farming aiptasia?

[dcfluegel]

so... yeah

we were having some moderate aiptasia issues in our DT... and our peppermint shrimp were fat lazy buggers... so we got some berghia nudibranches and they were awesome - except the lady wife was truly distressed at the thought of them starving to death after their work was done... so... now I have a 10g tank set up as an aiptasia farm to make sure the nudis stay fat and sassy...

anyone else gone off the reservation on this particular one?

 

[eliramos]

haha fat and sassy
ive heard of this a few times youre not alone lol

 

[3Twinklets]

Lol! I don't blame you. I happen to think they are beautiful when full grown. Especially under blue LED's when well fed. They just glow!

 

[steamer51]

I have been raising Berghias for about a year and had difficulty raising aiptasia. Separate tank, well fed, dirty water from water changes, stabbing big ones with a box cutter since they release gametes before they die to keep the population going, everything I can think of. Moving aiptasia cleared rock back into my display caused some nudis to get in there so I no longer have that source. Several other tanks would have some aips growing on the sides I would scrape off with my fingernail and drop into the Berghia breeding tank. The grandkids knocked a light into my aiptasia raising 20 gallon and killed them all off and ever since then I've had difficulty getting them going again but I'm still trying. Friends have loaned me aiptasia covered rock that I return empty.

I have read that Berghia will die after a couple of days without food but that has not been my experience. I have sold a lot at fragswaps and got down to only three left before all my problems getting more aiptasia. I was in the hospital for a month in September and was sure they would be gone since no new aiptasia added to their tank. They were still alive and fine after I added the few aiptasia I had left. I later found two in my display and who knows how long they had made it without food. I have not heard it reported before but my Berghia breeding tank has no circulation (better for survival to not have to work against the current to find food) and I have always seen them floating upside down on the surface with their mouths moving as well as eating off the side glass. Maybe they are eating aiptasia eggs and sperm projected into the water when they die or microscopic aips trying to grow. They only do this when there are no aiptasia present. With little or no aiptasia present the Berghia also seem to stop breeding. Maybe the babies have no tiny aiptasia to eat and die off before before they are big enough to see. My colony has held at three since August since I've been struggling to keep them alive.

 

[AC1211]

Old thread I know. I want to bring up a question of: do yellow coris wrasses and others mess with these Berghias?

 

[WIReefer]

Check out this article

How to Propagate Aiptasia...

A uncommon subject from an uncommon reefer, you may wonder why do we want to culture aiptasia wend this is one of the primary pests in our hobby since the very beginning . The answer is fairly easy. By understanding aiptasia propagation we can a)...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[User1]

Old thread I know. I want to bring up a question of: do yellow coris wrasses and others mess with these Berghias?

Wrasses in general will go after them. I think you are on the right track asking and I am only repeating what I have read as I own neither. However, when I did have a yellow coris everything was fair game for food. Most posts talking about berghias and wrasses end up to suggest not mixing the two.