Estimating How Many Berghia You Need
1 We typically recommend a minimum of 1 (Medium Berghia) for each 10 gallons a tank capacity which should achieve success in about 3-4 months (But never less than 3 in any size aquarium). This is gauged on a 120 gal tank, for smaller tanks, you would need more per gallon, for larger tanks you don't need quite as many per gallon, (so it's not quite linear), That is because they are colonial and you need a good base colony to start. For instance, we feel a good base, for a 40-50 gal tank, is 6 Mediums. Furthermore, you can’t put in too many Berghia, only too few. The more Berghia you put in the less time for success, the less Berghia the more time. This is also relative to how severe the Aiptasia population and whether you have predators or not. If you're not sure, it's best to overestimate rather than underestimate.
2It is important to realize that Berghia are COLONIAL HUNTERS, COLONIAL FEEDERS & COLONIAL BREEDERS. Therefore, it is important to keep them together and assure there are enough Berghia to be able to find one another for breeding. It is necessary to have several Berghia attack a large Aiptasia at the same time in order to successfully eat it. A single Berghia may spend hours circling and attacking a large Aiptasia and unsuccessfully gain access to it, when several Berghia will circle and attack it together until it's eaten. Further, the Berghia you are adding are the breeders. It's their successive generations that will be your success. That is why we recommend the Medium Berghia, as at that size and age they are laying eggs every 1-3 days.
3 It may take 2-3 generations to build a large enough Berghia colony to completely eradicate an Aiptasia infestation. The Berghia must overcome the reproduction rate of the Aiptasia..Therefore, it is your "Baibies" that is your ultimate success. Once they overcome the reproduction rate of the Aiptasia, your Aiptasia will disappear, seemingly overnight.
4The more Berghia you start with the faster they find each other to lay eggs and the larger the colony becomes. Thus the faster the Aiptasia infestation declines and your aquarium becomes Aiptasia free.
Be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) page for more information about Berghia.