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Kyleovski
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It’s incredibly annoying, second culture up but not sure if it’ll survive but gotta try
Preparing for aiptasia war with berghia
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Kyleovski
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Hey, so besides feeding them every second day I’ve not really looked too closely but decided I’ll have a close look today. Egg coils have hatched (roughly 2 weeks since first coil was found) couldn’t see any babies but eventually after reaaaally looking close I could see some almost microscopic little white specs near the coils on the side that look like they have hatched, so yes we have babies!
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Kyleovski
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Update:
After two weeks of waiting it looks like some of the initial coils have hatched and there is hundreds of microscopic white dots moving about. Really hard to see unless you have a bright light and look really closely.
So far none have been transferred to the display tank however the initial 10 berghia are pretty huge with the biggest probably about an inch long. They devour the aiptasia, easily clearing 3 aips between the 10 of them overnight.
Bonus content: Berghia getting to work on a aiptasia cutting
Its rather interesting to watch it eat, it appears to use the cnidosacs near its head (tube things on its back) to push the berghia tentacles away to get to the base, I imagine that since the berghia has the same stinging cells in it the berghia doesn't recognise it as a predator and react to the touch. Just an observation and most likely wrong but thats what appears to happen.
After two weeks of waiting it looks like some of the initial coils have hatched and there is hundreds of microscopic white dots moving about. Really hard to see unless you have a bright light and look really closely.
So far none have been transferred to the display tank however the initial 10 berghia are pretty huge with the biggest probably about an inch long. They devour the aiptasia, easily clearing 3 aips between the 10 of them overnight.
Bonus content: Berghia getting to work on a aiptasia cutting
Its rather interesting to watch it eat, it appears to use the cnidosacs near its head (tube things on its back) to push the berghia tentacles away to get to the base, I imagine that since the berghia has the same stinging cells in it the berghia doesn't recognise it as a predator and react to the touch. Just an observation and most likely wrong but thats what appears to happen.
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Kyleovski
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Sorry for the lack of posts. Here’s an update
All is quiet on the western front in the war on aiptasia.
I’ve added 7 of the original 10 berghia to the display a week and a bit ago at lights off, cut flow for 30min.
One of the berghia was out of the dish pretty quick shortly followed by most of the others, just three were seen straggling the next morning and had disappeared after a couple days. However they had laid eggs on the dish used to add them to the tank so I’ve left that in until the eggs hatch.
Since then I’ve only seen one of the berghia out at night. No apparent changes in berghia forces.
Berghia added:
Spotted a couple nights later:
They were pretty well fed going in but considering how fast they eat they must be eating in the display tank.
I’ll add tank progress pics in a follow up reply.
All is quiet on the western front in the war on aiptasia.
I’ve added 7 of the original 10 berghia to the display a week and a bit ago at lights off, cut flow for 30min.
One of the berghia was out of the dish pretty quick shortly followed by most of the others, just three were seen straggling the next morning and had disappeared after a couple days. However they had laid eggs on the dish used to add them to the tank so I’ve left that in until the eggs hatch.
Since then I’ve only seen one of the berghia out at night. No apparent changes in berghia forces.
Berghia added:
Spotted a couple nights later:
They were pretty well fed going in but considering how fast they eat they must be eating in the display tank.
I’ll add tank progress pics in a follow up reply.
I spent $240 dollars on 12 Berghias hoping to help with my Aiptasia in a 115 gallon. Added them at night, with no pumps on. Added them all to the same spot. They all crawled into cracks, never to be seen again. I have looked at night multiple times with a blue flashlight, and nothin.
No hit to Aiptasia population either. I think I got an expensive snack for my wrasses
No hit to Aiptasia population either. I think I got an expensive snack for my wrasses
Same experience, my 6 line has a sparky smile
Almost 4 weeks. Is there still hope?!
They were pretty small, probably like 1/4” so not sure if they were even breeding sized yet.
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Kyleovski
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I did this the first time I added a few, second time round I’ve fattened them up before adding them to the tank, actually spotted one out and about the other night, roughly a week and a half after being added to the tank.
No visible change in aiptasia population as of yet, roughly two weeks in.
Pic of the day an elusive berghia late at night:
4 weeks is too soon, especially if you started with juveniles (unless you bought a huge number of berghia or had very few aiptasia). You need them to breed and then the offspring to get to be decent size, closer to three months if you start with juveniles. Berghia often work but they are not an overnight fix. Berghia will hide as much as possible, including eating Aiptasia hidden under/behind/between rocks before they go for the Aiptasia out in the open which you can actually see, so it is not uncommon to see no change for the first month or two.
Berghia don't always work though, so if you see no change after 3 months you should definitely try something else. Or if you are in a hurry/losing corals, you can write off the Berghia and try one of the other predators, all of which have their pluses and minuses.
Im not in any type of hurry, they’re still manageable I hit problematic once manually, but really hope these little guys can get a foothold as they’re definitely getting to a point where if nothing intervenes I’ll be in trouble.
I’m just worried as when I’ve checked at night I haven’t been able to find any and I spent a decent amount on em at $20 a pop. I got a dozen of them.
Fingers crossed they’re still there! I certainly have some good rock work for them to hide in and my wrasses go to bed early and sleep late so I don’t think they coulda gotten them all.
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Kyleovski
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Haha he has plenty of work still to do in my tank, see some of my previous posts
Tank progress pics the following day after adding berghia
Date of pics - 29 March 2024
if you see one, there might be more. Did it get there itself through the overflow I presume?
After mating they can also store sperm and lay viable eggs for at least a few days (seems to vary a lot). So it is possible it will lay eggs in your sump. They will start mating before they are actually big enough to lay. There was a paper published last year showing that if you isolate them after mating, some (not all) will still lay viable eggs for days or rarely weeks after they are without a partner.
I’m not really sure what the best choice is with regard to leaving in your sump vs. display.
After mating they can also store sperm and lay viable eggs for at least a few days (seems to vary a lot). So it is possible it will lay eggs in your sump. They will start mating before they are actually big enough to lay. There was a paper published last year showing that if you isolate them after mating, some (not all) will still lay viable eggs for days or rarely weeks after they are without a partner.
I’m not really sure what the best choice is with regard to leaving in your sump vs. display.
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Kyleovski
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Last night two berghia were spotted, I was beginning to lose hope as I’d not seen them in a while in the display and hadn’t really seen any noticeable change in the tank after almost a month of several of them being added.
The one I spotted last night was massive
Fingers crossed the eggs are starting to hatch.
The one I spotted last night was massive
Fingers crossed the eggs are starting to hatch.
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