Nudibranches

[Eb0la11]

Does anyone have one in their aquarium? I find them super interesting and would love to get one that isnt poisonous.

[whatcaneyedo]

Basically each one has its own specific dietary needs. If they are not met they will die quite quickly. Actually they die very quickly anyways as most only live a very short natural life span of less than one year. Generally that doesnt even matter as many will spend all of their time hiding in the liverock so once you put it into your tank you may never really see it again. Its too bad but none are very well suited to be enjoyable in a mixed reef aquarium.

I've had 4 so far. Two I bought deliberately, one to eat aptasia which disappeared within days and the other ate flatworms. The Flatworms eating blue velvet nudi did a great job eating 95% of my flatworms but then it simply couldnt located the scattered remaining few. It lasted about a month in my tanks which were loaded with flatworms! The other two I've had were just unidentified hitch-hikers that I saw once or twice before they disappeared.

I once found a thread on Reef Central where a person was breeding the aptasia eating variety in a small species only tank that he supplied with aptasia from another system. I know a lot of people would certainly love it if someone in Canada could do that.

Check out this link for more information. http://www.seaslugforum.net/

[no_bs]

Hey, we have a lettuce nudibranch. Function in life is to eat algea, i think mostly hair. It is the coolest little creature. Mostly always visible, has done an awesome job, and grown bigger. I think we paid like 10$ for it.

[Eb0la11]

Originally Posted by no_bs

Hey, we have a lettuce nudibranch. Function in life is to eat algea, i think mostly hair. It is the coolest little creature. Mostly always visible, has done an awesome job, and grown bigger. I think we paid like 10$ for it.

Haha yeah I love the little guys. I might look at getting one eventually. Thanks guys!

[whatcaneyedo]

Another fun fact is that we often wrongfully call basically every sea slug a nudibranch. Nudis are from the Order Nudibranchia which doesnt contain sea hares, lettus sea slugs or even the 'blue velvet nudibranch'. The main thing to remember is that all nudibranchs eat sessile animals so you wont find any that eat algae or anything that moves for that matter. The book Marine Invertebrates by Ronald L Shimek PhD has a good section on them.

[Eb0la11]

Wow, thats very interesting. So I doubt what no_bs is actually a true nudibranch then, hey? I am definitely going to learn more about these critters during my salt water days. Just starting out though, so might be a while before I am worthy of having one. Need to keep hardier stuff for now until I am good.

[justinl]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

Wow, thats very interesting. So I doubt what no_bs is actually a true nudibranch then, hey?

that's correct; the lettuce "nudibranch" is an opisthobranch, but not a nudibranch; it is a sacoglossan. unfortunately it will not likely rid you of any algae problems. They derive their energy in a process called kleptoplasty; they basically eat algae and suck the chloroplasts out of them and use the chloroplasts for photosynthesis (how cool is that?) for a short period of time. Fortunately, this means that the thing isn't likely going to starve to death too.

Before you can even consider having one of these or any other sea slug however, you need to slug proof your tank; which isn't that dfficult. You need to cover all intakes and overflows with sponge or fine mesh (preferably on an easily removed frame of some sort as they will become fouled with drifting bits and will need to be cleaned off regularly); otherwise your slug will get diced in a powerhead and that won't be very fun for it at all. You'll want to avoid ripping flow throughout the tank (like in some SPS systems) because they don't stick to rock very well and can get blown away; not a big deal if you only have certain small areas of high flow. Most sea slugs are quite sensitive to bad water quality so I do not recommend these as beginner type organisms; only add to stable systems when you've got at least 6 months experience or so. As I mentioned, E. crispata is also photosynthetic, so you need lighting of some sort.

[justinl]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

The main thing to remember is that all nudibranchs eat sessile animals so you wont find any that eat algae or anything that moves for that matter.

for the most part, true. Off the top of my head, lion's mane nudibranchs (a coldwater species, melibe leonina) are filter feeders; the only exception to the rule that I know of. random trivia: they also emit a slime that smells exactly like watermelon jollyranchers.

[no_bs]

You are right. These are sea slugs. Still pretty darn cool. Missinformed people sold them as lettuce nubie. Still for $12. Compared to some other stores $35.

[Marlin65]

Here is mine he has about tripled in size since I have had him in about a month. He has a way to go but he is making headway for sure.
I will be looking for a new home in about a few weeks-month if anyone is interested?