NEED HELP - Pacific Lettuce Nudibranch (Elysia diomedia)

mwp · #1 05/04/2006, 04:57 PM

OK, so with all the mandarin stuff going on, I haven't even bothered with my Pacific Lettuce Nudibranchs that are going like clockwork now. DOES ANYONE here have experience with raising Lettuce Nudis? I'd love to hand out egg ribbon and a spring of bryopsis to anyone who has the experience to try and raise them...these were a lucky find, they've been doing well, but with all the egg laying they've been doing I'm afraid my pair is coming to the end of their life cycle. The deal would be - 1. pay for the shipping, 2. if you're successful, ship me back a pair once they've reached a bit of size, and 3. TELL ME HOW THE HECK YOU DID IT!

They're currently putting down ribbons every 3-6 days now...

Let me know..

MP

mwp · #2 05/04/2006, 05:06 PM

BTW, some pictures to entice the experienced nudi raiser...

MP

mwp · #3 05/04/2006, 05:52 PM

OK, so each one laid a ribbon today now...that's 2 ribbons! Wont' be able to ship this particular set out unless someone claims them tonight (and, FWIW, they're on the back of the tank which is plastic, not glass so they're hard to remove intact).

Anyone willing to give these a shot, ESPECIALLY someone with experience?

MP

jnowell · #4 05/05/2006, 03:33 PM

Matt,

I've been wanting to try lettuce nudi's. I am raising Berghia's, and hav constructed a Bryopsis farm but haven't ordered broodstock yet. If you haven't already left town, I'd try a set, but i'm not too sure about the "experienced" part. I'm floating beakers in a tank and raising about 5 per beaker adding small aptasia for the little 'uns. I should have berghias ready before too long.

Let me know.

EDIT: I just read in your mandarin thread that you have left. Keep me in mind for the next set, and I'll go read up and get a system truly prepared for them. They were on my list, just hadn't been rushing it because of the lack of parents.

Jason

mwp · #5 05/07/2006, 10:51 PM

Jason, I'll shoot you out the first fresh ribbon I can safely harvest - shoot me a PM with your particulars and I'll get back to you with mine!

Anyone else? Hopefully we'll get a few more ribbons at least!

Matt

mwp · #6 05/15/2006, 01:14 PM

So, come on, someone else have some experience with nudis want to give them a shot? 2 more egg ribbons showed up yesterday...one of the pair looks to be on it's way out now (has turned very pale)...they only live a year naturally and well, I've only seen this species this ONE TIME..if we can't get any raised up successfully I don't suspect we'll see them around again anytime soon...

MP

jnowell · #7 05/15/2006, 02:21 PM

True, and if one of them isn't looking so good, very soon you will have infertile eggs. They are hermaphroditic, but like a lot of shrimp species, they don't fertilize their own eggs.

Somebody try some so the pressure is not all on me!!!!

Jason

Paul B · #8 05/15/2006, 02:54 PM

Those lettuce "nudibranch's" are slugs.
I raise Elysia Crispata.
Not as nice looking as yours, but "slugs" still the same.

jnowell · #9 05/15/2006, 03:10 PM

2 things Paul....why don't YOU take an egg strand and put your experience to work on it. And secdond, how much would we have to pay you to share your technique for E. Crispata.

Matt and I both know they are not a nudibranch (that whole herbivour thing gave it away

) I've read everything I can, and believe I have most of them through the veliger stage and settled out. Plenty of macros for them to sample too. To be honest though, I'm not finding any info, and I have to guess that raise E. crispata would be almost the same.

Any thoughts you could share??

Thanks,

Jason

Paul B · #10 05/15/2006, 03:25 PM

Jason, since my tank is set up "slug safe" I would be glad to pay shipping to get some diomedia. I raised about 150 elisia crispata. I gave most of them to a researcher and the rest, about 50 stayed in my reef for 18 months which I think is their life span. The most important thing to do is put sponge filters on all pump intakes or they turn into slug Jello. They swim like a brick and don't even hold on to things very well.
Let me know if you want to ship eggs.
Here is an article I wrote about them.
http://www.breedersregistry.org/Arti...oweredSlug.htm

RCS · #11 05/15/2006, 03:29 PM

I was inadvertantly raising lettuce nudis last year when I had a nice Bryopsis infestation. I went from two to a couple of dozen within a week. I found that the only thing they ate was Bryopsis though.

I'd be interested in getting a strand in a few weeks when I have more tanks set up. I'll be integrating a vegetable filter into the system and can set up a nice refugium for these guys.

jnowell · #12 05/15/2006, 04:06 PM

Thanks for the article Paul! Matt (MWP) has the broodstock, they are still laying egg strands, but one is not looking so good, so get with him quick if you want a set, I fear our chances are waning.

Jason

mwp · #13 05/15/2006, 04:56 PM

Paul, RCS, if you want strands indeed, as Jason suggested, NOW is the time to get 'em. Shoot me a PM with your information (address, phone) and the moment I have one ready I'll pack it up and ship it to you (of course, you pay for shipping...I can do Fed Ex or USPS express, but at the moment I'm out of my little styros). The eggs appear to hatch rather quickly (i.e. 24 hours), this evening I'm going to scrape the one that was laid yesterday and set it up with an algae soup and see what happens....I REALLY REALLY enjoy having these and would LOVE to keep them going in captivity!

