Leather corals and Montipora

The red Montipora sp. coral has grown to a nice size. I placed two different colored leather corals near its base to create a color complement. The tank is still "re-cycling" and re-adjusting since I repositioned a lot of the live rock a few weeks ago. I've had to siphon out bluegreen algae (BGA) here and there during the water changes. Over time, I've noticed that the BGA's growth has slowed down. But, now, there's an increase in green hair algae. I'll manage that by manually removing it over time and the tank should be back to being well-balanced in a few more weeks.

Oh, and since the introduction of a dozen peppermint shrimp, I noticed that all my Aiptasia have been eradicated. It took a few weeks before the shrimp actually managed to wipe out all of the pests.

Berghia Nudibranch Rock Test II

It was only a day later that I captured this wandering, daytime Nudi devouring the Aiptasia on the acrylic wall of the refugium.

I've noticed that small Aiptasia on the sand bed have also disappeared. Most of the adult Nudis remain hidden, away from the light. So, I've turned off the light in the refugium to encourage them to crawl about at night time.

Berghia Nudibranch Rock Test

This Aiptasia took a chance and established itself on the front wall of the refugium and an inch from the bottom of the sand bed. The spots next to it look like snail egg sacs. Upon closer inspection, they are found to be "baby anemones" or basal cells most likely being placed by the larger anemone.

I always worry that the Pipefish might injure themselves with the stinging nematocysts of the anemone. Do they instinctively know to stay away?

Now, I've placed the Berghia Nudibranch Rock in close proximity to the Aiptasia. The Nudibranch adults have been hiding underneath this rock which was placed on eggcrate, high up in the refugium. When I moved the rock, I saw a few nudibranchs underneath. Some of the egg strands have disappeared. Hatched? I also saw about 4 adults still in the grid of the eggcrate. So, I placed a recovering plate coral on top for shelter.

The Rock has been losing a lot of Aiptasia since I placed Nudis there 4 days ago. The largest one in the back has disappeared and was probably clobbered by a pack of Nudis sometime during the night. There are a few tiny ones on top, exposed to light. Are they saving them for the baby Nudis?

How many days until they decide to invite this anemone family over for a late night dine in? We shall see.

"They mostly come out at night.....mostly." -Ripley.

Berghia Nudibranch Egg Mass

You done lay me a whole mess a eggs!

It hasn't been a full 24 hours after acclimation and already a few Nudis have decide to launch a full assault on the Aiptasia infested rock by laying egg strands. Now, I have to go research what the best time would be for me to move this rock to the main tank. Okay, Berghia.net says 6 to 8 weeks after hatching.

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.