Purple Nudibranch???

[toddwess]

I got this the other day at the LFS, and the guy told me that it was a purple sea slug, and that it was an algae eater.

Last night before I went to bed, he was all wrapped up in a spiral on the glass.

When I got up this morning, this was in his place, and he had moved to another location in the tank and has not moved since.

This website has a similar picture and calls it "Purple Nudibranch and Eggs" Are these eggs??

http://www.cityseahorse.com/prints.html

I read that nudibranch eat hydroids. What are those?

Thanks, there should be two pics. One of the critter, and one of the spiral of unknown stuff.

Thanks,
Todd

Yup,,, yous a gonna be a daddy...

That is so cool,,, if they make it,,,there are going to be lots of them and you can sell them...

[reefrunner69]

Most nudis are specialized feeders, different species will eat only certain things, I do not believe the purple nudi is an algae eater.

As far as I know this guy is a sponge eater. The species is Hypselodoris apolegma, not sure how much if any info you'll find on them though.

Cheers
Steve

[toddwess]

What are hydroids? I read somewhere that they eat that.

How long till these little guys hatch, you think? They are very close to the top of the tank which will inhibit me from doing water changes since that would expose them to air while the water is being changed. I assume that is bad . . .

Info on them is hard to find, to say the least. . .

Anybody else have one of these?

Todd

The chances of the eggs being fertile and hatching are not that great . After a few days, snails and the fish will most likely scatter the roe. They will probabely take about a week or so to hatch if they're going to.

The term hydroid is a very general phrase but you can read about the many types >>here<<

Cheers
Steve

[toddwess]

Thanks for everyone's help. I would imagine that the eggs probably will not hatch - I imagine they weren't fertalized.

As for the purple nudibranch, she is currently perched on the main tank powerhead. It is hooked to a 500 gph pump.

should I move her? Or will she know to stay away from the stream of water?

I hate to screw with nature - I try to let my tank take it's natural course. Am I just a worry-wart?

Todd

Originally Posted by toddwess

As for the purple nudibranch, she is currently perched on the main tank powerhead. It is hooked to a 500 gph pump.

should I move her? Or will she know to stay away from the stream of water?

You need to get something to cover the intakes of your PH. Nudibranc's are prone to becomeing "blender mush"

Cheers
Steve

[Coralena]

I must say that that is so neat! I hope they hatch for you, your nudibranch is very pretty! Is that kind of nudibranch reef safe? I would love to have one, I've not seen that color before on them. =)

[myJUMBOshrimp]

Yeah, that is a beautiful creature! I hope they do hatch for you, PLEASE keep us updated! If you dont mind me asking, how much did he run you? Looks expensive!

[toddwess]

Well, this Saturday will be 4 weeks with the little guy. I still have not been feeding him anything other than the algae in the tank. Still seems to be going strong. I have some red spots on some of my LR which I think may be sponge. He might be eathing that, but I've never really seen him sitting near it.

I'll keep y'all posted . . .

Todd

[Calvin]

I've just put one in my tank as well. Here is a link >> http://www.seaslugforum.net << to a site with a ton of information about sea slugs. let us know how yours is doing from time to time.

Calvin

[toddwess]

Glad to hear you got one - they are beautiful!

Ironic that you ask how mine is doing - she got sucked into the feed-pipe to the filter, but managed to hang on to the bottom of it, and not get sucked all the way into the HOB penguin-mini bio-wheel filter.

She is a little strung out and doesn't look too good, but is alive. I hope she makes it . . . but we'll see.

Hope yours does better -- keep us posted.

Todd

[Calvin]

Unfortunately mine seems to have met the same fate as yours. It must have been a suicide. He jumped into one pump in the morning, and after being saved, he jumped into another. This time it was fatal.

[iservicebox]

i had that exact nudibranch, they are reef safe. the only thing is they are very specialized eaters like reefrunner said. the main problem is you should have a very well established system, because they are highly poisonious if they die. my star fish ate mine. good luck