Log Of Berghia Nudibranch Erradicating Aptasia Infestation

[dakota9]

Since the lecture regarding Bergias last September, most all have shown an interest in these reef creatures, with very little practicle experience by most (all?) club members.

I purchased 4 or these guys in the second group buy, and thought I'd post on the progess I see in my tank.

My system is a sumpless 30g Oceanic Cube with one corner overflow (wierd, I know, but it works out well, more about that another time.....) I have about 25 to 30 lbs of live rock, and having just survived a tank crash (not chemical, but physical, as in the glass breaking) have an outbreak of aptasia numbering past 100 anemones that I can see.

Upon picking up the 4 nudi's (thanks again Trinh and Donna), I noticed that these guys were as small as every thing I'd read of them stated they would be. The size of large copepods, I figure if they eat 5 times their weight a day in Aptasia, then I should start seeing results by next July. (that was just a hint of sarcasm).

Day 1,
Yesterday afternoon I put them in my tank where 3 quickly scuried into the rock work, and one I had to be freed from the clutches of a baby Aptasia, and then it slithered into the rocks. I left the lights and pumps off as suggested for the first thirty minutes. Frequently, I've checked back with a flashlight after "lights out", but I haven't seen any of them since. Needless to say, I've seen no change in the Aptasia populace.

Everything I've read regarding Berghia states that this is all normal, and that the true Aptasia carnage is probably a week away where I'll begin to see some changes in the Aptasia population. Supposedly, Berghia, in adequately stocked numbers, can erradicate Aptasia from a tank in 2 weeks to 2 months, depending on the severity of the infestation. I'm hoping to be fully erradicated by the Februray Frag Swap, which shouldn't be too advantagous of a goal.

I'll update this thread regularly, and hopefully others who have recently purchased Berghia will do the same, in this thread.

 

[dakota9]

End of week 1,

I think, possibly maybe, </em>that the aiptasia population has been thinned just a little. I had one very large noticable aiptasia in a prominent spot in the tank, and he hasn'r reared his ugly head, plus that general area appears to be a bit more sparse in aiptasia.

Maybe by next week I'll see enough improvement to be completely positive.

 

[oil_fan]

I saw some vids of them munching aiptasia. They are quite the creatures!

 

[dakota9]

Oil_Fan;422242 wrote: I saw some vids of them munching aiptasia. They are quite the creatures!

Yeah, but seems to take a while for them to get good and started. I do think they are a viable means of aiptasia control, but wondering if they are the beat-all-end-all they are built up to be.

They are so small, it would take an army of them to get my tank under control.

Maybe they should cross breed them with ants for better results......

 

[dakota9]

For the first time tonight, I saw one of the four Berghias in my tank. My timer malfuntioned and the light had been off all day when I got home. Noticed the chili coral's polyps were still extended, so I turkey basted the live rock to give his polyps something to feed on.....

A snowy white Berghia got blasted off the rock with the turkey baste. It had grown to 4 times the size it was when I first put it in the tank 3 weeks ago. It gently glided from the water colume into the mouth of a waiting aiptasia, and taking no chances at 15 bucks a pop, I turkey basted him out of the aiptasia.

I haven't noticed any earth shattering differences in the numbers of aiptasia, but it's still early in the game. I'm hoping by Christmas to be able to see some concrete improvement.

I'm happiest that they are still alive, as until tonight, I'd not seen them since I'd put them in the tank 3 weeks ago.

 

[oil_fan]

Nice. Good to hear they're still around and eating on something. Hopefully you get some good results soon.

 

[phil47952]

For the first time tonight, I saw one of the four Berghias in my tank. My timer malfuntioned and the light had been off all day when I got home. Noticed the chili coral's polyps were still extended, so I turkey basted the live rock to give his polyps something to feed on.....

Dakota,
I'm following this too, everything I've read they're doing what they are supposed to..And they'll be producing many more as long as the aps. are there.
Thanks for this thread :yay:

Phil

 

[dakota9]

blu_devl_06;428293 wrote: Hey Dak, research and progress are backed by pics, can we see some before and current pics.....:up:

You know what they say, it didn't happen if there aren't any pics!!

:yuk::yuk::yukics of MY tank???????:yuk::yuk::yuk:


It's covered in aiptasia!!!!!!!!! I'm too embarrassed to show pics right now!

 

[dakota9]

Just a quick update;

No earth shattering, record breaking news to report, although the progression of the spread of aiptasia does seem to be slowing.

I noticed one huge aiptasia (possibly the biggest I've ever seen with a 1/4" base, very large disc and very brown from always being able to catch food from the water) is gone. One day it had moved from the pit in the rock where it had always been, and then the next day, completely disappeared.

I've also noticed one other oddity, and that is one circular area of rock surface where no aiptasia grows. One vertical rock sits atop a horizontal piece of rock and 3" up the vertical piece and 3" out on the horizontal piece is aiptasia free. The only bald spot on my entire rock pile.

I might have been better off to have dried all the rock out and started over when I first set the tank up, but then I'd have lost all the micro life on the rock like stars, sponges and tube worms.

I'm going to continue to monitor the Berghia's progression while also implementing other means of eradication that have worked for me with limited success. Perhaps in concert, these methods will correct the problem.

