Berghia Nudibranch for aptasia?

[Mike628]

So I'm thinking about getting four of these guys for my 29 gallon tank. My question is will four be enough, and if so will they do the job, and are they reef safe?

 

[jsker]

Just get a matted file fish

 

[Mike628]

Which will do the job better? I have quite a few aptasia, and some are pretty big. I also read that the Nudibranch can get into tight spots

 

[Quah]

They are totally reef safe. They are obligate consumers of aptasia and aptasia only. I used 10 to completely rid my tank of aptasia. Depending on how large your aptasia population is it can take some time but they will do it. If you have peppermint shrimp they'll eat the nudibranchs. Introduce all of the berghia on the same rock next to a large population of aptasia and let them do their thing.

 

[Mike628]

@Quah Im gonna over guess and say I have like 30 to 40 aptasia. Would four be enough for this?

 

[jsker]

File fish will do the job better

 

[azbigjohn]

Berghia work, but are constantly getting sucked into the overflows. I have a 30 gallon AIO, and added them twice. First time they got a good head start, but I failed to account for them getting sucked into the overflow. The second time, I pulled them out of the overflows every evening, but they never got a solid start, or reproduced.

When you consider how pricey they are, I consider them a last resort. I finally used a combination of aptasia X and a peppermint shrimp, and am only occassionally seeing an aptasia, which I immediately attack.

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

File fish will do the job better

And more probable to eat soft coral?

 

[Mike628]

@Quah and @jsker what if I got two berghia and a file fish?

 

[Mike628]

And more probable to eat soft coral?

File fish eat soft corals?

 

[Mike628]

What would be the best option for me?

 

[Sabellafella]

No get atleast 6 or 7 it will take about 3 4 months to eradicate. I have 11 that i put in a 120 last week, and have 4 in a container in my sump to eat the aiptasia off of frags that i have. Berghias are imo the best for aiptasia removal. Beside filefish and copperbands.

 

[jsker]

And more probable to eat soft coral?

No problems at all

 

[Sabellafella]

 

[jsker]

File fish eat soft corals?

Has not touched mine

 

[Mike628]

I just want to get the aptaisa gone. They are ugly and Ive delt with them forever. Will the file fish eat the big aptasia?

 

[Mike628]

I just want the best, and most likely creature to kill them off

 

[Greenstreet.1]

File fish are good but sometimes they take a long time to start eat them I have one in a tank full of aptasia it took over four months for him to start eating them and there are still some in the tank that he don't want anything to do with.

 

[Mike628]

Like I said I want the best creature lol. Im sick and tired of aptasia

 

[Greenstreet.1]

The filefish is a good idea and also the nudi copperband is good also but on the hard side to keep cause of there eating habits I would go with the file or apt or even both just make sure you get the right nudis and the reef sale file