Lettuce nudibranch too thin

[pohtr]

I've had my lettuce nudibranch for a few weeks now and he's losing weight. He stays on the glass where there is some algae film. Should I move him to another place in the tank where the algae is thicker? What else do they eat? I have been unable so far to find out much about them.

 

[teresaq]

as far as I know they only eat bryopsis algea

 

[boozzbro]

if hes hungry hell look around the tank for food. if its in there hell find it generally. i believe the type of algae they eat is Bryopsis algae. that type of algae is is a small feather alga looks similar to har alage but isnt. Lettuce nudibranch do not eat hair alage only the bryopsis type stuff.
what are you parameters i know for a fact that they dont do well with high nitrates

 

[alyssia]

Can they poison your tank when they die?

 

[boozzbro]

they dont relaese a toxin. But they will casue an you parameters to spike if you dont get it out of there relatively soon after it dies.

 

[emeralcrab]

I have one, he stayed on the glass for over a week in the same area, only moved a little. Today he was GONE, I looked and looked, low and behold there he is roaming around, he has covered tons of ground today. Don't know why he stayed in one place for so long. :notsure:
They sure are cute, I love mine. I've had him for about 1 1/2 months now.

 

[pohtr]

So if he's getting thinner then he's not finding the right algae. He's not moving around much, except when I dislodged him thinking he'd try another spot. Then he went quickly up the glass to the same spot. I think I'll dislodge him again and place him where he'll go through the most algae climbing the glass. Seems like more algae would mean more chance of bryopsis. How do you get bryopsis anyway? Just like other algaes. they just show up?
Yes, my nitrates are high. Just checked them and they're at about 30. Way too high but much better than the off the charts I've been having. Water change is happening as soon as the salt finishes dissolving (another thread).
Also today when I checked my pH has gone down. It is at 7.8. It had been steady at 8.2 from the beginning, altho I'm overdue for checking....(oops). I will recheck after the water change. I have an emerald crab who's also not well right now. (There are still lots of healthy inverts around, so I'm not having a melt down here......I'm NOT panniiiccckkkingggggg!)

 

[boozzbro]

if your having problems with some other inverts too in might be the Nitrates.
But if you have move the nudibranch and it went back to the same spot that may be where you have the Bryopsis begnining to grow.

 

[pohtr]

When I went in to move him last night he had already moved a little and was hitching a ride on a snail. It was a new snail that came in with him (from this site). So decided to leave him in case the snail had the bryopsis on him. Then he moved all the way down into the live rock. Maybe he got a little taste and it revived him a little so he could do some traveling. This is the most movement from him since he came.
Finally got the water change done today and the pH is back at 8.2 (maybe I screwed up the previous test somehow). The nitrates are back down to 20.

 

[emeralcrab]

I would just let him be, he will move when he gets hungry or runs out of his feed where he is at. Like I said mine stayed in one place for a long time, yesterday was all over the tank, today he is back up the glass where he spent all his time before. I would really just work on getting your water parameters where they are suppose to be and that will help all your animals. Good luck.

 

[pohtr]

My lettuce nudibranch is still alive ( its been 2 months ) but is very tiny now, a fraction of his original size. He's still staying on the front glass which I clean regularly. It makes no sense to me. If I have any bryopsis it isn't on the front glass. What should I do? Where do I get the bryopsis and what does it look like?

 

[bang guy]

Does it have plenty of light?
Sometimes they can eat Macro algae like Caulerpa Peltata or Caulerpa prolifera if Bryopsis isn't available. They cannot eat Diatoms or filament algae.

 

[emeralcrab]

Ummm, do you have a refuge you could put him in and see if there is more algae that he likes? Mine is doing great except the other day I had to rescue him from the elegance coral. I need to move him before it is to late.
He still will hang out in the same area with the current beating down on him. Then off he'll go, eating awhile all over the tank. Then back up to the same place on the glass for a couple days.

 

[pohtr]

The only light I have is 2 40w flourescent bulbs. Very soon there will be a light upgrade (waiting for the bulbs now) I will try putting him in the fuge, but there's only a single 40 w flourescent squirly bulb there.
How much light do they need? Or is it the light that produces the algae that they need? I have enough light to have a ton of algae already, just the wrong kind, I guess.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by pohtr
The only light I have is 2 40w flourescent bulbs. Very soon there will be a light upgrade (waiting for the bulbs now) I will try putting him in the fuge, but there's only a single 40 w flourescent squirly bulb there.
How much light do they need? Or is it the light that produces the algae that they need? I have enough light to have a ton of algae already, just the wrong kind, I guess.
They steal chloroplasts from the algae they eat. this allows them to use light to photosynthesize. If you give it more light it won't need as much algae. It will still need to eat though.

 

[pohtr]

so is it normal for most tanks to have at least some bryopsis? He's currently in the refugium wndering around. His ruffles have turned from green to orange and he's still very small. Maybe a teeny bit bigger (or wishful thinking).
Haven't tested the water recently but the water's mixing for the next change.

 

[my way]

I don't know if this is true, but i have read they will sometimes eat Cheato, which is easy to find.