Lettuce boi looking red

[TCseh]

I just ordered a lettuce nudi and it has hints of red. Is that signs of malnutrition or is it normal?

 

[Lemons]

Im no nudi expert but maybe he was munchin on red algae?

 

[TCseh]

Im no nudi expert but maybe he was munchin on red algae?

That would be sick.

 

[Lemons]

Yea i think they kinda turn whatever color of algae they eat, because they just assimilate the chloroplasts they eat.

 

[a.t.t.r]

Normal and if you don't have Bryopsis he wont last long

 

[TCseh]

Normal and if you don't have Bryopsis he wont last long

Bryopsis _/ check

 

[TCseh]

I also have this growing on my gsp if anyone wants to tell me what it is.

 

[a.t.t.r]

Bryopsis _/ check

would kill for some of that

 

[a.t.t.r]

I also have this growing on my gsp if anyone wants to tell me what it is.

that looks like calurpa of some type to me

 

[Stomatopods17]

I also have this growing on my gsp if anyone wants to tell me what it is.

Grape caulerpa

 

[formallydehyde]

would kill for some of that

I had to go to multiple fish stores to find one that had a good infestation. I used to have to pick it up every few weeks to feed mine because it would never establish in my tank. It got the point where I was showing up so regularly to get bryopsis they eventually just let me harvest it myself. It pretty much only grew on the pumps and overflow areas of their tanks.

Apparently the key to getting it established in my tank was to harvest it from the LFS by scraping off the "root" mat gently as possible without damaging the "stems". The second key seemed to be just letting it free float in my tank rather than trying to anchor it anywhere. Also probably helped that I over broadcast fed the tank a bit using foods meant for filter feeders. That part wasn't intentional.

Now it consistently grows on the outflow area of my HOB filter in a place where my slug can't quite reach the main stock but I can grab big chunks of it every few days to clip somewhere she can eat it.

By the way OP, I think how well defined their color patterning looks is a good indicator of how well they're doing, for that species anyway. Drab coloration with weakly defined markings seems to be a bad sign but healthy slugs seem to exhibit more vibrant coloration with nice contrasting patterns.

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

I just ordered a lettuce nudi and it has hints of red. Is that signs of malnutrition or is it normal?

Is this the species with zooxanthellae? If so, that probably means the zooxanthellae inside of him are dying. When dinoflagellates start to become unhealthy, they turn red (I think this has something to do with the chloroplasts??) I honestly have no idea how to fix this...did you just purchase it?

 

[formallydehyde]

Is this the species with zooxanthellae? If so, that probably means the zooxanthellae inside of him are dying. When dinoflagellates start to become unhealthy, they turn red (I think this has something to do with the chloroplasts??) I honestly have no idea how to fix this...did you just purchase it?

Elysia species slugs don't form stable symbioses with photosynthetic microbes like corals, sponges, anemones, etc. Instead they retain chloroplasts from digested macroalgae and that allows them to use photosynthesis temporarily, with the length of time depending on the species. The chloroplasts are on borrowed time since Elysia slugs don't have the cellular machinery to allow them to repair and replicate, so they're constantly getting destroyed and being replenished when the slug eats more algae.

It's not super clear what the main purpose of them being able to do photosynthesis is either, it doesn't seem to be their main source of nutrition.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

It's not super clear what the main purpose of them being able to do photosynthesis is either, it doesn't seem to be their main source of nutrition.

Yeah, to my understanding it's more of an emergency supply food than anything.