Berghia Nudibranch

[jdavid]

Anyone ever attempted breeding Berghia Nudibranch? There is a book on the subject, although I assume it's probably not that difficult. The thing is that they are pretty expensive... For a good batch of 20 you are looking at $200+. I'm considering buying a couple and seeing if I can get them to lay eggs.

If we had just one person who was willing to breed them, it would make a huge difference for the whole club! Hopefully somebody else is interested in giving it a try as well.

 

[jamescook]

I'm sure I could breed them if you want to get some.

 

[jdavid]

I'm considering buying some to try myself. If you were a bit closer it would work out a lot better for everyone else to pick them up. Instead of just letting them eat my aiptasia, starve to death, and be done with it.. I would rather set up two small tanks. One to let aiptasia multiply unharmed, and another to move it into where the nudibranch's are breeding. I have a good 30-40 aiptasia running rampant in my otherwise unoccupied 29 biocube. I also have a bunch of small rocks, a whole 5g bucket full.

What I would probably do is set up my 3g acrylic to breed them in. Then a 5g tank to breed the aiptasia (that's easy enough). The rocks can move between the two tanks and the 5g bucket as needed to move aiptasia. I would just snip at the aiptasia with scissors to get them to multiply. Some of the larger ones don't even suck in when I touch them, and even if they do recede not enough to where I couldn't snip at it. I have some pretty massive aiptasias. Even some growing off the back glass.

Anyone who would want to try keeping a good amount of the nudibranchs would need a fair amount of aiptasia to start off with.

One thing that would really get this project going would be a bunch of members pitching in to the initial buy. If enough people pitched in $5, they would save $45-50 in the long run when they came to collect their two nudibranchs.

Over the next couple weeks I'm going to add a bunch of small rocks to my 29 and start messing with the aiptasia to see how many I can get. When I needed a heater in an emergency situation I took the one from my aiptasia tank and cleaned it, and was surprised to learn that they also thrive in cold water, and they don't seem to need light either. Of course, I never intended to breed aiptasia, lol.

 

[jdavid]

each website I have looked at only offers overnight shipping.
19.98 (2 Berghias) + 33.75 (overnight shipping)= 53.73 for only two nudibranchs. And that is for the smaller ones. The larger ones are $17 each.
If you buy 100.. the price goes down 50¢ per nudi. lol.

It should only take two of the smaller ones, being that they are hermaphroditic. But they need to be a certain age to lay a reasonable number of eggs that have a fair fertilization rate. They don't always mate, either. There is a fair amount of risk involved with buying these.

 

[ripped tide]

Get 100 for $500!!!! that seems like the way to go.

Save up $250, make james sell some clowns for $250, and split the batch.

 

[kilralpine]

If you were going with babies you are going to have to put them in a very small tank with no predators. If you have some aptasia reproducing enough to keep up with demand you could create a small army in a matter of a few weeks given the right environment. Two adults would probably be the safest bet. I am setting up a 110 right now and had planned to start with dead rock and dead sand to avoid the aptasia issue all together. The remaining 80 pounds of LR in my current reef has more than 100, different sizes. In the past few weeks I quit fighting the battle because I have no plans to let them kill all of my corals while I aimlessly nuke them one at a time. If your interested let me know whats up, currently I have no plans for the rock after my stuff is transferred over.

 

[jdavid]

I was thinking 3g acrylic w small hob filter w/ carbon and biocube nano skimmer. Extra nutrients wouldn't be a problem, because the food source is in the bioload already. Skimmer is to pull out any junk that could come from the aiptasia, although I have read the nudis have an approach that is not quite understood but does not elicit a response from the anemones causing them to release toxins into the water. So just in case. Top off daily with RO. This should keep the water pristine and hopefully encourage the mating.

It seems easy enough! I don't plan on cutting any corners, and I have everything I need. For two 1/2" we would need 14 people to donate $5 (and get first dibs on a pair of nudis)

For two 1/4" inch we would need 11 people. Once everyone gets a pair, you would be welcome to another pair whenever they are available.

If I'm successful, I would continue to breed them

 

[bobz]

JDavid;869715 wrote: I was thinking 3g acrylic w small hob filter w/ carbon and biocube nano skimmer.

A work of caution if you use the HOB filter. The intake can easily suck them up. I used them when I was raising clowns and cardinals. Even with a fine mesh over the intake tube I would still end up with some larva attached to the tube. Another was to go might be some inexpensive foam bubble filters. I used those in my juv tanks and never had a problem. I don't know the lifecycle of the nudis but it might be worth some consideration.

BZ

 

[jdavid]

Thanks for the advice!