Aggressive and Dangerous Tanks
Let’s Get Serious!
Berghia stephanieae are not on the meal plan, nocturnal and defend themselves in a move called “bristling”. The colony will establish and move into aggressively defended territory. Aggression between saltwater fish comes down to some pretty key factors. You can see a predator/prey relationship, where one fish treats another animal as food. Next the territorial kind. They set up a patrol covering an area for grazing or home defense, they won’t permit any other fish or invertebrate to violate the perimeter. Next aggressive saltwater fish increase defensive tactics during selected seasons and the normal spawning period for the species.
Easy to keep in a stable well maintained complete reef setup with moderate sized home aquarium, beautiful, often entertaining, even cool examples:
- Clown Triggerfish
- Hawkfish
- Three Striped Damselfish
- Purple Tang
- Maroon Clownfish
- Snowflake Eel
- Lionfish
Habits can change depending on tank mates and schooling with associates. Individual species habits deserve research.
Large aggressive and predator fish sometimes kept: Sharks, stingrays, large wrasse, drums, larger eels, mated pairs of triggers, large and aggressive crabs, predator starfish. Add to these examples your favorite aggressive fish type.
Large or small, Aiptasia can get in there and be annoying to even the roughest most durable of tank species. How do we get the Aiptasia out? Provide a well anchored rock setup with small caves and passages for Berghia to go throughout the setup. The Berghia will move on their own and the solid rock caves will protect them from being crushed by a big heavy weight with tough skin. Berghia stephanieae is not a palatable nudibranch and can sting if attacked. Nothing really wants to eat the nocturnal Berghia stephanae. Well anchored clean rocks with small caves and passages will be a safe spot for Berghia to begin their colony. Think this through first because an injection or gluing or drilling or peppermint shrimp to fight Aiptasia just makes Aiptasia spawn and spread like crazy.
