Berghia Updates - new nudi pic p. 5

[Europhyllia]

Who ordered the nudis and what's the update? Did they work?

[Europhyllia]

bump

[BSJF]

I tried some a long time ago and not sure if they got eaten or died or what but I never saw them again and my prob didn't go away. Others swear by them though.

[cbianco]

Who ordered the nudis and what's the update? Did they work?

John and I were talking about ordering some around Thanksgiving last year but never did. It did seem to spark some interest here on the board.

I'm also curious to see what other people's experience has been with Berghias.

Christopher :)

[Europhyllia]

I contacted a few folks about it. I think ramsey tried them twice and they did not work for him.:thumbs_down:
Dipan said they did work for him.:thumbs_up:
Sherri said it was expensive and didn't do anything for her aiptasia.:thumbs_down:
Alton posted a thread here somewhere saying it worked but took a few months.:thumbs_up:

I read an article that suggested 8 per 100 gallons so that would be 16 for my 215 tank. lol.

The guy that breeds them locally doesn't allow for pick up so overnight is overnight from anywhere. I might try some but from a lower priced source.

Waiting to hear back from dipan on something I needed clarification on.

Anybody else ever try them out?

[alton]

I got two for my 158 years ago and they cleaned them up. Last year I added two to my 29 here at work and they are all gone. Every once in a while one will show up on the glass and I will give if to a friend. I think if you have a wrasse they could be eating them? Also acclimation is big, plus the idea is to get them to multiply. It took mine a couple months to clean out both tanks, because for every one aptaisia you see there are 10 more hiding in and under your rocks.

[Europhyllia]

so does regular drip acclimation work for them? Or something more complicated?

[BSJF]

Yes, then scoop them into a little shell and place on a rock in the tank. I know someone in Utah who breeds them. Do you want contact info?

[Europhyllia]

you wouldn't be talking about berghiadirect would you? (southern Utah/red Rocks)

[alton]

What I did was open the bag and add a little bit of my water to the bag water and then after 20 minutes using the applicator I put the berghia on top of the rock next to a aptaisia and watch them crawl into the rock. I never see them again. The ones I have given away have been juvies. When I added two to the 158 I could see the aptaisia dissapear daily, it looked like a forrest being destroyed with a buldozer taking out the roots first. In my 29 it was different, I did not see the whole sale clearing, it wasn't until one day I noticed wow no more aptaisia?

[Joseph]

Has anybody done business with these folks, they don't return calls...

http://www.berghia.net/index.html

[alton]

That is where I get mine from. Email him

[ramsey]

I've gotten them from both places. Though they didn't work for me, I was happy with both suppliers. I think they didn't work for me because I had peppermint shrimp that ate them. With that said, the last time I ordered them, I did see them eat some aiptasia but their numbers just dwindled down to nothing which is why I think something ate them.

[Europhyllia]

I might try them from berghiadirect.com so I can start out with several for the same price. Having them shipped from Floresville to Floresville overnight just seems a little silly. If I am going to have to pay for overnight shipping anyway then where they come from won't really matter and the BerghiaDirect prices are just so much lower.
Did you find any differences in the nudis between the different suppliers, ramsey?

[ramsey]

Not really. The berghia.net guy meet me at work so I didn't pay any shipping. The berghiadirect guy shipped everything very nicely. They were in little vials with a pipette and stuff. When I ordered from berghia.net, it did take a few months to get them. He said he had some issues which diminished part of his colony. Both guys were very nice and gave great service. Berghia direct was slightly cheaper and I think we got free shipping since it was a group order but I'm not 100% sure.

[ramsey]

One thing to be careful with Karin is the amount of flow you have in your tank. I know your tank is pretty high flow and they don't really care for it. Also, you mentioned you didn't have much aiptasia so I would get a very small amount of berghia. They die when there's no aiptasia. I got around 20 the last time I tried them but my 185G was full of aiptasia.

[justahobby]

Have you thought about buying an egg strand?

[BSJF]

Sorry, thought I posted this already. berghiadirect is my contact. I have seen their setup. Call them if you want help deciding how many to get, etc. Tell them Lorraine sent you! (Or that you know Jack - lol).

[Europhyllia]

you mentioned you didn't have much aiptasia
I had very few aiptasia until I treated those few with Aiptasia-X. That stuff is like aiptasia fertilizer... :( Kill one -get 10 new ones...

[ramsey]

I had very few aiptasia until I treated those few with Aiptasia-X. That stuff is like aiptasia fertilizer... :( Kill one -get 10 new ones...

Yup. It's very easy to quickly end up with a tank full of aiptasia even though you're actively trying to kill them off. I'm currently trying a few peppermints again. I didn't get as many as I had hoped so I may make another collection trip. If they don't work though, I'm considering a file fish or butterfly fish and just take the risk.

[BSJF]

My peps were doing a great job, but obviously the ones working quit. Need to hire new ones. I have a few very large ones now, but like you Karin, I don't dare zap them in fear of spreading the word.

[Europhyllia]

I definitely don't want peps again. Was so glad when I got rid of the last ones. They didn't care for aiptasia at all. Only LPS and mysis from the sun corals. Don't need that...

[Kristy]

I've been surprised more people don't complain about that same thing, Karin.

