aptasia eating nudibranch

1guydude · Jan 18, 2015

Does Any1 really know what these look like? Sure look like the zoa eating ones to me. No, monti eating ones.
Someone I.d. aptasia eating nudibranch for me plz in lamin terms.
I've Google IMG it. So I get pic's... but this is the internet. What can I really believe.

Basically when I get hitchhikers I play better safe than sry but if it's one I can I.d. properly or play a beneficial role in my tank. I'll add em. Can I tell an aptasia eating nudibranch or is it only when u see em eating aptasia ?!
-d

billwill · Jan 18, 2015

Check out salty underground.com. They specialize in them

The Kahnasaur · Jan 18, 2015

+1 to the saltyunderground.com recommendation. I've ordered from them. They'll definitely take out your aiptasia, but if you have a lot of aiptasia or very large ones(quarter size) you'll need many of the nudis to get the job done. As the site will tell you, ideally you want the nudis to reproduce in order to get rid of all of your aiptasia. I don't think mine ever did. 5 from saltyunderground + 3 from my LFS took out about 30 in my tank in the last 2 years. I still have 2 large aiptasia and I think I still have at least 1 nudi as every month or so the aiptasia moves to weird spots, making me think it's running from the nudi. I haven't seen a nudi in about 6 months though.

7hogwarts · Jan 18, 2015

If you are looking to get rid of aiptasia the best way has been with Peppermint shrimp. I had some of the Berghia nudibranch. They just didn't quite get the job done. Green filefish did a pretty good job, but started to eat zoas and other desireable anemones.

Fishmania21 · Jan 20, 2015

Nudibranch at my local reef club works really well. If I have aptaisia I just buy them and sell them back when all gone.

cobergas · Jan 22, 2015

Berghia are the way to go. They have a voracious hunger for aiptasia and since that is their only diet they hunt like nothing else. I culture and breed them and my problem is keeping up the food supply even though I have a ready source of the pesky nems. It is all I can do to keep these guys fed almost daily. If their color is pure white then they are really hunting for food. If they have a slightly brown color to them then they have recently eaten and will most likely be reproducing in tank.

s2minute · Jan 22, 2015

+1 to Berghia nudibranchs. Salty Underground is the place to go. I have a 175 BF DT and had them. At first i was able to zap them with Joes juice but, that's very labor intensive and works if u only have a few. The ones i had got ahead of me. Soon, they exploded in numbers to about 300 i'd say and some were 3" long. Bought about 20+ Berghia Nudibranchs @ salty underground and they were only like 1/4" long. I did not think they would make a dent but i follows their instructions to the "T" about introducing them to my DT. They told me it take about 2 months so i waited. Saw no change. Called them up and questioned them about it. They said just be patient so i was. I kinda got preoccupied with other things during the next month and did not pay as much attention to the progress till one day towards the end of the 3rd month and BAM! ALL Aptasias were gone except the biggest ones. Within another week, they were gone to. It was amazing. The aptasia never returned since and that happened years ago

. I had tried Joe's, a copperbanded butterfly and was told not to use peppermint shrimp. As long as you introduce them the proper way you'll see something truly amazing. Be warned though, they are not to cheap and when the aptasia are gone, they starve to death as they eat nothing else. Think of it as a maint. investment to your DT and resign yourself to pony up for the $. It's well worth it in the long run.

s2minute · Jan 22, 2015

s2minute said:
+1 to Berghia nudibranchs. Salty Underground is the place to go. I have a 175 BF DT and had them. At first i was able to zap them with Joes juice but, that's very labor intensive and works if u only have a few. The ones i had got ahead of me. Soon, they exploded in numbers to about 300 i'd say and some were 3" long. Bought about 20+ Berghia Nudibranchs @ salty underground and they were only like 1/4" long. I did not think they would make a dent but i follows their instructions to the "T" about introducing them to my DT. They told me it take about 2 months so i waited. Saw no change. Called them up and questioned them about it. They said just be patient so i was. I kinda got preoccupied with other things during the next month and did not pay as much attention to the progress till one day towards the end of the 3rd month and BAM! ALL Aptasias were gone except the biggest ones. Within another week, they were gone to. It was amazing. The aptasia never returned since and that happened years ago . I had tried Joe's, a copperbanded butterfly and was told not to use peppermint shrimp. As long as you introduce them the proper way you'll see something truly amazing. Be warned though, they are not to cheap and when the aptasia are gone, they starve to death as they eat nothing else. Think of it as a maint. investment to your DT and resign yourself to pony up for the $. It's well worth it in the long run.

BTW, you'll never be able to rescue them from your DT once their job is done. They only come out at night and are usually way to small to catch. That's why i stated that once the aptasia are gone they will go soon after. Unless you are able to actually get some out depending on your system and raise them. Most people won't be able to do that so...

TJ's Reef · Jan 22, 2015

Good questions Devin, and to precisely ID them seems extremely difficult at best for us Hobbyists and look very similar to other in their family that feed on Z's & P's. I do however fully agree that the very best way to eradicate Aiptasia IMHO is with Berghia. I bought 8 juvenile or 1/2" ones for my old 75g and sold/traded 8-10 of their offspring. They completely eliminated several hundred Aiptasia but like stated above did seemingly take some time to make a visible difference, but starting 6-8 weeks in just a couple additional weeks pretty much wiped them out.

Not the best pics but this is what the ones I had looked like

I recently picked up a wild colony of Zoanthids and flushed three nudibranchs off in the Dip which looked almost identical ??? Killed them to be safe but who knows if they were good or bad.....

Cheers, Todd

1guydude · Jan 22, 2015

I ask cuz the rock flower nem i got saturday, came on a rock with zoas and some sponge....but there in the bag roaming around the plastic was a dreaded NUDI! Like i said, if i could I.d. them properly.... wat are the odds they have been bred so much that they r a common hithchiker now?! I think the main part is the long stalks on the backs and the feelers out front of there heads. Never seen em white but mostly a pink color or tan...id call it salmon color or a nutural pink. thxs for the comments and responses
-d