Nudibranch?

[Donald Gilliss]

so I was looking into maybe getting a nudibranch but want some more info on these... are they reef safe?

 

[James M]

What type ?
There’s more than one type

 

[Donald Gilliss]

Not sure that’s why I’m asking lol, want to know which ones are reef safe with my soft corals and fish

Fish are
2 blue chromis
2 occ clowns
1 mandarin goby
1 fire goby
1 scooter blenny
1 ruby red blenny

 

[James M]

Thought you were talking about specific one. Many are very hard to keep alive because they have a very specific diet. Like some only feed on flatworms.Have you looked into lettuce sea slug ? It feeds on hair algae and can be supplemented fed by nori.

 

[Donald Gilliss]

I haven’t but I definitely will now! I just really like the nudibranch because if their colors and patterns. What does their diet consist of? And what preys on them?

 

[James M]

They feed on mostly hair algae and what inhabitants do you have ?

 

[Donald Gilliss]

I have the fish I listed above, along with 3 emerald crabs, hermits & snails, a Medusa worm w/ emperor shrimp, pin chusion urchin, and a cleaner & coral banded shrimp

 

[Kamden Uelton]

All Nudibranch eat sponge no point in getting something that's gonna die

 

[cristata.reef]

Agreed, all true nudibranchs eat sponges, ascidians, bryozoans, hydrozoans, actiniarians, etc. Matching a species of nudibranch with it's food is like finding a needle in a haystack except the haystack is the size of Texas an the pin is smaller than your finger nail. First you need to be able to positively ID the nudi. I'm not sure if you are aware, but there are literally hundreds of different species and many are identical in terms of morphological features and can only be IDed by geographic location of where they were found, dissection, or genetic analysis. Secondly, you need to ID the food source. Most of these fouling organisms that nudis prey on haven't even been properly named or even looked at in the realm of marine academia.

If you somehow miraculously manage to match a nudi and its food be prepared to have A LOT of it's food. Nudis eat slowly by rasping their prey with a modified radula. This is essentially like a wolf eating a deer with a cheese-grater for teeth. The deer will die of pain and shock. Once the food source is dead, it will begin to decompose and the nudi will move on. Thus it might only eat 1% of the food you provide before it rots and fouls the tank.

Other marine heterobranchs like sacoglossans and sea hares are slightly easier to keep. Sacoglossans like the lettuce nudi also need to be matched with a certain type of algae (most species naturally prey on calcified chlorophytic algae like Halimeda and Udotea but I've gotten some in lab settings to culture on Bryopsis pennata and Bryopsis plumosa. Sea hares eat pretty much every algae and thus are easy to care for but aren't nearly as pretty as their nudibranch and sacoglossan counterparts.

If you really want to appreciate the beauty of nudibranchs, here's my advice. Pick up a nudibranch ID book, take a vacation to somewhere with nudibranchs (I recommend Lembeh), go diving or snorkeling and observe healthy and vibrant nudibranchs (far more colorful than anything you'd see in a tank)

Sorry if I came off as a bit of a party pooper, but it's the truth with these guys

 

[Donald Gilliss]

Much rather have the truth than something would potentially crash my entire tank... thanks for your help