Elegance eating a sea hare???

[Sula]

Yikes! It looks like my sea hare stumbled into my elegance coral. The elegance looks like it's trying to eat it :eek1:
Should I take it away or let nature take its course??????

 

[kev apsley]

depends on how much you want to keep your sea hare

 

[Sula]

No chance of saving the sea hare, I'm just worried about any harm to the coral???
Got some pics- here is what I first saw

After I posted, I thought I'd better try to see if I could get the sea hare out, so flipped him forward eeeeuuuwww

another

Then turned off the powerhead, got a clearer shot...hope no one is eating dinner...

 

[kev apsley]

ahhhhh the miracles of nature

 

[Sula]

So, you're saying, let nature take it's course......

 

[emissary43]

I would remove the sea hare if at all possible, just gonna get puked out and spike your nutrient levels

 

[roblack]

Get it out IMO. They have toxins that are released when they are stressed or dying and can really foul a tank.

 

[emissary43]

I have definitely heard that and don't doubt it but over the years I have had a few die in my system and I pulled them out within 24hrs with no ill effect. They are no where near as deadly as sea apples.

 

[QueenOfTheReef]

Wish I would have seen this post sooner. I also have an elegance & added a dwarf sea hare & 2 lettuce nudibranchs for clean up. Within a week the elegance had eaten both the dwarf sea hare and one of the nudis. I was lucky to be able to remove the other lettuce nudi to a different tank. I never would have imagined the elegance would eat something so big!

 

[stunreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13316166#post13316166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kev apsley
depends on how much you want to keep your sea hare

:lol:



My elegance continuously devastates my stomatella (snail) population by eating them off the glass as they pass by. Since this is a Sea Hare I'd remove it as stated b/c I dont think the elegance will eat much of it, or any, and just spit it out into your system.

 

[Lockhartia]

My elegance is brutal as well! It's surrounded by a wall of astrea snail shells. Nothing enjoys escargot as much as this thing does!

I passed my arm too close to it one day while working in the tank, and it latched onto me so hard that when I pulled my hand back, it lifted right off the sandbed, stuck to me! I feed this thing every week as well! Hopefully it's not developing a taste for people...

Bummer on the Sea Hare. I would try to delicately remove it, that's a lot of animal for an elegance to consume, and it's not worth the risk of fouling the tank.

 

[Sula]

Thanks all for the advice. I had to leave town on Wed for a conference, when I called home that night to remind hubby to feed the tank, he said "oh yea, your coral spit out the big slug, do you want me to remove it?" So he performed the yucky task for me