or two and putting them in a temp tank to see if they do infact eat aiptasia and not corals, would have to test some zoas lol

I’m not in Australia but following to see how this works out for you. Good luck!

 

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Hey guys, just trying to get this information out there as much as possible! I would love anybody's help with this if willing.

I've been researching anemone-eating nudibranchs, mostly aeolids in the family Aeolidiidae, as a natural pest control method. We have all heard about Berghia nudibranchs (Aeolidiella stephanieae; I know it's confusing—they keep changing and re-classifying everything...), but us Aussies unfortunately can't get Aeolidiella stephanieae here.

But using old forums and reading up on some old research papers, I have found out that the family Aeolidiidae has a wide and vast range of nudibranchs all around the world (some not reef-safe). I believe I have narrowed down a few great contenders for us Australians who want to use a natural way of controlling these pest anemones.

1. Brazilian Aeolid, aka Spurilla braziliana (I told you it gets confusing). This little critter happens to be in the same species complex as Spurilla neapolitana, which Biota has been working on breeding and selling as aiptasia-eating machines, which gives me great hope for this one.
2. Baeolidia moebii, aka Spurilla major. This tiny bugger has been captured munching on Boloceroides and aiptasia, but I'm worried as it's also said that it has been seen feeding on Stichodactyla sp. I'd like to find out what else it enjoys eating before adding it to an established reef aquarium.
3. Baeolidia australis, aka Southern Baeolidia, aka Spurilla australis(it just don't stop does it?). Closely related to Baeolidia moebii, it also might be a great contender I'd love to test.
4. Austraeolis ornata. Now, this is last on my list, even though at least two people, Ian and Mairi on old forums in the early 2000s talked about some success with this nudi eating aiptasia. I am not too convinced, however, since there was no actual proof.

Now, here is where I want to ask for help. I live in South Australia and have physically searched for these nudibranchs using iNaturalist as a guide, with no luck. If you live in Australia and have any idea on how to get a hold of these little fellas, let us know!

 

[Jmp998]

Hey guys, just trying to get this information out there as much as possible! I would love anybody's help with this if willing.

I've been researching anemone-eating nudibranchs, mostly aeolids in the family Aeolidiidae, as a natural pest control method. We have all heard about Berghia nudibranchs (Aeolidiella stephanieae; I know it's confusing—they keep changing and re-classifying everything...), but us Aussies unfortunately can't get Aeolidiella stephanieae here.

But using old forums and reading up on some old research papers, I have found out that the family Aeolidiidae has a wide and vast range of nudibranchs all around the world (some not reef-safe). I believe I have narrowed down a few great contenders for us Australians who want to use a natural way of controlling these pest anemones.

1. Brazilian Aeolid, aka Spurilla braziliana (I told you it gets confusing). This little critter happens to be in the same species complex as Spurilla neapolitana, which Biota has been working on breeding and selling as aiptasia-eating machines, which gives me great hope for this one.
2. Baeolidia moebii, aka Spurilla major. This tiny bugger has been captured munching on Boloceroides and aiptasia, but I'm worried as it's also said that it has been seen feeding on Stichodactyla sp. I'd like to find out what else it enjoys eating before adding it to an established reef aquarium.
3. Baeolidia australis, aka Southern Baeolidia, aka Spurilla australis(it just don't stop does it?). Closely related to Baeolidia moebii, it also might be a great contender I'd love to test.
4. Austraeolis ornata. Now, this is last on my list, even though at least two people, Ian and Mairi on old forums in the early 2000s talked about some success with this nudi eating aiptasia. I am not too convinced, however, since there was no actual proof.

Now, here is where I want to ask for help. I live in South Australia and have physically searched for these nudibranchs using iNaturalist as a guide, with no luck. If you live in Australia and have any idea on how to get a hold of these little fellas, let us know!

I can't help you directly-and have never even been to Australia unfortunately.

