Are sea hares safe?

[sound and surf]

Are sea hares safe to keep? I bought one yesterday and was told they would not poison my tank. Further reading suggests otherwise. I have a peaceful 55 and would hate to have a die off. Help.. He did eat all the hair algae though!

 

[greenbean36191]

Yes they are safe. Some species produce a purple ink which was long assumed to be toxic. It's not. The biggest risk they pose is if you allow one to rot in the tank it will cause your water quality to drop.

 

[sound and surf]

Thank you. Any suggestions on how to keep him healthy and well fed?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9723131#post9723131 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sound and surf
Thank you. Any suggestions on how to keep him healthy and well fed?

provide it with algae and detritus.
FWIW the "Sea Apple" type Holothurians (sea cucumbers) are potentially dangerous via "cuke nuke". (Cukes are different than hares.)

 

[Grunt]

Make sure the pump inlets are covered, so it can't get sucked up into a powerhead or something. That can be bad and fatal to tank inhabitants, personal experience
Cheers

 

[Sk8r]

Keep a batch of good carbon handy just in case, and don't get caught without salt or ro/di, and you're covered. Watch your params. The most common way people have trouble with these creatures involves pump intakes, harassment by a fish, or water quality.

 

[pagojoe]

At least some species of sea hares appear to produce toxins, even if it's not in the ink. Dolabella auricularia are cleaned and eaten in some places in the Pacific, but the toxic parts may be removed? All sea hare species obviously have some chemical defenses (since most animals won't eat them), but I don't know of anyone having a tank die-off because of those defenses.

http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=9506

Lots more discussion on this subject on www.seaslugforum.net

Cheers,



Don

 

[greenbean36191]

Right, you don't want your dogs eating them (they're known to have killed dogs that did) but they aren't going to nuke a tank if they die in there.

 

[650-IS350]

They eat like crazy and poop like crazy as well... you will see tons of tan/biege pellet looking crap all over.. but they will mow through most algae that you have... and if not enough algae in the tank, you can supplement it with NORI... I had mine for a while till it met its doom from 2 meetings with a 1500 seio PH... its best to cover your PH's if you have slugs or nudi that you like... he did not spout out purple ink when he got sucked up...

 

[jefathome]

I've had one go belly-up and nothing else died.

 

[elemenoh505]

there are several tropical-indo species that do not produce ink and they tend to do great in reef tanks, stay away from temperate ocean sea hares, these variaties secrete thick and dark purple ink which could easily crash a tank

 

[650-IS350]

If I have read correctly, the ink merely serves as an irritant to most aquaria inhabitants and if you have a failry good skimmer then you shouldn't have to worry about " CRASHING "

am I in the wrong here???

 

[Shikaroka]

I had two, that seemed to be doing well, and eating lots of algae. But, at least one of them, maybe both, became a meal for my emerald crab. That sucks, I really like these little guys.

 

[greenbean36191]

If I have read correctly, the ink merely serves as an irritant to most aquaria inhabitants and if you have a failry good skimmer then you shouldn't have to worry about " CRASHING "

am I in the wrong here???

The ink essentially overloads the senses of predators. It isn't toxic and doesn't leave lasting effects. The only way the ink would kill something is in extreme concentrations that coat the gills of other animals and suffocate them. Unless you have a very large sea hare in a very small tank that's extremely unlikely.

 

[650-IS350]

I figured that greenbeane.... I had 1 decorator crab pinching my old seahare before.... tossed him to the fuge right away.