[Europhyllia]

I think it's just a case of 'not yet' for a lot of people ;)

[justahobby]

I had the same problems w/ my peps. Good luck spot feeding ANY coral. And when the aiptasia ran out, my acans were next on the menu. If enough people wanted to do a group buy I would be interested in trying the berghias, but I don't hate my aiptasia bad enough to buy a 65 dollar nudi.

[Europhyllia]

I'll try them out :) Will report back in a month lol

[ramsey]

Last night I was checking out the peps I put in my tank to see if I could see them eating any aiptasia. While looking around, I saw TWO NUDIBRANCHES! I could not believe it! It's been months since I've seen any, then two days after adding peps, I see a couple. Talk about ****ed off.

[Europhyllia]

lol. guess you can sell them to Justahobby before your peps kill them off ;)

[ramsey]

I might actually pull them out if I see them again.

[justahobby]

Sweet, I'm interested. Good lookin' out Karin :D

[BSJF]

Ramsey, you will also want to confirm they are berghia. You can put them in a container with an aiptasia. If they are berghia, they will eat it, if they don't, I'd recommend keeping the little pest in a nice dark alley.

[Europhyllia]

Good lookin' out Karin :D
No problem. I am starting to feel like you're my little brother here on MAAST. lol

[justahobby]

Lol! I haven't been called little anything in a long time :lauging:

[ramsey]

Yes, then scoop them into a little shell and place on a rock in the tank. I know someone in Utah who breeds them. Do you want contact info?

They're Berghia. There's no question in my mind.

[kkiel02]

My peps just stopped at the very large one. Never messed with my LPS but then again I cant keep acans or brains because my flametail loves to eat those. These might be next on the list to finish off the last one(that I can see at least). They sound like they would be good to have in the tank anyways especially since they such bad survivability from captive breeding along with their slow transition to breeding age they wouldnt starve off very quick.

[ramsey]

My peps just stopped at the very large one. Never messed with my LPS but then again I cant keep acans or brains because my flametail loves to eat those. These might be next on the list to finish off the last one(that I can see at least). They sound like they would be good to have in the tank anyways especially since they such bad survivability from captive breeding along with their slow transition to breeding age they wouldnt starve off very quick.

I have so much it's hard to tell but I think I'm seeing a decrease in aiptasia. I have some huge one's that I haven't been able to get to but overall it looks like there may be slightly less. I'm hoping they do the trick. My next step is either a butterfly or file fish, or put all my corals in another tank with dry rock, sell most of my fish, dry my rock out and start over. I really don't want to do that though but it's starting to be a thought in the back of my mind.

[Europhyllia]

I picked up mine today:) I ordered 7 for $100 shipped and they actually sent 10 so it ended up $10 per Berghia.
I was prepared for them to be tiny but then when you get them you still think: "Wow they are tiny!"

Packaged very well and nice service too from BerghiaDirect.

Seeing how teeny they are I have about decided to just put them in and not expect much. No way could 10 of these little buggers even eat much of anything.

But at least now I can say I tried them too.

Lucky for me most of my baby aiptasia pop up in the sand bed and I jsut use a net to scoop them out. So I am not desperate (yet).

Here are a few pics to share though!

http://www.dominopads.com/Berghia2.jpghttp://www.dominopads.com/berghia2.jpg

http://www.dominopads.com/berghia3.jpg

http://www.dominopads.com/berghia4.jpg

http://www.dominopads.com/berghia5.jpg

http://www.dominopads.com/berghia1.jpg

[alton]

Karin with ten of them in a couple of months you should have hundreds of berghia in your tank. You might want to start looking for more aptaisia to add to your tank for food for all the babies?

[Europhyllia]

lol that would be great! I'd be rich then. Breed little nudis, breed!

[dipan]

They will work I tell ya. That's exactly what mine looked like ... Bottles and all ...

[Europhyllia]

That would be awesome. I'll be patiently waiting :)

[Joseph]

They seem to be local 210-323-2990, called x3, e-mailed x2.
If any ya all know these folks, ask them if They are independently wealthy and can afford to ignore paying costumers.
I perfer to keep as much of my $ local as possible.

http://www.berghia.net/index.html

[Europhyllia]

I think the local guys are short on supply.
My Utah folks were really nice. Just saying... if you don't make any progress with the local people...

[Europhyllia]

Berghia still alive and seem bigger. I just found one :) Looks very healthy. At least it didn't die.

Still lots of Aiptasia although the center on one rock formation seems to have been cleared out.
Hopefully Alton is right and they'll reproduce when they are big enough...

[kkiel02]

Good to hear yours are still doing good Karin.

[Europhyllia]

http://www.dominopads.com/nudijune2011.jpg

Another sighting! They are so much bigger now! I am wondering if the yellow stuff in the nudi's belly is anything of significance? Maybe eggs! Or digested aiptasia! Or just guts :( lol

[BSJF]

I would guess eggs.

[Europhyllia]

Well she needs to go ahead and lay them then! They are still not making a dent in things...

[alton]

Glad they made it Karin, although I am not an expert but I believe for every aptaisia you see there are many more in the rocks hiding and growing which are eaten first since the nudis do not have to come out in the open to feed. I did not see any baby's until my aptaisia was gone and they had to come out to feed and that was at 5am before my lights came on.