Help... Experienced Keepers of Purple Nudibranch

TAF · #1 12/13/2007, 03:52 AM

My hubby bought me a Purple Nudibranch as a surprise. The LFS told him it would eat algae.

However, after looking it up on the internet on many sites, the only thing they seemed to agree apon is that it is hard to keep and probably eats some type of sponge.

This may work, since I have about a dozen or more different types of sponges in my tank (I feed a LOT of phytoplankton for my feather worms). However, I am really hoping some people here who have had success in keeping them could give me some advice on keeping it happy.

So far it has traveled to the very highest point on my rock work and streached out toward the current. (Internet pictures make this seem like a normal possition for it to be in.)

greenbean36191 · #2 12/13/2007, 07:53 AM

They definitely eat some sort of sponge. All chromodorids do. However, they're specific about their sponge choice, so it's unlikely any of the species in your tank are suitable. These guys are reported to feed on Dysidea and Aplysilla. Some people have also had some luck feeding them frozen angelfish food that contained sponge.

TAF · #3 12/13/2007, 02:22 PM

Well, we put him in a float box with a selection of our sponges, and he wanted nothing to do with them.

::sigh::

So I am sending him back to the store with my hubby today with an admonishment to look everything up first (even if the LFS says it will be okay), since sometimes even the better LFS's can be wrong.

hahnmeister · #4 12/14/2007, 02:41 AM

There is only one nudi that I know of that can be taken care of in captivity... the velvet nudibranch... it eats flatworms, so get a flatworm outbreak, and let them loose!

greenbean36191 · #5 12/14/2007, 08:36 AM

There are plenty of nudibranchs that can be kept in captivity if you know what you're doing and have a steady supply of their food. Generally, they aren't the pretty ones though. I've kept at least 7 species successfully.

Velvet slugs aren't nudibranchs though and they almost always eat themselves out of house and home and then starve too. The flatworms can't keep up with the rate they eat them and eventually they become so scarce that the slug can't find enough of them to survive. Either that or they get sucked into powerheads. That's a problem with most slugs though.

dendro982 · #6 12/14/2007, 09:52 AM

greenbean, would you, please, share experience? Photos, what and how to.
I tried Chromodoris and Tritoniopsis elegans, negative result.

I have no experience with purple nudibranch, only with Chromodoris magnifica and C. quadricolor. Bought all sponges, available in LFSs, no use. RIP.

You can find more information about the purple one at seaslugforum.net, Hypselodoris bullocki , purple and white varieties, and notes from keepers with advice from Bill, here.

The only available information, that I was able to find, about what particular sponge they feed upon, was in here: Food Habits of Nudibranchs , "This list is an attempt to compile all of the published food data for nudibranchs." No C. or H. bullocki there.

Anyway, know what they are eating is the one thing, and be able to obtain it - another. I contacted the seller through the forum with intent to buy this sponge regularly, if he will be able arrange supply for it. No answer at all. Not interested.
And, as I said, the all decorative and hitchhikers sponges were useless.

Sorry about being the bad news bearer.

TAF · #7 12/14/2007, 12:46 PM

Tis okay. I had the hubby take him back. They would only give him store credit.

So he brings home a firefish. I made a screen cover for the back of my tank, so no problems, right?

It has ich.

::SIGH:: My luck sucks. I have a good herbal ich treatment though, so hopefully things will get better.

hahnmeister · #8 12/14/2007, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hahnmeister
There is only one nudi that I know of that can be taken care of in captivity... the velvet nudibranch... it eats flatworms, so get a flatworm outbreak, and let them loose!

Okay, I should revise that statement. I should have said "... is only one nudi that I know of that can be taken care of in captivity unless you are advanced enough to accomidate their special needs."

You are right though... not even the velvet nudi is a true nudi. I was able to keep a pair alive for over a year though in a nano because the overflow was low flow, and the powerhead had a nice protective screen. That, and I had a huge infestation of red flatworms, which they could gorge themselves on daily and never catch up... not to say they didnt make a dent, but I had alot of flatworms. Watching them eat is cool though... you can see them chasing down flatworms across rocks and sucking them up like a hand-held vacuum as they pass over the flatworms.

fantastic4 · #9 12/14/2007, 05:23 PM

greenbean36191, who is that in your avatar?

greenbean36191 · #10 12/14/2007, 05:56 PM

There are pics of some of the nudis and other slugs I've kept in my gallery. I'm fairly sure I've got other pictures, but they're on my computer which is 300 miles away ATM.

Being close to the ocean and able to collect your own food really helps. That's what I've had to do with Vayssierea felis, Fiona pinnata, Diaulula greeleyi, and some other dorid I found in Florida that I never IDed. With Aeolidiella (aka Berghia), Tritoniopsis, and Phyllodesmium briareum you can just buy or grow their food. With Tritoniopsis I was feeding it some sort of finger leather that it was feeding on in the store.