Berghia Nudibranch

Care at a glance

Overview

Add several to a tank of any size, even a 20 litre nano, at 24 to 27 C and pH 8.1 to 8.4 to wipe out an Aiptasia outbreak over a few weeks. They need no feeding beyond the pest anemones, but you must remove them or let them decline once the Aiptasia is gone. Keep them clear of strong pump intakes and out of tanks with peppermint shrimp or wrasses that may eat them.

In the wild

The berghia is a small white to cream aeolid nudibranch with feathery back appendages called cerata. It is kept for one job, which is eating the pest anemone Aiptasia. It grows to about 2 cm and drifts over the rock at night hunting anemones.

Good to know

Berghia stephanieae, once sold under the name Aeolidiella stephanieae, feeds only on Aiptasia and starves once they run out. It stores stinging cells from its prey inside its cerata and can even keep some working algal chloroplasts there.

Did you know

They breed so readily in captivity that hobbyists raise and sell them in batches, and a small group can clear a badly infested tank on its own.

Related species

• 

  Christmas Tree Worm

  Spirobranchus giganteus

  1.6 in (4 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Lettuce Sea Slug

  Elysia crispata

  1.6 in (4 cm)11 gal (40 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)