Matt

Paul B · #14 05/15/2006, 05:13 PM

Matt, I sent you my address and phone number. I will see if I can raise some. And of course if I do I will send you some.
Paul

mwp · #15 05/15/2006, 05:15 PM

Paul, just got your email and sent ya back. I hope someone is lucky enough to get a few to grow up and I hope the shipping them everywhere helps increase their odds...I suspect the UV sterlizer in their current tank isn't helping the babies that hatch out in there much!

MP

Paul B · #16 05/15/2006, 06:17 PM

MP I didn't get a message from you, did you send me something?

RCS · #17 05/15/2006, 10:38 PM

Ack! I'm really, really not set up to take in any of these guys right now. I've got my Banggai trio, my GSM pair, my yellow tang, my dusky jawfish, my two Banggai babies (1"!!), my shrimp, and ALL my SPS in 30g tank right now while the other tanks are getting set up! It's hard enough on me right now trying to take care of all this in that small of a tank. Maybe by next week if you've still got some. I've got two 45s and a 65 that I'm planning on having up within the next two days and a good source for cured live rock, so I may be up and running sooner than I expected.

You've got the Bryopsis to go with them right? I never though I'd be asking FOR Bryopsis! I get a good discount with FedEx as well, so that would be the best option and we can tag it on my account.

mwp · #18 05/16/2006, 10:38 PM

Well, the suggestion that F/2 would actually culture bryopsis got me thinking....otherwise I would've said no, I'm pretty strapped myself as the Diomedias keep it all in check.

So I ditched my unproductive amphipod culture in favor of a BRYOPSIS culture...heck folks could probably make money selling bryposis for the various Elysia sea slugs!

I'll keep you all posted on any additional available egg ribbons...at the moment I only have one HUGE styro to ship with though

MP

olin · #19 05/17/2006, 01:27 AM

Hey Matt, just found this thread- pretty cool, I've done some closely related Elysia and Tridachia from the Sea of Cortez. Lots of bryopsis and a bit of tetraselmis got them through metamorphosis pretty fast. I'd be happy to try my hand at these if you still have some in a couple of weeks. Pretty busy setting up a new lab at the moment. I'm playing with a slug right now also. Looks pretty similar but less blue and more green yellow. I'll try to shoot you some pics.

mwp · #20 05/17/2006, 01:31 AM

Olin, very cool. The only thing you gave them was Tetraselmis as a larval feed? How green does the water need to be?

I'm thinking I'm going to scrape out that egg ribbon on the back and give 'em a whirl in a spare 2 liter...it can't hurt, right?

MP

mwp · #21 05/17/2006, 01:59 AM

Well, what the heck, I set up a ribbon that may have already hatched out, we'll probably know tomorrow. Mostly parental water with 200 ML Tetraselmis and 200 ML T-Iso and a couple tufts of bryopsis...that was all I had left to spare after harvesting to do a bryopsis culture.

I'm going to see if I can get some little styros for shipping - lets all hope we get some more egg ribbons to try out...the one is still alive and has regained some color but I'm still wondering how much longer this will last before the spawns are done..the last egg ribbon laid by the "last legs" was only 1/3 the size of the other slug's more recent spawn.

MP

jnowell · #22 05/17/2006, 08:02 AM

Matt, I have a few small styro boxes laying around, maybe i can boc them up together and ship a few back to you. Let me see if I can find a decent way of doing that. I know it WON'T be FedEx Saturday Delivery

My Elysia babies are still doing OK, a few noticeable losses, and a few noticeable crawlers. MAN I wish there was more info out there on rearing methods. What I'm doing is working so far, but I'm certainly not sure it's correct.

Good luck to anyone else who gets some, these guys should be a CB staple in the trade...we just have to figure a way to raise them.

Jason

mwp · #23 05/17/2006, 11:37 AM

Jason, very cool! I'd think that if we have them out of the planktonic stage and have some "crawlers" all you'd really need is enough bryopsis to grow them up..granted things never seem to go how I *think* they should

If I don't find any of those little styros locally I may just take you up on that offer Jason - thanks!

Matt

olin · #24 05/17/2006, 01:34 PM

Here are a couple of things that seemed to help me with survival. My methods were probably pretty stringent, I know of a lot of incidents where people had luck just in their reef tanks. But, I got better survival using membrane filtered aged aquarium water, and I rinsed the bryopsis with it before adding it. I did shallow dishes without aeration and partial water changes daily. Just a hint of green tet and iso, although I also had them come through just fine without any micro, so I think it is optional. But I had fatter crawlers and they settled sooner with micro.

jnowell · #25 05/17/2006, 03:28 PM

Thanks Olin, that's good info. Could you give us an idcea on time frames from laying to hatching to crawling? I've read everything from 16 hours to 5 days for this to take place, if your Elysia were closely related, Matt and I would both love to hear that info too.

Thanks,

Jason