Aiptasia Predator... the Berghia verrucicornis Nudibranch!

[tang_man_montreal]

Great article on this months' issue of Reefkeeping!!

Meet the Berghia verrucicornis Nudibranch!!






Check out the article here...
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.htm


IJO, Can you get these little guys?

[Flame*Angel]

I've heard about these but haven't been able to find them in Canada. I sure would love to get some though.

[Pierre-Michel]

Me also ! So IJO if you can find those include me on your list please !
Thanks

[Flame*Angel]

Inland Aquatics used to have them but couldn't ship them to Canada.

[ijo]

I'm on it... thanks TM

[tang_man_montreal]

:thumb:

[Aquanut40]

Hello

One problem is that it only eats Aiptasia spp anemones. I for one am not fond of added animals to a tank to clean up a problem such as this, only to have the animal starve to death at a later date.

Stan

[Flame*Angel]

Aquanut40 - I used to feel this way. When my tank was fairly new I had a plague of bryopsis algae. I tried everything but it just kept getting worse. I was actually losing corals to it. I posted on Dr. Ron Shimek's forum on Reef Central and he told me about lettuce seaslugs (often incorrectly referred to as nudibranchs). I replied with basically the same thing, that I didn't want to watch them die after the bryopsis was gone.

He told me that this is exactly what happens in nature. For whatever reason the balance is disturbed and something gets growing out of control. Bryopsis for example. Then a crew of something will show up to eat it. When the food source is gone they die. The balance is returned. I got 5 lettuce seaslugs and haven't been bothered by bryopsis since.

Most of these seaslugs have short life spans in the wild. I would feel would be different if it was a fish or some critter that normally lived a long life in the ocean. However, I feed my tank live cultured phytoplankton every day. I know the cells will be consumed but I don't think of it as murder on a minor scale. I suppose you could think of life spans relatively as well.

Aiptasia in plague proportions can wipe out a reef. I've lost corals and even a jawfish to it. My copperband is still too small to eat aiptasia. If I can get a half dozen or so berghias I'm going for it!

[Aquanut40]

Hello

Fair enough I respect your veiw and your position. But this in no way changes mine.

Stan

[Kenzy]

Of course once your bryopsis or aiptasia is under control and you feel that you no longer need the nudi/ sea slug I'm sure if you posted that you have one or two for sale/trade that you would have no problem sending them to a new home and helping out a fellow hobbiest.