Nudibranches

[opie]

I had a purple nudi and lettuce nudi. Both were doing good but lettuce dissappeared and a few days later purple dissappeared. Looked in filter but were no where to be found. Some one told me certain fish will eat them, is this true? I have the following fish: auriga butterfly, copperband butterfly, raccoon butterfly, flame angel, coral beauty, purple tang, naso tang, blue hippo tang, scooter blenny, lawnmower blenny, marroon clown, blue damsel, blk/wht damsel, blue/green chromis, strawberry pseudochromis, green mandarin, and psychedelic mandarin; I also have 2 cucumbers, brittle starfish, crabs and anemonies. Can anyone give me any info or idea what would have happened to them or what would have eaten them.

 

[saltcreep1025]

what size tank is this and how long has it been established?

 

[opie]

150 gallons, about 5 months

 

[1neondottyback]

From what I have read and heard they are very beautiful but short lived creatures in the wild and tanks. A few weeks to maybe a month or two and that is it. Most starve in captivity.

I had a Golden Sea Goddes that was awesome for two months them it died, Tide pool creature in a cold water tank I once kept.

go to www.sea-slug.com/ or www.seaslug.com or there's www.seaslugforum.net

Marine Fish and Reef mag did a cool story on seaslugs in the 2003 Annual

 

[rachel7546]

i had 11 nudibranchs in my tank and they looked beautiful for 2 months then one morning i found all of them dead on the bottom - very strange. You would have to imagine starvation was not the cause here. I know crabs love to eat them as i had to remove three small crabs (different species) from the tank as they kept trying to eat them. Nudibranchs have a life span of around 12 months in the ocean (info from uni text book)

 

[darb2]

I know that nudis are very food specific. if you don't feed their specific diet they will not last long in captivity. They are also one of the first species to show signs of stress. If water quality is starting to deteriorate, nudis will let you know the hard way
I am with rossv, You may have too large of a bioload. What is your nitrate?

 

[seaham358]

Damn that a lot of fish in a 5 month old tank....
IMO that tank is not mature enough for a nudibranch unless you have an algae problem. They eat algaes and if the tank has none or very little then they will starve. I had 2 lettuce nudis that the LFS told me would do well in my 6 month old tank....
Within weeks they were gone........
These are creatures that should be left in the oceans.

 

[rachel7546]

nudibranch feeding habits

Im cetainly no expert but reading up on material about the physiology of nudibranchs they appear to be carnivores, not algae eaters.
From what i can gather the Order Nudibranchia (Subclass Opisthobranchia, Class Gastropoda) are carnivorous grazers that like to feed on sessile animals like hydroids, anemones, soft corals, sponges, fish eggs and others.
Each family of nudibranch is generally restricted to one type of prey which certainly explains why they are so unsuccessfully kept in tanks (fussy little buggers) - i sure haven't had any luck so far.
hope this helps 8O

 

[BBReef]

Agreed ^ most nudis, especially those sold in stores, eat very specific foods, mainly sponges (this is what makes them poisonous), and when kept in an aquarium without food, you'll see them get smaller and smaller and die of starvation.

The only nudis that i have known to be kept successfully through their expected lifespan are the velvet and lettuce nudis. Velvet (absolutely beautiful) eat flat worms, and when in plague populations will graze on them for a longer period of time. lettuce nudis eat mostly hair algae and like coral have algea living inside their ruffles wich also give them food, so stronger light is needed for them. of course if you have a reef then you should have enough light as it is.

depending on how long after the nudi has been caught to when you recieve it, most will die within a week to a month. HTH