So can a lettuce nudibranch really be kept in an aquarium?

[ArtsyAxolotl]

I'm new to the forum, so hello! I'm hoping someone can clear some confusion up for me... I hate to ask like this, since there's about a million other posts regarding the care of nudibranch in aquariums, but I'm getting such conflicting information. So. Here I am.

 

I'm setting up a 10 gallon nano reef; 20lbs of live rock and waiting for it to cycle. No inhabitants yet, though I'm getting close enough to finishing cycling the tank that I'm looking into clean up crews and all the things that come after that.

 

Anyway, Nudibranch are my favorite sea creatures. And I would love to add one to my setup. It sounds like lettuce nudibranch are one of the only species that we know enough about to care for them in captivity. Or, so I thought.

 

 

One thread will say they eat only hair algae. Another says they won't eat it. I spoke to someone who keeps them that says hers eats nori. But I've also read forums that say they don't go near nori. They'll eat all algae. They only eat bryopsis.

 

 

So what's the truth? I don't necessarily need one for controlling algae, or whatever people think they're kept for. I want one because I love nudibranch and how they look. But if it isn't possible to keep one without making it suffer, I'll give up on it. Killing one slowly isn't worth the novelty of having one, even if it is my favorite sea creature.

 

 

 

Also I'd like to reiterate that my tank is still cycling and I'm not planning to get anything for the tank for another couple of weeks. I'm just reading ahead. But any advice on these beautiful creatures would be amazing. Thanks!

[billdeluz]

They sure can be kept I had 3 at one point they do eat hair algae with helped me and after that I got them to eat halimeda but if you don't have a good amount they may die also to much flow and they can end up in the overflow or power head so be careful but anyway they need greens to eat well they really suck the chloroplasts out

 

Here is one of mine

[Reef Hollister]

I would love to be able to answer your question but I put one in my tank about a month ago and haven't seen him since.

[ArtsyAxolotl]

Oh my goodness your slug is gorgeous~

 

I sorta liked the way Halimeda looks anyhow and was thinking about getting a small amount, so good to hear that it might be an alternate food supply for a nudi. Though I hear it likes calcium so I'd have to dose for that.

 

Have you done anything to keep yours out of the powerheads and such? Or are your slugs just generally smart enough to stay out of harm's way? My nano has a hob filter and I'm waiting for a Koralia Nano powerhead in the mail (I tried a Rio+ hoping to save some money but the thing rattles like nobody's business).

 

 

 

((also Reef Hollister I'm sorry to hear your slug disappeared! Hopefully its still alive and well )

[ArtsyAxolotl]

Also do these guys count as a "starting" clean up crew member? Or should I just start with a couple snails and maybe a hermit crab? Since they're algae eaters I'd think they would be but I dunno if they need a more established setup, or if a recently cycled tank is established enough.

 

I was thinking of starting with a couple of snails like nerites or turbos, a red legged hermit crab or an emerald crab, and maybe the slug if he'd be as one of the first inhabitants.

[billdeluz]

Thanks I Went To Lfs And Got hob Filters And Placed Them Over My Power Heads Or Just Use Floss But Make Sure You change it they will get in there and to be honest I would not start with one I would wait till your tank is say 6mnths old and mature enough to support him also don't dose anything your not testing for you can/will cause issues and if I was doing a species specific build with nudis I would do a full out macro tank which allows you to grow the food source they want I think it would look at some I had planned on doing this once in a 10 gallon a lettuce paradise but never got to do it either way good luck and take your time nothing fast goes well on the reef

Oh my goodness your slug is gorgeous~

 

I sorta liked the way Halimeda looks anyhow and was thinking about getting a small amount, so good to hear that it might be an alternate food supply for a nudi. Though I hear it likes calcium so I'd have to dose for that.

 

Have you done anything to keep yours out of the powerheads and such? Or are your slugs just generally smart enough to stay out of harm's way? My nano has a hob filter and I'm waiting for a Koralia Nano powerhead in the mail (I tried a Rio+ hoping to save some money but the thing rattles like nobody's business).

 

 

 

((also Reef Hollister I'm sorry to hear your slug disappeared! Hopefully its still alive and well )

 

Just an example of the filter

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=sponge+filters&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&source=android-browser&source=lnms&tbm=isch#tbm=isch&q=sponge+filters+for+hang+on+the+back&imgrc=hPetUZecfsrB8M%3A

Ps. There's 2 nudis in that pic

[ArtsyAxolotl]

Ha is there really? I definitely can't find them lol.

 

That makes sense that they'd need a more mature setup. I'll just add'em to my list of things I'd like to get later on a lettuce paradise sounds amazing!

[billdeluz]

Ha is there really? I definitely can't find them lol.

That makes sense that they'd need a more mature setup. I'll just add'em to my list of things I'd like to get later on a lettuce paradise sounds amazing!

Look all the way to the left

[CJG5G]

Looking to get a nudi, wondering if you pulled the trigger and got one, how has your experience been

[ArtsyAxolotl]

I didn't so much "pull the trigger" as "was given one." The owner of a LFS has been super helpful with me getting a reef aquarium setup. Lots of advice and all that. I had some weird hair-like algae on my halimeda, and when the emerald crab showed no interest in the stuff, he let me have a lettuce slug to see if that'd eat it. (the slug was given to him by a friend and it looked too sickly and underfed to sell, but he didn't have any need for it in his personal reef tank).

 

It was very cute, I really enjoyed having it for the short time I did, but it didn't last long. I don't know if that was because it was already in poor shape? It didn't have any interest in my grape caulerpa, halimeda (Opuntia or Incrassata), or nori. What it did show interest in, though, was my power head. Not 48 hours into having it, it got itself a "haircut" in my powerhead, by which I mean it lost all its back ruffles. I covered them with a filter netting and that kept him out of them afterward. Undeterred, the slug continued to tool around my aquarium before disappearing entirely. I dunno if it died and my crabs got it or what, but one day it disappeared and I haven't seen it since.

 

 

I definitely want to try another one someday, but not for a long time.

[dadummy]

first week in June I put 20-25 of them in a 150g high flow sps tank. Just looked and I see two, not counting the few that are in the skimmer. At first they were aggressively helping to rid the tank of bryopsis, along with syphoning it out. Since the population has decreased bryopsis growth has increased and the battle is being lost, again.