However have you considered booking with a professional dive guide who may be able to show you where to find them? For instance this group has posted quite a few nudibranch pics, including a couple species you are looking for:

Scuba Dive Melbourne, Scubapro, Port Phillip Bay

Scuba Dive Melbourne, Scubapro, Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne Scuba Diving

www.diveline.com.au

I have no affiliation with them and no idea if they are any good or would be willing to help you collect.

My only other thought is that the common 'Berghia' nudibranchs are active mostly at night. If the Australian species have similar habits, it may be hard to find them exposed during the day-they may all be hiding under rocks etc.

 

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I can't help you directly-and have never even been to Australia unfortunately.

However have you considered booking with a professional dive guide who may be able to show you where to find them? For instance this group has posted quite a few nudibranch pics, including a couple species you are looking for:

Scuba Dive Melbourne, Scubapro, Port Phillip Bay

Scuba Dive Melbourne, Scubapro, Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne Scuba Diving

www.diveline.com.au

I have no affiliation with them and no idea if they are any good or would be willing to help you collect.

My only other thought is that the common 'Berghia' nudibranchs are active mostly at night. If the Australian species have similar habits, it may be hard to find them exposed during the day-they may all be hiding under rocks etc.

That's not a bad idea, It's pretty awkward to try and explain to a dive guide what I'd want or if it's even legal because I'd assume you would need a collecting license of some sort, I have never been diving and only looked around the edges of the waters were they've been seen before on inaturalist but I've only gone during the day time. I'm just so suprised because aiptasia is such a problem in the hobby and it seems like this could be a possible solution.

 

[Jmp998]

That's not a bad idea, It's pretty awkward to try and explain to a dive guide what I'd want or if it's even legal because I'd assume you would need a collecting license of some sort, I have never been diving and only looked around the edges of the waters were they've been seen before on inaturalist but I've only gone during the day time. I'm just so suprised because aiptasia is such a problem in the hobby and it seems like this could be a possible solution.

If they breed like Berghia, your biggest problem will be keeping them fed. Make sure you have a stable food supply, it would be a shame if you found some and could not keep them going.

 

[Pome]

I had Aiptasia everywhere, a few months ago. Got an Australian Stripey. Initially it seemed to ignore them, then over a period of 2 days, they were gone! Some say they’re not truly reef safe, but none of my admittedly limited corals have been touched. (Torch, zoas, leather & star polyp).

 

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I had Aiptasia everywhere, a few months ago. Got an Australian Stripey. Initially it seemed to ignore them, then over a period of 2 days, they were gone! Some say they’re not truly reef safe, but none of my admittedly limited corals have been touched. (Torch, zoas, leather & star polyp).

That's the route I went too, I got him when he was little and for about a week he didn't touch any aiptasia then boom! I was exetremely suprised how fast he destroyed the aiptasia, and my aquarium had massive bundles of large aiptasia too, I honestly didn't expect him to eat the big ones. as for coral in my case he did eat all my zoas but I was assuming he would do that. and a lot of my corals were dying from the aiptasia stinging them so I thought even if he does eat them they would have died anyway from the aiptasia so best get rid of them first.

 

[ReefRizz]

That's the route I went too, I got him when he was little and for about a week he didn't touch any aiptasia then boom! I was exetremely suprised how fast he destroyed the aiptasia, and my aquarium had massive bundles of large aiptasia too, I honestly didn't expect him to eat the big ones. as for coral in my case he did eat all my zoas but I was assuming he would do that. and a lot of my corals were dying from the aiptasia stinging them so I thought even if he does eat them they would have died anyway from the aiptasia so best get rid of them first.

Hey mate, I was from SA, now living in VIC. I'm following this thread. I can pretty much tell you now, all VIC saltwater stores have a LOT of aiptasia, no talk of any helpful nudibranchs around here.

 

[ReefRizz]

I haven't seen any for sale but they are common where I am, I was thinking about just collecting one or two and putting them in a temp tank to see if they do infact eat aiptasia and not corals, would have to test some zoas lol

How did you go with this?

 

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How did you go with this?

Unfortunately not, I got a stripey which has proven extremely effective.

 

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How did you go with this?

Fantastic news mate!