Reef Discussion

[daniel]

hi everyone saw the lfs selling Nudibranch for 20 bucks today, does anyone have any experience with these? are they good/hard to keep/ do much? to me from what i saw today they r like slugs and just clean all the alge? does anyone think it is a good investment to get one? they look so cool :D nice and colourful:)

 

[n0rk]

The likelihood of finding success with just about every Nudibranch species is almost zero. They're very specialised predators; some will eat sponges, some will eat tunicates, some will eat algae, some will eat corals... but the kicker is, very few will ever eat anything which isn't their diet (I'm talking about to the species level - a sponge predator won't predate on any sponge which isn't its diet) and the likelihood of being able to provide for that long-term is incredibly low.

So no... it's not a good investment.

 

[Josh M]

I bought one it munched a lot of algae off my glass and rocks while I had it...... All of about 2 weeks till it got sucked thru my vortech..... They don't hold a particularly strong grip on things

 

[n0rk]

Algae-eating ones are less specialised in their foods. But they're also much less prevalent than any other kind as well, so banking on it being of that type is lunacy.

 

[Josh M]

Yeah I got it off daz at reef secrets he said its the only type they even order cause there just not worth it....... Shame cause it was quite pretty :(

 

[Kharn]

Most Nudibranchs look like what they feed on there color patterns match the food since they hide amongst it whilst eating it.

 

[n0rk]

Not strictly true. I don't know of many Ascidians that look like this:

And especially not the type that this species (Nembrotha aurea) feeds on.

 

[daniel]

thats fair enough but thing is where i would get mine, they keep them in the same tank as there corals that are on desplay for sale an they r always on the glass

 

[Dr. Schell]

brightly coloured species are generally distastfule and this holds true for nudis. Nudi prey items (ie. corals sponges, etc..) are often highly toxic and the nudis incorporate these compounds into their own tissues as a defense. Closely related to the nudibranchs are the sea-hares. All sea-hares are herbivorous and will strip a tank of algae within several days and particularly love to feed on hair-algae and other filamentous types (they have extremly rapid growth rates and as such, require vast ammounts of food). Sea-hares are annuals (only live for arround a year), but if you decide to keep one of these species in your tank, you must be cautious as they can (when stressed) release a purple dye as a defense. This dye contains toxins derived from the algae upon which they feed and as such, may result in loss of livestock which comes into contact with the substance.

 

[Dr. Schell]

Some nudis (the species that feed on species that contain relativily little defensive compounds eg. Xenia) do look like the animals upon which they feed.

 

[daniel]

thanks dr schell, well the people at the lfs are keen lol keeping it with everything they make money on lol but thi is what it looks like from memory if i can picture the right one
http://www.oceanwideimages.com/Large-Image.asp?pID=13154&cID=65&rp=categories.asp?cID=65&p=1

 

[Dr. Schell]

particularly hard to keep alive (pretty sure that they are sponge feeding specilists - thus the pright colouration). They will persist in the aquarium for a while but will slowly shink in size as they start to utilise their own tissue in the absence of the correct type of food. Probably best that you DO NOT support the harvest of these species from the ocean by NOT Purchasing the specimen.

 

[daniel]

thanks

 

[Agent M]

Hi Daniel, your LFS is selling an animal that simply won't survive in captivity - they may or may not be aware of this so I am not saying anything against them, but it would be wise of them not to sell them to people. Nudibranchs were amongst some of the first things I ever purchased - I was told they ate algae off the glass and were easy to keep (sounds like you were told the same thing). So I bought 3 and they slowly starved in my tank over a couple of months with me not realising until they started to die. It was only THEN that I did my research online to find out what they ate. I still feel really bad about it!

The only way of keeping one successfully is to buy a specific sp. that you know the diet of and can supply - such as the one Dr Schell mentioned that eats Xenia or Acro (expensive diet!).

 

[daniel]

thanks alot megan yeh i wont be going near them, thanks yeh they shouldnt be selling them if they are like that