Berghia Nudibranchs

Once again, I've decided on a "biological" approach (go ahead and roll your eyes and say, "there he goes again! Let's see how well this is gonna work.") to address another pest problem commonly encountered in the reef tank: the Aiptasia anemone. Aiptasia normally can be found as a hitchhiker on live rock. In small numbers, it doesn't pose much of a threat. But, if your reef tank is overfed or high in nutrients, you can potentially increase the numbers of these pests. They pack a powerful sting and can migrate, so you also put your corals and fish in danger. If you try to manually remove one, it will leave behind basal cells which will result in more anemones! I've already tried the chemical approach (Aiptasia-X...cool name, cool concept, cool video...doesn't work in my hands).

Here are a dozen Nudibranchs I ordered and received today from Berghia.net. (Saltyunderground's website was down at the time....soooo.....yeah.....).

Acclimating the animals to the proper temp and chemistry of your system is a process best done with a few beers on location. Unfortunately, I wasn't stocked! I decided to start them off in the refugium before I move them to the main tank.

I had to shake the bag to get them loose before I used the wide bore pipet to transfer them to this Aiptasia infested rock. I disturbed the rock so that the Aiptasia retracted their tentacles a bit. In this way, I was hoping to avoid getting a Nudi mistakenly eaten. (yes, this can happen! I don't think they'd be able to save themselves by eating the anemone from the inside out!).

You can barely make out where they are located on this rock. These creatures are nocturnal, so this might be the last time I see them hagin' out. Once the Aiptasia is eradicated in the refugium, my plan is to move this rock to the main tank very close to other Aiptasia so that the Nudis hiding underneath or within the rock will move on to their next meal.

And, who knows? Maybe there will be some egg layin' in the future?

It's sad to say that once the Aiptasia population is lowered or eradicated, it will be difficult for these creatures to sustain themselves (BECAUSE THAT'S ALL THEY EAT: AIPTASIA; NOTHING ELSE! Earth's biology truly is odd and seemingly, irrational at times. Did they choose to only eat Aiptasia or were they born that way?! Haw!). I'm at least glad that they were tank raised instead of pulled directly from the ocean since their last stop will be in my reef tank. If I can, and after they've served their purpose, I may be able to collect some and pass them on to fellow reefers.