Djplus1 May 30, 2014 Share May 30, 2014 How has everyone here fared with using Berghia Nudi's to treat severe aiptasia problems? Did you notice a difference immediately or was it a gradual decrease over a couple months or so. I seem to think that these may be the holy grail that no one uses because of the perceived high cost (which conveniently has become more tolerable due to the Group Buy headed up by Quantum Reefs) Please no replies about other methods as they have all been tried to no avail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 30, 2014 Share May 30, 2014 I am interested in this as well, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 May 30, 2014 Share May 30, 2014 It's a very time-consuming way of doing it, but also very effective when done right. The best way to do it is to culture them outside of the system and then put the egg cases back into the system - essentially establish a system with no filtration that they could get sucked into and put rocks in that system to allow them to eat the aiptasia and lay eggs on the rocks. You then put the rocks back in and swap it out with another rock. Eventually, the eggs will hatch and you'll hopefully get a population going in your system that keeps them alive and well until they eat all of the aiptasia. If done this way, it can be very effective. I did this but lost my colony to a leather coral that died while the rock was being cleaned - happens when you store them in small containers to keep track of them like I did. One of the tanks I had eventually dwindled down to no aiptasia without me even noticing it, the other didn't fare as well as I think most of the berghias were eaten or sucked into filters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 May 30, 2014 Author Share May 30, 2014 So, in my case I have 2 tanks with a major problem, one being a 14g biocube and the other, my 72 gallon main display. The only thing that makes me nervous is the fact that I have a yellow wrasse in the 72. Should I take all of the nudi's to the biocube first and let them do their thing for a month or so before introducing egg cases and some nudi's to the 72? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k June 1, 2014 Share June 1, 2014 I have found that the Berghia treatment is the most expensive and most likely to fail of all the other 'treatments' available. They get sucked into pumps and powerheads, are extremely delicate and are easily killed by water chemistry being slightly off. I have used them on 3 different tanks over the course of a few years and will never use them again unless they are dirt cheap like a peppermint shrimp. Aiptasia in a 14g Biocube- easy answer: take all rock out and remove the aiptasia by hand with dental tools. Easy enough and should only take a few hours. In a 72- a pair of filefish will handle this job in less than a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 June 1, 2014 Author Share June 1, 2014 While I agree that the nudi's are a little on the pricey side, I would rather waste a little money on them, than have some potentially rogue filefish or copperband eat my more expensive corals. Basically, if these don't work, my only option is the fish and I will just have to deal with the consequences then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM June 1, 2014 Share June 1, 2014 I feel the same way. Going to try to borrow those two file fish from the childcare tank if these berghia don't do anything to the population and I will post up how berghia don't work for aiptasia next time someone asks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 2, 2014 Share June 2, 2014 They work very well, you just have to do it right. Maintaining the original egg laying ones in a tank with lumps will not work, but isolating them until you get it right will work just fine. If I did it again I would set up a 5-10 gallons tank with a sponge filter on it to keep them in. Also, the 14 gallon will be easy to eradicate the aiptasia - I would cycle the rock in and out as aforementioned and let the eggs get established. Chances are you will get rid of the aiptasia before you need the eggs to hatch with this method. If you just toss them in the tank, though, I doubt you will see any results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM June 2, 2014 Share June 2, 2014 Taking each rock which is covered with coral and full of various life forms out of an established tank and in to a holding tank with berghia in it doesn't seem possible to me. Such a range of issues starting with coral health and setting a whole new reef system and going through sandbed stirring and how the rocks were originally set on the bottom of the glass before filling with sand so they wouldn't fall. If this is really what is required for berghia to "work" then it is a stretch for anyone to say that they work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott3569 June 2, 2014 Share June 2, 2014 Interesting topic, I am fairly new..I have a tank going and I have fish in TT and QT(two clown). So is there and pre-treatments that could be done for aiptasia like before you even get it in your tank, I am assuming that it mostly hitch hikes on corals..any dips like bayer, does that work?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 3, 2014 Share June 3, 2014 Taking each rock which is covered with coral and full of various life forms out of an established tank and in to a holding tank with berghia in it doesn't seem possible to me. Such a range of issues starting with coral health and setting a whole new reef system and going through sandbed stirring and how the rocks were originally set on the bottom of the glass before filling with sand so they wouldn't fall. If this is really what is required for berghia to "work" then it is a stretch for anyone to say that they work. I wouldn't say it's a stretch to say they work - you don't have to remove all of the rocks with corals on them you just need to have rocks that have aiptasia on them. It's not about removing every single rock and treating it outside the tank, it's about getting them to lay egg strands on the rock and then returning these to the tank so that they can establish themselves. This is like fragging - you keep a piece of the coral in a separate system as brood stock and with the berghia, you keep the egg laying adults protected and let the little ones fend for themselves as they hatch. Berghia are the only animal that we have available to us that eat nothing but aiptasia - it's not a hit or miss scenario as to whether they eat it, but rather a question of whether your patience allows you to be patient - eradication in the average system takes about 2-3 months but it's pretty much complete when it's done as they will eat everything that is there. I can't remember who was raising them (I want to say derAbt?) before but it's far less intensive than say keeping rotifers and green water. My own errors were what doomed my colony and the lesson learned was that it was better to not put corals in with them but simply rock. In terms of water chemistry, I never had any issues with them suffering through water chemistry fluctuations until the leather on one of the rocks I put in went south. They lived in what was the equivalent of a 1/2 gallon tub for me. Honestly, it's all a matter of perspective as to whether you'll be successful with them. If you understand how to do it then your chances of success are pretty good. If I had a tank full of aiptasia, I'd certainly do it again and probably be culturing aiptasia on the side. I'll see if I can locate the thread I put up about my berghias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 3, 2014 Share June 3, 2014 http://wamas.org/forums/topic/4296-the-ocean-over-at-floris-elementary-school/page-6?hl=%20berghia%20%20nudibranch See post 140 and on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k June 3, 2014 Share June 3, 2014 filefish #1. drop it in the tank, wait a month, no more aiptasia, filefish eating aquarium food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM June 3, 2014 Share June 3, 2014 Those filefish in the child care center tank are really cool, by the way. Camoflage and blue eyes. If i could catch em they would go in my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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