authentic
Valuable Member
I purchased five Burghia Nudibranch to add to my frag tank to get rid of a small amount of Aptasia. But then I thought why not try to breed them myself. So I bought a 5 gallon tank and started doing my research. The first problem is finding enough aptasia to keep this thing going. I found a local fish store that had a couple of pieces of live rock with a bunch that had been brought in by a fellow reefer(and I am sure that it was given to them for free) they charged me by the pound and I took it home and put it in a 5 gallon bucket. My research had told me not to put the rock into my breeding tank as hitchhikers copepods and other critters would be detrimental to the breeding process. I found it very difficult to remove the aptasia from the rock with either a scissor or pick as the anemone would quickly retract into their little dens. Additionally even with an air stone and a small lamp, the water quickly got muddied and I decided I needed to find another way. Meanwhile my adult burghia were laying eggs on the glass and doing well eating the few aptasia I was able to put in the tank. Obviously the biggest problem with this adventure was going to be finding enough food to feed. Luckily I posted on my local clubs forum that I was looking for aptasia and a local reefer who I've known for a while had a tank that he had let go and was overrun. He was nice enough to give me a single branch of reef rock that had a lot of aptasia and they were very large and extended during the day. So I cleaned my bucket and began cutting the extended anemones and placing them in the tank. You would think that based on the stories that we all hear about these things taking over our display tanks that cutting them and bothering them that they would begin to spread. That was not the case in my situation. It appeared to me that most of the cut heads shriveled up and appeared to be dead. Once I had gotten the extended ones off the rock it was difficult to get the rest as they were either small or retracted quickly. As a matter fact it appeared that I had gotten most of them off the rock so I returned it to my fellow reefer and he placed it back in his tank. Lo and behold he told me that the rock was still infested so I decided to try again. Back into the 5 gallon bucket but not much better luck getting more anemones off the rock. I needed another plan. I decided that since the rock was full of anemones I would place it directly into my breeding tank and hope for the best. the burghia continued to lay eggs and seemd healthy so i was waiting the weeks to see the baby nudis as they take that long to become visible.when i didnt see babies i bought a iphone microscope to take a close look.thats when i saw that the eggs were surrounded by copepods(which were certainly either eating most or all of the eggs)I emailed someone that had success breeding and was advised to get a prescription for Intercept
with a link to Melevs Reef's article regarding using it to rid redbugs.I will be dosing the intercept this weekend and will check to see if the copepods are gone after a day or two then keep an eye out for baby nudis in a couple of weeks...its been an adventure so far but like everything in this hobby its all a learning experience!!!!!
with a link to Melevs Reef's article regarding using it to rid redbugs.I will be dosing the intercept this weekend and will check to see if the copepods are gone after a day or two then keep an eye out for baby nudis in a couple of weeks...its been an adventure so far but like everything in this hobby its all a learning experience!!!!!
