Do you have an e-tropicals dwarf sea hare? What does it eat?

[kmk2307]

I am looking at getting one or two of these adorable sea slugs: http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=45&pCatId=2246

Are they really happy eating caulerpa? Do they eat nori or other dried seaweeds? Does anyone have pictures of theirs they can post? Did you screen the intakes of your powerheads to make them slug-safe?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Julio]

Hey I don't think they eat vegitation first off, you need to feed it frozen mysis, cyclops eeze and other meaty foods, but not seaweed.

 

[Ochi]

Err...Long day I'd suppose julio?

They are strict herbivores...

Yes you have to screen the powerheads and such. If a remember paul and maybe melev bred them. Quite a few succumbed to getting chopped into tiney bits by powerheads.

 

[GSchiemer]

First off, all Aplysia sp. nudibranchs, including these "dwarf sea hare," are strictly herbivores. They will not eat frozen mysis or any other "meaty foods," as has been suggested. They will eat microalgae, including diatoms, and certain species of macroalgae. You do have to screen off pump intakes and overflow boxes. IME, even with the best of care, they are not long-lived.

Greg

 

[greenbean36191]

These aren't nudibranchs or Aplysia. They are Dolabrifera dolabrifera. All nudibranchs are carnivores, so that should be a giveaway that these guys aren't nudis.

They will not eat Caulerpa. I'm not sure about nori. The only thing I've seen them eat is diatoms. AFAIK no one is sure what their natural diet is.

There is a pic in my gallery.

 

[needyreefer]

These aren't nudibranchs or Aplysia. They are Dolabrifera dolabrifera. All nudibranchs are carnivores, so that should be a giveaway that these guys aren't nudis.

They will not eat Caulerpa. I'm not sure about nori. The only thing I've seen them eat is diatoms. AFAIK no one is sure what their natural diet is.

There is a pic in my gallery.

Just wondering.....from what you said, are the lettuce nudibranches that recieve their food from the sun/our lights considered to be in the nudibranch family?

 

[greenbean36191]

Nope, they're sacoglossans. They get most of their energy from sucking the juice out of whatever algaes they are "eating".

 

[Julio]

Hey Guys,
yes it was a long day at work, for some reason i read sea horse instead of se hare.
DOUGH!

 

[kmk2307]

greenbean36191,
Did you get your "sea hare" which you have pictures of in your gallery from etropicals? I tried to figure what species the slugs sold by etropicals is based on the pics they provide and the sea slug forum. There has been a lot of work done on Aplysia parvula (see the Zoological Record database) which is commonly called the dwarf sea hare but most pictures of this species I see seem to be more red in pigmentation than the pictures provided by etropicals... however maybe the Nicuraguan (sp?) population is greener or feeds on more green algae than red algae? I'm pretty confident they will eat nori since it is a nontoxic red alga but I would like to know this for sure before I buy them and can't feed them.

Thanks all,
Kevin

 

[greenbean36191]

Mine isn't from etropicals, but if the slug they are selling is the one they have pictured there is no doubt that it's Dolabrifera, which is the same one I have.

 

[ChadT]

So how long have you had your Dolabrifera dolabrifera GreenBean36191? Nice Avatar btw!

 

[greenbean36191]

I think about 3 months, but I can't remember exactly.

 

[Awright]

greenbean36191,
Does he do a good job on hair algae? How long do they live any idea?

 

[kmk2307]

Bump. Will anyone else share their experiences?

 

[kmk2307]

Bump again. Etropicals has these back in stock. Before I ordered last time they ran out so I put my order on hiatus. I ordered 4 and I have a 15 gal tank set up for two of them. The other two are going in a 55 at the university with lots of live rock with various algae including green hair of some sort and a few species of caulerpa. The intakes of the powerheads in both tanks are covered by a sponge prefilter. Wish me luck.