lettuce nudibranch or sea hare

[fittdog8848]

I tried searching for threads on these. I am thinking about getting either/or depending on the information i gather.

Anyone have a link to a good thread on both of these?

Better yet anyone have experience with either of these.

I have been fighting a HA outbreak and have been winning the battle but would like a couple to clean up the areas that are hard to reach and seen to be the strong hold.

I appreciate any positive information.

Thanks all

 

[Ryan454]

nudi branch are hard to maintain in a closed environment (aquarium) because of special diet needs and they are very toxic hence their bright coloration! As for the sea hare it is a much better choice but will also starve if not provided with plenty of macro algae, like in a refugium. I hope this info helps with your experience.

 

[Reeses]

If you keep hermits, beware with the lettuce nudi. I had a hairy red hermit (medium size) that ate mine, and my other assorted hermits would pick on it when they crossed paths.

As far as I know, Lettuce Nudi's are not toxic and cause absolutely no harm in the reef tank. I would also make sure that all your powerheads and intakes have covers. These creatures are very easily harmed.

I've never kept a sea hare, but would love to. I would like to see one "ink".

Good luck with whatever it is you choose.

 

[fittdog8848]

bump ^ looking for some more insights

 

[magnum420]

From my experiance, Lettuce Nudi's do not eat HA. I have had several and the only thing I have really seen them eat is briopsys(sp?). I had on get pulled into a pump as well and as far as I could tell it did no harm to my small tank so I doubt if they are toxic. I have never owned a sea hare so I can not comment on these other than they can ink which I think can hurt your tank.

 

[fittdog8848]

bump........ come on I have seen threads filled with suggestions on these before.........

 

[trippyl]

lettuce nudis dont eat HA, it's a common misconception. I've owned a Sea Hare, and he absolutely MOWED down my HA. Plus he was incredibly cute in an extremely ugly way. Go with a dwarf sea hare.

 

[fittdog8848]

bump hey trippyl you have link to dwarf sea hare.

 

[fittdog8848]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6950927#post6950927 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by magnum420
From my experiance, Lettuce Nudi's do not eat HA. I have had several and the only thing I have really seen them eat is briopsys(sp?). I had on get pulled into a pump as well and as far as I could tell it did no harm to my small tank so I doubt if they are toxic. I have never owned a sea hare so I can not comment on these other than they can ink which I think can hurt your tank.

I have heard the sea hares can be somewhat of a problem. Is this due to them actually being toxic or just that it could raise Phosphates quickly?

Anyone?

 

[fittdog8848]

sorry for not completingthe last post. I was speaking as if the seahare would die.

 

[trippyl]

marinedepotlive.com will sell sea hares.

As far as being bad for the tank in some way, i don't think thats really true. My sea hare died after falling into my 6 year old LT anemone, and released a ton of ink. None of the corals cared (I have LPS/SPS). The ink seemed to congeal at the bottom and I siphoned it out. I eventually traded my anemone with a member here, so were I ever to need another sea hare, it would probably do much better this time around. The only other concern with owning one is that thye can get sucked into pumps or drains - use a screen.

 

[trippyl]

there is actually one more concern - feeding them. As has been stated, once they mow down the HA in the tank, you will need to continue to feed them. My advice, supplement their diets with nori (mine seemed to love it), and feed the tank a little extra so that there is fuel for the HA to grow (and be eaten).

Another thing you should do if you are battling HA, and probably before getting a sea hare, is to obtain many mexican turbo snails. They will also attack HA, and marinedepotlive sells real ones - some places sell fake turbos that dont eat algae as well.

 

[fittdog8848]

Thanks Tripp for the info. I am going to see one last time if someone else has had experiences with either.

 

[fittdog8848]

^

 

[fittdog8848]

anyone have anything else to add one last run through

 

[hookdonreefs]

Lettuce nuds dont eat much algae to control it. They actually suck out the juice from the algae. They are cool and always had good luck with them but they are easily harmed. My scolymia was trying to eat one of mine but I pulled it out. It ended up dying anyways.