Seahare Question

fio1022 · #1 09/13/2007, 05:18 PM

I recently added a Seahare to my system to consume a little unwanted hair algae.
He has been in the tank for a few days but only patrols bottom(bare bottom).I tried placing him on rock where HA is, but he falls off after a few minutes.
I though he would climb like a snail.
Will he eventually climb up onto rockwork?

stugray · #2 09/13/2007, 07:23 PM

i had a sea hare that was supposed to eat HA, but I never saw it eat any. I went on vacation for a week, and when I returned, there was absolutely NO sign of the sea hare.

I dont know what happened to it, or if it was the correct type to eat HA, but I probably wont try that again without studying the species some more.

Stu

greenbean36191 · #3 09/13/2007, 07:50 PM

There are a lot of species of seahares. Only a few eat hair algae and most are lagoonal animals and don't care much for climbing rocks.

yrema · #4 09/15/2007, 01:06 AM

here's a good link: http://www.seaslugforum.net/specieslist.cfm

roblack · #5 09/24/2007, 06:46 PM

I got a couple and they both mowed down hair algae and repeatedly knocked corals around. As Greenbean said, there are alot of different species, some only eating a specific type of algae or other food source. Mine climbed all over rocks. In fact, I sometimes find them on rocks here on Miami Beach. If they die in your tank, it can kill everything as they release a toxin into the water. Unfortunately, they tend to blend in very well and can be hard to find.

fio1022 · #6 09/24/2007, 07:08 PM

well mine patrolled the bottom for a week and then he vanished.I have alot of rockwork so hopefully he is doing his job just out of sight.I don't think anything could have possible eaten it.

marxxx · #7 09/25/2007, 01:13 PM

The sea hares I kept ate tones of hair algae! The big problem is keeping enough algae to keep them fed, and second some of them are cooler water species and don't survive long above the low 70's.