HyphyMike Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Im guessing no one in here has kept a tank with zoanthid-eating nudibranchs here but its worth a shot. Heard of anyone doing this? I'm looking for creative ways to use my QT when I'm done stocking my tank. I found a zoa nudi the other night and it got me thinking...could one reasonably keep nudibranchs in captivity? I mean they wouldnt be hard to feed, stick a couple of frag in there until they eat them and boom. As long as you keep parameters stable, run carbon, gfo and a skimmer, then what would could go wrong, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Grassi tried to raise aiptasia eating nudibranchs. The problem was not in breeding them it was having enough food to feed them as they had voracious appetites. I don't believe they have a very long lifespan either and feeding them Zoas would be very expensive in the long run I would think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 (edited) Jason at OIAB near me sells pretty sizable colonies of zoanthid encrusted rocks for $60-$80. I guess I dont really know how much they eat, but I wouldnt think they could consume a colony of 100-200 polyps all that quickly. Also I could see why raising berghia nudis could be challenging but finding zoanthids in my case is a lot easier than finding aptaisia. But I'm no expert on the matter. Edited January 8, 2017 by HyphyMike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash21 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Im guessing no one in here has kept a tank with zoanthid-eating nudibranchs here but its worth a shot. Heard of anyone doing this? I'm looking for creative ways to use my QT when I'm done stocking my tank. I found a zoa nudi the other night and it got me thinking...could one reasonably keep nudibranchs in captivity? I mean they wouldnt be hard to feed, stick a couple of frag in there until they eat them and boom. As long as you keep parameters stable, run carbon, gfo and a skimmer, then what would could go wrong, right? I hope this is a Joke? I had my fair share of them little bastards. In both tanks. I know where I got them...I'm glad they are gone now! On the other hand they are pretty! They will destroy some nice zoas with out caring. I think I lost 500$ in zoas when battling them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Im talking about a zoanthid eating nudi only tank. I wouldnt put zoanthids I care about. Just like the yellow/green ones you find everywhere for cheap. I have a pretty good colony of them I'd be willing to part with for the beauty of them. And know where to find plenty more. I just love them, I hate removing them, I feel like they should be kept, just seperated from anything I dont want them eating. And theoretically speaking, if I wanted to change their colors, as far as I know I could feed them a different colored zoanthid for a specific period of time. It could be a cool experiment. I got a few extra tanks and the equipment for them ready to go. And I'm sure I could find a couple free nudis from people who are actively battling them (maybe) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashy Fins Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Because they do such a great job of hiding, I can only picture it looking like a zoa tank. If you only add a minimal number of zoas, they're still going to attempt to hide in them, and then you'll have a very empty looking tank. They're cute, but I can't imagine you'd see much of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavis Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I think it would make an awesome pico tank, small critters stand out more in 3 gallons of water. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Because they do such a great job of hiding, I can only picture it looking like a zoa tank. If you only add a minimal number of zoas, they're still going to attempt to hide in them, and then you'll have a very empty looking tank. They're cute, but I can't imagine you'd see much of them. This is a very good point. If anything it would be a barebottom 10g with a small frag rack (2" x 2") of zoanthids, but you're probably right, they wouldnt stray far from the frags would they? I'd be worried about stability in a 3g, although it would probably perfect for viewing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I think I remember someone in here keeping sympodium eating nudis a while back. I think it's a cool idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 How fast do these things eat them? There are tons of zoas out there that grow at ridiculous rates. Almost like GSP. I have one in my tank that is definitely becoming a nuisance. We should just bring old zoas each month as a sacrificial tribute to a club nudi tank. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 (edited) Hahaha I wouldnt complain about that. But I really dont think they eat them all that fast. I have many zoanthids and I've found a few nudis before but they havent really made a mark that I noticed. I've done a little more reasearch. I think I could collect some zoanthids from my frag tank, for maybe like 2 zoa eating nudis. Find a nice chunk of aptasia and start raising it in epic proportions on the other side of the tank for a berghia? Fabricate a turf algae scrubber and throw the mesh material in for a lettuce nudibranch/blue dot sea hare. Rotate the material. When they eat it all, grab whats growing in the prop tank and rotate them. Found out about a really cool nudibranch that mimics and eats xenia. The pom pom type I believe. I got a ton of that. Looks like a giant bush taking over the corner of my 10g It would mostly be a bare tank. So maybe do a reverse lighting type thing where its daylights during the night, and atinics during the day to trick them to come out during peak viewing times. I have multiple tanks I could use to cultivate the xenia/aptasia so they dont clear it all, if they end up eating it faster than expected. I really think this could be a really interesting experiment, so far I havent heard any really convincing arguements not to, but I'm still listening if someone thinks of something. Edited January 9, 2017 by HyphyMike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 (edited) I'm very against getting the type of nudibranchs that eat unknown sponge or have an unknown diet. I'm not trying to build a slug graveyard. I would only choose the types with known diets that I could feed reasonably. Such as the ones I just listed. There are many very cool looking nudibranchs that trump the looks of everything on my list, but their diets are unknown and they cannot be sustainably kept I almost wish I had a flatworm problem so I could get a blue velvet nudibranch. Is that bad? Edited January 9, 2017 by HyphyMike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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