Can Lettuce Nudibranch Nuke a Tank

[Tuna Melt]

The title says it all, can a Lettuce Nudibranch nuke your tank? Specifically a ~34 gallon tank. I'm in the midst of a mild Bryopsis battle and was looking for a natural predator to lend a hand before I resort to Fluconazole.

I understand they will feed on the chloroplast and not eat the actual algae, which brings me to my second question, are they an effective control against Bryopsis? I imagine the algae can't live long without chloroplast but I'm finding conflicting reports on various threads.

Would love to hear peoples experiences with these Nudibranchs.

TM

 

[FUNGI]

To date, i have had 2 on different occasions.....never had them nuke my tank when they die.....

 

[vetteguy53081]

The title says it all, can a Lettuce Nudibranch nuke your tank? Specifically a ~34 gallon tank. I'm in the midst of a mild Bryopsis battle and was looking for a natural predator to lend a hand before I resort to Fluconazole.

I understand they will feed on the chloroplast and not eat the actual algae, which brings me to my second question, are they an effective control against Bryopsis? I imagine the algae can't live long without chloroplast but I'm finding conflicting reports on various threads.

Would love to hear peoples experiences with these Nudibranchs.

TM

Bryopsis - no. Few animal eat bryopsis and rarely can control bryopsis at the rate bryopsis grows. Flux is an alternative and not a solution. Bryopsis is one of the more challenging of algae due to need of its complete removal. Removal is best accomplished by taking the rock out of tank and placing in a container of tank water. Then you will want to pull as much as you can by hand and discard. With a dental pick or small crochet needle, pull the roots off the rock. YOU MUST GET EVERY ROOT OR IT WILL SIMPLY RETURN !!
After you are done return rock to tank and reduce white light intensity and even hours of white light and add the following cleaners which will help with control. These guys will consume bryopsis but not as fast as bryopsis can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails

This procedure is not as bad or time consuming as it seems. Assure phosphate levels do not become elevated which helps feed this algae

harbor Freight: