Sea Hare question

[oneonta]

Our new sea hare is acting funny -- I think. I got him yesterday and last night he explored a little bit. Now he's just sitting on the ground, inactive. The current will even roll him onto his back and he doesn't seem to care. He's not dead, I can detect small movements. But is he dying? What's normal behavior for a sea hare? I have a tank full of hair algae for him to eat if he lives . . .

Thanks

 

[Jeffrey Porter]

if there isn't too much flow, it is possible that it has been starved for too long and you may want to separate it just in case it dies. i kept a couple small ones for a week and they started to do that. one died and i put the other back overboard.

 

[Mr. Guitar]

Question regarding sea hares...I've heard they are poisonous, Are they? What do you think about them?

 

[kmk2307]

oneonta,

What kind of sea hare is this? If you aren't sure, try looking up Aplysia on google and let me know if that is similar. How was it behaving in the store? How did you acclimate it to your aquarium? Sea hares behave like any herbivorous snail but tend to be a little more active. A healthy sea hare would have explored your tank until it found algae it found palatable and would have began eating. They feed almost constantly. Is it possible it was harmed by the intake of a powerhead? Sea hares can be pulled up aginst and sometimes even into (messy!) powerhead intakes. It is also important to know that sea hares are somewhat particular about the foods they will eat. It may not find your green hair algae palatable.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[kmk2307]

Mr. Guitar,

[welcome]

Sea hares store certain chemicals present in their food (algae) in a "gland" in their visceral mass. When irritated, they release the contents of this gland out of their excurrent siphon towards their attacker. These chemicals are "toxic" but not very. You should have a decently large tank if you want a sea hare anyway just because they feed so much. Assuming you do, the toxins released by the sea hare aren't bad. You can also control how toxic the contents of this gland are by feeding the sea hare low-toxicity foods.

These guys use Gracilaria which is pretty bland.
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/sea-hares/

HTH,
Kevin

 

[Mr. Guitar]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Mr. Guitar]

Thanks for the Welcome Kevin!!!