jdiver Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 I had this little guy show up as a hitchhiker a couple months ago and now have several of them in my prop tank. They are small, only 1/4" long at most, orange/brown in color, and look like a thin slug with spikes. They crawl around on the rocks and glass and are out at all hours. Any ideas? Link to comment
Inpha Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Looks like a berghia nudibranch... umm maybe i'll get a photo.... Link to comment
Inpha Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Here's a pic of a Berghia verrucicornis... there's four species in the Berghia genus... these are good for aptasia control I think... thanks to The Sea Slug Forum for the image.... Link to comment
J21kickster Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Just recently pulled some of those out of my 20 gallon- thay are reproducing quite fast and they seem to have a liking for my zooanthids- i would take it out- or at least- watch it for a day or so Link to comment
jdiver Posted February 4, 2003 Author Share Posted February 4, 2003 Aha, that looks to be what they are. Thanks Inpha! I'm assuming they aren't at all bad, and would in fact be good since they apparently help to control aptasia? I took a look through the Sea Slug Forum (interesting site) and didn't see anything negative mentioned. Thanks again for the id. Link to comment
jdiver Posted February 4, 2003 Author Share Posted February 4, 2003 J21kickster- Thanks for the heads up. I've had several of them in the tank for a month or two and haven't noticed any problems. 90% of the time I see them on the glass, so I assumed they were eating algae. (Knock on wood, I have yet to have any significant algae, diatoms, etc. in this particular tank since I set it up back in October.) Perhaps I'll keep a closer eye on them though, just to be sure. Link to comment
Inpha Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Berghia arn't bad at all as far as I am aware... in fact they sell for like 20 bucks a pop... could be wrong on that figure... check out some of the online dealers.... Link to comment
J21kickster Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 there are many diff species within that genus- most eat some algae- but the ones i have - non stop polyp feast- it is easy to find them i just look for the closed up zoos and then take them out - i must have 30 or so Link to comment
Crakeur Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 I think they are toxic when they die and they will die when they run out of aiptasia to eat so keep an eye out and remove them when the aiptasia are gone. I'm sure you can find someone willing to take them off your hands. Link to comment
jdiver Posted February 4, 2003 Author Share Posted February 4, 2003 Thanks to everyone who replied, except for Dave. My bad Dave on failing to post in the correct forum. I hope I don't go to nano-reef Hades as a result. Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 How the heck was this is the wrong forum? It was an ID post. This is the ID forum. Link to comment
jdiver Posted February 4, 2003 Author Share Posted February 4, 2003 I originally posted in the General Discussion forum and it got moved. I'm such a rebel. Link to comment
Inpha Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Crak... I don't think that's how nudi's work... they don't usually just die of starvation (as far as I know)... nudis usually just keep getting smaller and smaller (eating their own body) until there is almost nothin left of them... than they die... I could be wrong mind you. Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 I see. Well you are indeed quite the rebel. I need a picture of my new nudibranch I found so i can figure out what it is. Link to comment
jdiver Posted February 4, 2003 Author Share Posted February 4, 2003 Well, I was checking out my tank more closely today and noticed a couple of the nudis on the stalks of some button polyps. Now I'm wondering if perhaps they are eating some polyps : . What is odd though is that I have a couple of zooanthid rocks, some yellow polyps, and some polythoas in the tank that are all thriving. It's just this one rock of button polyps that doesn't look great and has a couple nudis on it. I suppose like any other creature though they can be picky and different in what they eat. Maybe they are moving onto button polyps because there aren't any aiptasia. At any rate, now I'm thinking I might as well take the little buggers out. Anyone have any aiptasia they'd like to try to have one of these nudis get rid of? Inpha- Nudis actually eat themselve, like self-cannibalism? That's a new one to me and would be among the more odd behaviors I've heard of in reefs. jflysmooth- Just make sure to post your pic in the ID forum. Link to comment
Inpha Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Um... no.... its more like... a human is able to live off his fat stores for several weeks... its eats its food stores... (it dosn't eat it... its.... stomach absorbs it?)... i need someone elses opinion on this anyhow.. Link to comment
ajroahkni Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Octopussies will eat their legs to survive if food is scarce or they're caught in bad u/w weather, FYI. Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 see now..... if ya laugh at the way I post the obvious, it is funny ... I don't get how people have so much hate...HAHAHAHAHHAHHA ppffffttt I too second the nudibranch notion. I looked in a few resources and I couldn't locate an exact species or what it eats. err on the side of caution... Phyliodesmium Soecies will et softies and some shrooms. hopefully it isnt related (as its the closest I can get) hth. LOLERZ on the replies since my "U B STU PEE D" forum jabb in the ribbs..... thats whats great about the people here who lurk and read enough to understand the regs and peeps on this board LOL. Link to comment
jdiver Posted February 5, 2003 Author Share Posted February 5, 2003 Inpha- Ok, now I understand what you're saying. Initially I was picturing a nudi eating it's a$$ and working it's way up. Dave- I hope you realize I was being sarcastic and joking in my posts about posting in the wrong forum. I'm here enough to know you're the "Nano-Reef Nazi" so it's all good. I think I'm going to take your advice and err on the side of caution with the nudis I have and take them out. It's too bad because they look pretty cool, but they were free and my corals weren't. Link to comment
Inpha Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 if you have a refugium you can prolly put em in there.... Link to comment
FishyIdea Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 I've been reading a lot about berghia nudibranchs (aiptasia killers), so I'll regurgitate some info for ya, but please don't be impressed. All the reports by berghia keepers who released them into they're main reef tanks report they "disappear" quickly. Either they get eaten or they hide. They are very nocturnal. Also, no one mentioned the little guys doing the glass thing. One report mentioned there is a similar looking species to berghia that will eat good things. Also one German dude said he got the idea that the nudis had a "home" rock. So odds are you have the bad berghia look-a-like and they will polish off one rock before moving on. (Real berghia n. eat nothing but aiptasia.) Before you get rid of them, look for some pictures of "lettuce" nudibranchs. These are algae eaters and glass crawlers and also a whitish species. I saw some today and I couldn't rule them out compared to your fuzzy picture. Man, it's hard pretending to be an expert! Could some point the way back to the beginners forum? Link to comment
Inpha Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 nah that wasn't a lettuce nudi... it had like nub like things on it.... not like a lettuce nudis... wavy things hehe... very descriptive... Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 GRABOIDS ! WE'LL CALL THEM GRABOIDS ! Know the movie, .....laugh Link to comment
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