Lettuce Nudibranch

[Im Lon 2]

Does anybody know where you can find these little Hair Algae lovers. I Have looked but no luck. I have even tried to get my LFS to order and he can not find them.

:confused:

[griss]

Hey Lon,

I don't know anyone locally who has them, but have you tried Saltwater City? If they can't get them you can get them from most mail order places like

http://marinedepotlive.com/inverts-nudibranch.htmlhttp://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=23&pCatId=724
http://www.reeftopia.com/index.html
http://www.aquatictech.com/inverts.htm

George

[Im Lon 2]

Griss

I can find them on Line but right now that is all I want and the shipping is unreal for a $8 item. If I wanted something else then that would be a little easier to digest

[Saltgills]

Hi Lon,
About six weeks ago, I saw them in the cube tanks at Clayton Pet. If you haven't tried, you might ask Jan to order them for you.

Jim

[big red]

I think I recall seeing them at Clayton Pet as well.

Although it was not your question I feel like adding my two cents on the Nudies. They may eat hair algae but most powerheads (and some overflows) eat Nudies. Once sucked in by current they will not be able to free themselves. So, if you plan to have them around for a while, you will need a protected environment. It sounds like you know what you want so you were probably aware of that info anyway.
sorry for the rambling......

[Josh125]

Speaking of Clayton pets,

Has anyone been in ther lately? Their new setup is pretty nice, they also have a nice selection of tank raised SPS.

Granted they aren't as up on the knowledge of SWC, but hey it's nice to have 2 stores that have nice selections so close! Funny story, I asked Jan what type of lights she was running in her aquaspace lights, she said " ya know those little ones" I took it to mean DE lampsbeing it was an aquaspace setup so I went ahead and asked what K rating...becasue it looked so nice. She said she didn't know. Oh well, atleast the corals look good :)

[Im Lon 2]

They may eat hair algae but most powerheads (and some overflows) eat Nudies.

I have 2 whisper power filters that I use just for circulation. that way I can save room in my tank, since I only have a 10G. I have no bio-wheels or filter pads. Do you still see this being a problem?

[big red]

Lon,
I'm not familiar with the Whisper brand heads but I assume they work like all the others. The issue is the current they produce and the intake. When I tried the nudibranchs they would occasionally release from their location and drift in the current eventually getting sucked into the intake of the power head or the overflow. This was my experience so hopefully others will reply with ways to prevent this from happening.

When I see stores with them for sale they are always in tanks that are low flow and never have power heads. Try them if you like but ask the store if they recommend putting them in a tank with power heads.

good luck

[sWc]

Lettuce Nudis are very prolific hair algae eaters, however like big red mentioned, they often disappear in our reef tanks..I would also like to add after they are done eating the hair algae in your tank they will die, as that is there only source of food, even in the wild. However, in a 10G tank you don't really have many other options as far as nuisance algae control goes, possibly you can find a small tuxedo urchin ( Mespilia globulus), I have had some luck in the past with these eating hair algae (and bryopsis), however you will sacrifice some coraline for it, not to mention they can be kind of a pain since they enjoy decorating themselves with just about everything. :fun4:


Andy
Saltwater City-STL

[Im Lon 2]

I would also like to add after they are done eating the hair algae
in your tank they will die

At this right I don't think I will have to worry about them starving.
I even have to give my Snails hair (algae) cuts.

Are the tuxedo urchin easier to find? I have tried a spiney urchin and he has not done much to the hair algae like I was told he would. I thought about adding some Phos-guard to the tank.

I'm trying to post a picture but no such luck tonight.

[sWc]

Lon,

When you say spiny urchin what species is it? If it was Heterocentrotus mammillatus forget about it ever eating hair algae. And to answer your question, tuxedos are very easy to find.

lets look at the problem at hand, what are your po4 levels? And no3? Phosguard is OK stuff, but we have been having great results with rowaphos, might be something you want to check into.

Andy
Saltwater City - STL

[Im Lon 2]

I don't know the exact name but here is a pic I found Online.

[Djm9288]

Ya I have been battling hair algae in my 10g for about a month now, and i too am looking for a solution to it, if u find n e thing out lemme know

[kentrob11]

SWC's got the right idea here....You really need to get your nutrient levels in check...how many fish are in that 10 gallon? How old is it?

[Im Lon 2]

how many fish are in that 10 gallon? How old is it?

1 fish - clown
Tank is on it's 10 month.

[griss]

Lonnie,

If you find an Lettuce Nudi and it eats all your hair algae, let me know. I will buy it off you for your cost as I have now added hair algae to the list of problem algaes assaulting my tank.

FWIW, I think I need to replace my RO membrane.

George

[Im Lon 2]

I have now added hair algae to the list of problem algaes assaulting my tank.

I'm sorry to hear that. :(

If I can get out of work at a decent hour I will be heading over to SWC. So if I find anything that helps I will defiantly let you know.

[dela]

I just had a recent bout with hair algae too. My first (but I'm sure not last). It was very strange...

The hair grew really fast.. like in a matter of a week it covered the entire front and side glass panels. You could not even see into the tank and I had no time to deal with it. Anyways, when I finally got around to dealing with it, I used my credit card to scrape it off the glass and pulled out the floating clumps of algae.

It is now completely gone.... It never attached to the rocks.

Seems like you might be able to do something similar using some kind of scraper since your tank is small like mine. There is no way you could manually remove the algae off a 200g tank. But a 10g tank??

Then again, the water conditions have to be pretty good for it to have a chance to go away on it's own.. and I think it would be hard to maintian good water conditions in a 10g tank. Why not get a used/larger tank for cheap? FWIW it might be a better long term solution.

[Im Lon 2]

I think it would be hard to maintian good water conditions in a 10g tank.

I have no big problems except for the Hair Algae. I do plan on putting a 55g up. but I'm having to much fun with the 10g.

FWIW... I even have a 1 1/2 gal. and it too look great and doing well. I think if you have the 3-4" DSB and at least 1 pound of rock per gal. That alone helps keep the water requirement where they need to be. IMO

[Saltgills]

I was at Reef Systems last night. They had a bunch of nice size Lettuce Nudis. $10 each.