feeding schedule for a sea hare?

[gatsby174]

Well, when I went to get a pair of percula clowns, my g/f fell in love with a sea hare. The lfs said it was a great addition to the tank because he eats lots of algae. And eat LOTS of algea he did! And ate, and ate, and ate. Needless to say, in three days he had cleaned the entire tank. I did some research and found that if he will accept dried seaweed I'd be able to keep him, otherwise he'd have to go back (or he'd starve). Since the g/f loves him, I decided to give the seaweed a try. I found Sally's pure seaweed and put it on a clip... and he ate ALL of a 2"x2" piece in about an hour, then went back to sucking dust off the rocks. How often/how much should I feed him? He's in a tank now with 2 percs (1" and 3/4"), 2 turbo snails, and an emerald crab. The tank is 60g, 75lbs of live rock and has only been running about 4 weeks. Any thoughts on how much/often he should be fed? Thanks!

 

[Elysia]

It will likely depend on which species and its size. As you have witnessed, sea hares eat a lot (and, thus, poop a lot.) If, when you put the nori in, the sea hare makes a dash for it and chows down, then it is likely hungry. You don't need to apply the "whatever it eats in five minutes" rule to the seahare. If you find that some of the nori isn't being eaten, then you can decrease the amount, otherwise, you may want to increase the amount a bit (or try feeding it twice a day) to get an idea of how much it can consume.