Purple Nudibranch

[Gauge]

I saw a purple nudibranch in the store the other day, and I remember reading online that they are difficult to care for. I asked the guy at the LFS, and he said that the reason they are hard to care for is because we don't know what they eat. He said that they usually last a few months in an aquarium and eventually just disappear (from starvation, presumably). Can anyone verify or contradict this?

 

[lziarek]

they also have a short life span, they might only live a year, usually people get two or three and they mate and thus have a cycle of nudibranches =) ill see if I can find a link for you as to where I read this information. I would like to keep nudibranches as well. I have two lettuce nudibranches currently, they consume various algeas and supposedly are easy to raise.

 

[lziarek]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=405953

looks like only the lettuce nudibranches can be kept with any degree of sucess... but technically they are not a nudibranch, looks like people should avoid the other =( sad

 

[Gauge]

Great link. Thanks for the info! Sad that we can't keep them. I'd spend the money to have one for a few months, but not if I kill the animal.

 

[lziarek]

try the lettuce ones they are pretty amazing and you should be able to keep them alive

 

[MT79]

Lettuce nudi's are also photosynthetic. They store chloroplasts/zooxanthellae from the algae they eat in the top of their body, in the ridges, and use the sugars, etc. like a coral. As mentioned, their lifespans tend to be limited in captivity.