Is this nudibranch reef-safe?

[marcwjj]

Just saw this today, tank is 2 month old, with live rocks from KP, must be a hitchhiker. Can I keep it in the tank?

 

[TriggerFinger]

Probably not a harmless algae eater, I’ll do some looking. Is it blue with white stripes?
Also, any coral or macro algae in your tank?

 

[wonroc]

That thing is bad a**

 

[SHNICI]

Nudibranch, you can match it here , you can select by colour you see, and there is search as well, or to google for nudibranch blue with white, can't see clearly the colours on your one and the pattern.

 

[marcwjj]

Probably not a harmless algae eater, I’ll do some looking. Is it blue with white stripes?
Also, any coral or macro algae in your tank?

Yes it is blue with white stripes. never seen it before. I have a some LPS in the tank which are doing great so far (frogspawn, duncan) and a small candy cane and Acan.

There are halimeda algae growing on the live rocks and I got some chaeto in the back chamber of my AIO.

 

[marcwjj]

Nudibranch, you can match it here , you can select by colour you see, and there is search as well, or to google for nudibranch blue with white, can't see clearly the colours on your one and the pattern.

Thanks for the info! I also lost track of the sea hare in the tank, but from the google search , it looks closest to a lined chromodoris nudibranch. The fact sheet says it eats sponges , I hope he's not interested in corals..

I've added a video to the post if that helps ID'ing.

 

[marcwjj]

That thing is bad a**

How bad can it be?

 

[shred5]

Allot of nudibranch are specific feeders only feeding on one thing and will just starve in a reef tank if their food is not provided. If it came in on a specific coral it probably eats that coral and should be removed..

 

[GlassMunky]

How bad can it be?

I think they mean it looks “******” as in it looks really cool. Which I agree

 

[marcwjj]

I think they mean it looks “******” as in it looks really cool. Which I agree

Lol, I've been misinterpreting the expression "bad a**" for all these years... see, I'm learning moar English from a reef hobby forum, this is awesome

 

[SHNICI]

Lol, I've been misinterpreting the expression "bad a**" for all these years... see, I'm learning moar English from a reef hobby forum, this is awesome

your one don't look completely like the one you found, I can't see the yellow lines at the bottom. But it look really on the video you post it goo after the sponges (the white one, check on the rock where you took the video, in what condition is the sponge which is at the end of your video)
It's any of the slugs, but still can't find particular one, and if it's after sponges or tunicates it will eat only them, isn't going to touch corals, but if you put nice sponges in your tank, like I do, they will be eaten then.
If you aren't after the sponges ay all, in a moment when they gone from your system, it will starve to death.

 

[marcwjj]

your one don't look completely like the one you found, I can't see the yellow lines at the bottom. But it look really on the video you post it goo after the sponges (the white one, check on the rock where you took the video, in what condition is the sponge which is at the end of your video)
It's any of the slugs, but still can't find particular one, and if it's after sponges or tunicates it will eat only them, isn't going to touch corals, but if you put nice sponges in your tank, like I do, they will be eaten then.
If you aren't after the sponges ay all, in a moment when they gone from your system, it will starve to death.

I'm fairly inexperienced reefer - do these look like tunicates (picture 1) and sponges (yellow patches in picture 2) to you? if so I can spot plenty in the tank.

The white sponges you were referring to in the video are unfortunately not sponges but some reef glue I used for the candy cane, that sea slug did not go after the glue .

 

[SHNICI]

on the photo 1 I see ball anemones they aren't bad, they are harmless (probably you mean under the blue colored LR under the light).
2 is yellow sponge, it can become invasive, sometimes they destroy the LR from inside and it come unstable and brittle, try to look after the slug/nudibranch what it's going after to eat.

 

[SHNICI]

#reefsqaud may help for this Nudi you got there

 

[samnaz]

photo one is definitely tunicates, they are pretty common on live rock from KP. maybe Botryllus sp.

photo 2 is sponges.

Unfortunately, if the nudibranch only eats sponges that means one specific species of sponge and most likely not what you have, sorry to say.

 

[SHNICI]

photo one is definitely tunicates, they are pretty common on live rock from KP. maybe Botryllus sp.

photo 2 is sponges.

Unfortunately, if the nudibranch only eats sponges that means one specific species of sponge and most likely not what you have, sorry to say.

Sorry, now looking and zooming the photo it look more like tunicates like you say, and they are in groups

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I'm fairly inexperienced reefer - do these look like tunicates (picture 1) and sponges (yellow patches in picture 2) to you? if so I can spot plenty in the tank.

The white sponges you were referring to in the video are unfortunately not sponges but some reef glue I used for the candy cane, that sea slug did not go after the glue .

Some have said the top pic looks like tunicates, I personally own them and have never seen one like that at all. they look to me like hydroids or, more likely, some type of anemone. The bottom is definitely a sponge.
On the note of the nudibranch, I have really no clue. A good thing to search could be 'Nudibranchs of (wherever KP is located)' in google and going through any lists you find.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Some have said the top pic looks like tunicates, I personally own them and have never seen one like that at all. they look to me like hydroids or, more likely, some type of anemone. The bottom is definitely a sponge.
On the note of the nudibranch, I have really no clue. A good thing to search could be 'Nudibranchs of (wherever KP is located)' in google and going through any lists you find.

They’re a type of colonial tunicates and are common on KP aquatics rock.

 

[Coralsdaily]

Most (not all) non-reef safe nudibranch look almost like their prey to help disguise them among the type(s) of corals, inverts, or other nudibranchs when are they hunting among them. If you have any invert/corals in your tank resemble the color and markings of this guy then you probably want to keep an eye on it. If not, this guy will probably starve to death.

 

[marcwjj]

Thanks all for the help!! I don't have any coral (only have 4 LPS in the tank) that resembles the pattern. Will keep an eye on the nudibranch (if I ever spot it again).

BTW, these tunicates keep changing shapes and moving places and spawning, but always stayed in the same area of the same rock. Pretty interesting creatures.