dabgood21

That's crazy man. I don't know why you would ever want a mantis shrimp. I'd get rid of it. They cause too many problems and are waaaaay too aggressive. PLus, it's a waste of money and life

I 'm only looking for about 3-4 of them, adult size so they are ready to lay eggs. I have a 40 gallon breeder so that's all I should need. I can't use a CB Butterfly, I'm maxed out on the number of fish I want in my tank. I'd like to get them as soon as possible. If someone wants to share cost I can do that. Regarding if they die in your tank before I get them, I guess you would have to take the hit and pay for them yourself. It wouldn't make sense for me to pay for something I'll never get not knowing why they died (water parameters, handling, etc.... If they do survive and get passed on, I'd pay half of original cost. They are very delicate and need to be handles with a pipette to avoid damaging them. I've seen a few places online to buy them but sometimes there's a waiting period (one site was 8 weeks, crazy!). On average they were going for about $15 each. Let me know if anyone's willing to try a split in cost. I guess it just depends on who wants to take the risk of using them first. *One big problem with sharing the same Berghias is that they can take up to 8 months to a year for them to eat all the aiptasia in your tank and I can't wait that long. I was hoping to find someone that already had them working in their reef and would be done with them soon.

I don't know how much space you have but you can add a sump if you use an overflow filter system. To control your water parameters and cyano I would reduce your feeding just a bit and reduce your lighting for a few weeks till the cyano dies off. I sounds like you could also use a little skimmer too. Smaller tanks are always the most difficult to care for. The more water you have the easier it is to control water parameters. I have a 40 gallon breeder with a lot of live rock and corals with a 10 gallon sump, Prizm skimmer, and 1 Chemipure pouch. I rarely do water changes, I just add calcium, trace minerals and monitor my Ph, Alkalinity, Calcium, and Phosphates. Nitrates and Nitrite are never a problem with all the live rock I have. Just in case you do have an overfeeding problem (Nitrates/Phosphates), making sure you have enough scavengers to clean up any excess can help a great deal. Good Luck!

Does anyone int he DC area (preferably NOVA) have some Berghia Nudibranches that you are done with? I know after they have cleaned up a reef from aptasia they will die due to no more food available. I was hoping to find someone that could pass them on to me. I'd hate to spend $60+ just to have them die off. If I do have to buy them, would anyone want to share them? I've heard that passing them around from reef to reef is the best thing to do to preserve their lives. Thanks