Cali Kid Corals

Aeolidiella Stephanieae for Aiptasia control

r0ck0

r0ck0

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I just read in the latest digital issue of Coral Magazine about tank bred Berghia and how they are great Aiptasia controllers. Has anyone used these and why are they not more popular? Seem better than copperband butterflies and peppermint shrimp.

You can order them online from an aquaculture facility in texas:
http://www.berghia.net/
 
They are highly unsuited for reef tanks, thats why ;) (do poorly in high flow, can get eaten by corals)

They are nothing new, been around for over a decade in the trade. I've had dozens and all perished in a reef setting. Tried breeding them but ran out of aptasia :lol:
 
The ads (which must be true), do mention that they have been bred with a larger foot and tail, so hold on better.
Might be good for my tank anyway, which is slightly lower flow / more softies.
Hmm. Not cheap though.
 
I've tried to breed these as well, without success. However I was only able to get two of them, and they only laid one egg strand before one of them perished. Egg strand didn't hatch, unfortunately I moved a rock with aiptasia into the breeding tank with (a) pod(s) that munched the eggs.
 
I remember an employee at another public aquarium (won't say where!) who said this about them:

"Oh, they're great. They don't live in reef tanks but I breed them like crazy in these small culture vessels. All I have to do is rotate out Aiptasia covered rocks from my display tanks and they pick them clean."

So who wants to continuously pull apart their rockwork for every piece with Aiptasia on it....with my luck it'd be the rocks on the bottom.
 
You could say the same about peppermint shrimp with that kind of setup... hell I think the whole camel shrimp eatting AEFW uses that technique as well :D
 
Nice find, Greg. This looks facinating to me and makes some sense. Hmmmm.....no adults available until end of October. Gives me time to consider............
Oh yes, I DO have more than a couple Aptasia in the tank!
 
screebo said:
Nice find, Greg. This looks facinating to me and makes some sense. Hmmmm.....no adults available until end of October. Gives me time to consider............
Oh yes, I DO have more than a couple Aptasia in the tank!
Click to expand...

I first thought of you when I saw this. If flow is an issue for these guys just lower the flow for a few weeks while they work their magic. However, I bet your wrasses will eat them before thats an issue. Anyway, let me know if you try it and how it works out.
 
Peppermint shrimp training ground, or Berghia breeding zone ????

This is a rock in the back of my refugium. Seriously covered in aptasia. One of many.
It is actually more dense in the back. You can sort of see the brown spots. But can't get back
there to take a pic. Very low flow, no predators, other than likely a few worms.





From Aquarium_Release
 
One thing to be aware of if you try to raise these, large aiptasia WILL eat them. You can't simply throw a few of these in with aiptasia, they have to "sneak" up on them and eat the anenomes from the base, because if a large one stings them they will be harmed.

That's how the first one of my pair died, I put a large anenome in and when I checked them in the morning it was half inside the aiptasia's mouth. The person I got them from had only been able to send two, and I had to be on a waiting list for that, so that was the end of my breeding attempt. They seem much more available nowadays though. I will say that I agree with Gresham in that they are not very robust creatures at all, and seem to have that nudibranch knack for getting into harms way if it's at all possible.
 
r0ck0 said:
screebo said:
Nice find, Greg. This looks facinating to me and makes some sense. Hmmmm.....no adults available until end of October. Gives me time to consider............
Oh yes, I DO have more than a couple Aptasia in the tank!
Click to expand...

I first thought of you when I saw this. If flow is an issue for these guys just lower the flow for a few weeks while they work their magic. However, I bet your wrasses will eat them before thats an issue. Anyway, let me know if you try it and how it works out.
Click to expand...
You must have read the lengthy instructions at their website about acclimation etc. Wow, made me want to go back to college! Still, I really like the idea and feel I can do the "wait until the fairy wrasses are in bed, turn pumps off, drip drip drip then gently move critters to a quiet spot in the tank. Of course, I want the great big old breeders, not the little school age slugs........ ;)
 
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