Sea Hare in RSM...

slakker · #1 10-13-2008, 04:05 AM

So it's about week 4 now with my new RSM setup and i guess I'm onto phase 2... Green Hair Algae!!! So what else is there to do but to get a sea hare.

Once the GHA is under control, I'm returning him for 1/2 credit.

They're such a cool animal...

And they have quite the mouth to grab and tear the stuff right off the rocks...

Keri · #2 10-14-2008, 02:57 AM

yup, mine did a fabulous job on our tank and months later I only have one 1/2" patch of HA that's ever come back.

Just be sure to return him as soon as he runs out of food!!

slakker · #3 10-14-2008, 06:28 AM

There's still a 1/2 cm haze of hair algae on much of the rocks... he's spent some time on the sand today, looks like he was at the diatoms... odd?

Der_Iron_Chef · #4 10-14-2008, 06:43 AM

I saw mine inhale a big chunk of bubble algae. Awesome!

Oscar · #5 11-12-2008, 03:08 AM

I am still battling hair algae and the bubble algae is coming on strong. I visited the closest LFS last week. They had one sea hare that was probably 2 1/2" long and that was buried in the sand.

This critter just seemed too big for my tank, I am afraid of starving him. Do they normally dive into the substrate once the hair and other algae are dealt with?

Will they eat nori if they run out of live algae?

slakker · #6 11-12-2008, 04:30 AM

Mine went into the sand during the day... that's where they hide out... came out later in the day and grazed continuously... once all the algae was gone, I traded him back for 1/2 credit.

I couldn't get him to eat nori, he just walked around it when I put some in...

untamed · #7 11-12-2008, 05:42 AM

I had two during my hair algae outbreak. I eventually returned one of them when the HA disappeared. The other lived in the tank for about a year, even though there was no HA. He certainly wasn't starving because he got huge and laid eggs several times before he disappeared.

When I first got them, they ate all the time (day and night). After a short time, they became 100% nocturnal.

Oscar · #8 11-12-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by untamed

The other lived in the tank for about a year, even though there was no HA. He certainly wasn't starving because he got huge and laid eggs several times before he disappeared.

If he was in your 400G tank there must have been enough algae to keep him alive that you could not see.