Everything is a learning experience, and in retrospect, using the Magnum 350 with the 50 Micron filter cartridge to suck the few aiptasia I had from the rocks was probably the biggest mistake I've ever made in this hobby, as until then, I'd only had a minor problem. Thinking that a 50 micron cartridge would filter out the gametes was my undoing with this new setup, as a week or two after I'd Magnum'ed the aiptasia, a veritable army grew.......


OK, I firmly and whole-heartedly learned from this what not do to.....

 

[oz]

Now I really wish I wouldn't have had that Mystery wrasse in the tank with the nudis. ugh.

 

[cr500_af]

atreyu917;436119 wrote: I am having an aiptasia outbreak. Wish I had one of these guys.

I've been using the Reef Napalm on the few in Sandie's tank. (The lye/lime/water mix, outlined in Dave's thread). Unlike kalk paste or commercial solutions, they are NOT coming back after being hit with this stuff.

 

[markl]

Im glad I bleached all my rocks and gravel and it only cost me $3.00

 

[dakota9]

What a difference!


The Berghia seem to making great headway!

Remember, because of my "learning experience</em>" in using a Magnum 350 to remove aiptaia from my tank, I had the worst case of aiptasia I've personally ever seen.
I can honestly say that I have about 1/3 the aiptasia that I had 6 weeks ago before putting the Berghia Nudis in my tank.

I've still only seen one of them on two different occasions, but every morning when I turn the lights on, there are less aiptasia in my tank.


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How long will it take for the Berghia to clean my tank of aiptasia?

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It depends on the number of Berghia in the tank, the size of your tank and degree of the aiptasia problem. We recommend at least 8 Berghia per 100 gallons of water for a moderate to heavy aiptasia problem (50-100 aiptasia per 100 gallons). It takes about 2-3 months for the Berghia to clean the tank if you use this formula. It may take a few weeks before you begin to see a difference in the aiptasia population.




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Taken from the Saltyunderground.com site (what has proved to provide a true and accurate depiction of Berghia's ability to control aiptasia w/o all the marketing hype), I see that a heavy out break is considered 100 aiptasia in a 100 gallon system, which would require 8 nudis. I had 100 to 200 (+/-) aiptasia in a 30 gallon system, and I originally started with only 4 nudis. I think it's coming along right on schedule as far as what I've researched.


I'm hoping to have a growing population of Berghia, as I lack anything in my tank that would scavenge the eggs. If so, the pace at which the tank is eradicated of aiptasia should really start picking up (or already has, hence the difference I've seen this past week as the timing is exactly right!).




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If my Berghia lay eggs, will they hatch?

Yes, assuming water conditions are right in your tank and the eggs are not eaten by scavengers. It takes about 4-6 weeks from the time the eggs are laid to the time you will be able to see the new Berghia well with the naked eye. Your first tip off may be that you notice the aiptasia disappearing more quickly, or you can count more berghia in your tank than you bought.
http://www.saltyunderground.com/pages.php?pID=4&osCAdminID=8bcd55420c3eb80c0f6d03b17ce6ef4b#top">
</a>


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At this point, if the present rate continues, I'll have the problem well under control come February!

 

[oil_fan]

Good to hear things are improving! :thumbs:

 

[weaglereefer]

Good to hear! Any before/during/after pics?

 

[dakota9]

I could actually take some pics now, but no way was I going to take pics with it looking like it did.

From 10 feet away, basically the whole tank (including substrate) looked fuzzy and as you got closer, you saw it was aiptasia.

 

[weaglereefer]

Haha, well you could have taken pics and sold them anonymously to the company you got the nudis from.

The LFS here had one tank like that, all it had was about 50lbs of rock, one big lionfish, and a ton of aiptasia. The owner said he liked it because it made the tank look menacing...

 

[dakota9]

Not one bit of change from last week...... Odd!

Seems they (the Berghias) come out and feast a few nights, and lay dormant a while....... I've taken careful notice of all the aiptasia in my tank and can find no discernible change all week long.

Still, the results are good, just seems to be an odd eating behavior, unless they all died for some reason.

Time will tell

 

[dakota9]

Last week was very cool, as I spotted a full grown Berghia on my rock work. It was about 1.25 inches long which is colossal compared to the size they were when I bought them.

I have pics, and will upload them when I find the usp cable for my cam.

Week 11 was the coolest by far, as I just spotted two baby Berghias just a little larger than the size of the ones I originally purchased, perhaps 1/4" long, on my rock work. That means that however small, I currently have a breeding population of Berghias. in a week or two, I should be seeing an uber-difference.

I've decided to speed things along a bit more by incorporating Dave's Napalm treatment. I'm doing this very selectively, as to not interfere with the Berghia.

I have frags that still have serious aiptasia issues that aren't on the main rock pile, which is where I put the original Berghia colony, and the only place I've ever spotted them since. (they are so small, they really don't move around much). I'll Napalm all around the rock pile, but will leave the main rock structure for the Berghia to pick clean.

If all goes well, maybe I can round up some of these guys and sell them off at the February meeting to recoup some of this investment.

 

[smoothie]

Nice to hear. Thanks for the log