What happened to my sea hare?

[blennydude]

I got a blue spotted sea hare a couple weeks ago to help me keep the hair algae under control. I have never seen one til I got this one (blue spotted) and I was really excited to run across one because I think they are really cool and thier main diet is hair algae. The blue spotted type is fairly rare in the trade as far as I know.
Anyways I acclimated him for 1.5 hrs and he grazed all over the tank for a week. He was doing great and then..... One day he did not move much then soon after he had something come out of his back (see pic) A couple hrs. later he had expired Does anyone know what happened, and what came out of his back? I read they only have a life expectancy of about a year so maybe his time was just up. RIP Mr. Hare

[cdearing]

I had a sea hare for several months in a 29G. The local fish store was selling them like hot cakes. They are really cool to look at but unless they are in a very well established tank, their chances of survival are slim. Unfortunately for my sea hare, my tank was fairly new and probably too small for him to survive. I kept asking the fish store why the hare was shrinking and he told me, "Maybe he's shrinking to fit the size of his environment." I thought that sounded weird and I tried feeding it some algae pellets. To make a long story short, I basically watched it starve to death. Not enough for it to eat. I've learned a lot since then and one of the most important things is not to buy something on a whim because you think it looks cool. Do you research first before buying and make sure that you have the proper environment for the creature to flourish. The stuff coming out of it's back is it's "waste" to put it nicely.

How big is your tank, how old is it and what did you have in your tank for it to eat? Did you feed it anything else?

Cynthia

[Ninong]

Another thing to remember is that some sea hares are more of a risk than others. For example, the purple dye that the blue spotted sea hare can expel when it feels threatened is capable of killing some fish if the tank is relatively small or if there is not adequate filtration to absorb this ink before it does its damage. I think it contains something that affects the central nervous system.

Sea hares, sea slugs and nudibranchs all fall into the category of "know what you're doing before you do it." And sea apples fall into the category of "exercise extreme caution" and know exactly what could possibly happen. In fact, I would put them in the category of "no way, Jose!"

It's all just plain common sense. Never buy something for your tank unless you already know everything there is to know about it and never take the word of the LFS salesman on anything. Listen politely but verify. This is one of the least reliable sources of information.

Sometimes you can complete your verification process right there in the store, especially if you already suspect that the LFS person doesn't know what he/she is talking about. Many LFS have a very nice selection of books for sale. Many of these books are excellent sources of information. You can very often find the information you're looking for in one of those books. Proving to the LFS person that he/she is wrong about something he/she was certain of can be priceless, as the commercial says. I once pulled this stunt on an LFS owner only to be told that he has been in the business for more than 20 years and he knows more than the person who wrote the book.

[blennydude]

I had a sea hare for several months in a 29G. The local fish store was selling them like hot cakes. They are really cool to look at but unless they are in a very well established tank, their chances of survival are slim. Unfortunately for my sea hare, my tank was fairly new and probably too small for him to survive. I kept asking the fish store why the hare was shrinking and he told me, "Maybe he's shrinking to fit the size of his environment." I thought that sounded weird and I tried feeding it some algae pellets. To make a long story short, I basically watched it starve to death. Not enough for it to eat. I've learned a lot since then and one of the most important things is not to buy something on a whim because you think it looks cool. Do you research first before buying and make sure that you have the proper environment for the creature to flourish. The stuff coming out of it's back is it's "waste" to put it nicely.

How big is your tank, how old is it and what did you have in your tank for it to eat? Did you feed it anything else?

Cynthia

I should have mentioned this in the first submission, the tank he was in is a 75 gal mixed reef tank that is over a year old and very well established. I have a soft side for these creatures and trust me when I say this "I ALWAYS DO MY RESEARCH BEFORE I BUY SOMETHING AND NEVER SENTENCE AN ANIMAL TO DEATH" by putting them in somewhere they can't survive. I put that in bold because I absolutly follow that rule and have lost only a couple of livestock since starting my tanks. There is plenty of detris, and several types of algae (unfortunatly) for him to eat. I also check my water parameters at least weekly and more. Alk - 9, Calc - 440, Phos - 5, Nitrate - 10. Am I missing something to test that would have killed him? I also breed Benggais, so I would like to think I'm past the noobie stage. I was aware of the ink that they can expell. The owner of the lfs had that sea hare in one of his tanks at home for 6 mo and said he never expelled any. My fault, I should have explained the conditions when I started the thread but he did not die from a noobie mistake of an impulse buy at the store because I thought it looked cool.
Cynthia it's definitly not waste coming out of his back I know that for sure. My best guess so far is that he might have gotten stung by the anemone that is in the picture.

[blennydude]

Sorry, the correct spelling is Banggai. I was on a small rant at the time.

[Ninong]

I have never seen one til I got this one (blue spotted) and I was really excited to run across one because I think they are really cool and thier main diet is hair algae.

Sorry. I apparently misread your post. I must have thought that you came across something cool and that the LFS person talked you into it. I now see that that is not what you said or what you meant.

[blennydude]

Ninong, thanks no problemo. I can see how you got that impression. I should have said "I hadn't seen a blue spot for sale, only the gray ones". What ever happened to him is more complicated than a new or bad tank. I really don't like to see marine animals parish, I cringe when I see threads w/ people getting duked by fish stores and sacraficing fish etc. over and over b/c of poor set ups.
Here is a pic of my test kit and fry tank so you know I'm not full of b.s.

[julesjt]

Ninong, thanks no problemo. I can see how you got that impression. I should have said "I hadn't seen a blue spot for sale, only the gray ones". What ever happened to him is more complicated than a new or bad tank. I really don't like to see marine animals parish, I cringe when I see threads w/ people getting duked by fish stores and sacraficing fish etc. over and over b/c of poor set ups.
Here is a pic of my test kit and fry tank so you know I'm not full of b.s.

I can't believe you went with that brand of test kit......... (just kidding) I don't know what I am talking about.
I to over hear disturbing things at the LFS with people coming in and buying an anemone for a 25 gallon tank with a standard light fixture and the freaking LFS saying its ok.

[blennydude]

Jules, I know what you mean. Just the other week my local lfs had three incredible looking bta's. I mentioned to him to please not sell them to someone who will not be able to care for them. He replied that if they ask for one, he has to sell it to them. I thought to myself, no he dosen't he could nicely persuade them out of the buy. None the less, this person closed up shop this week and is out of business. He got a bad reputation himself of not providing good care for his fish for sale and I think word spread and had a lot to do w/ his store failing.

[ChemGuy]

I bought a Blue Spot Sea Hair last week in an effort to get control of my algae problem. The little guy is the most voracious algae eater I have. (the others are snails). However today I noticed it laying a big pile of
eggs. Good/Bad ?? Hoping this says something good about my tank.

[julesjt]

Jules, I know what you mean. Just the other week my local lfs had three incredible looking bta's. I mentioned to him to please not sell them to someone who will not be able to care for them. He replied that if they ask for one, he has to sell it to them. I thought to myself, no he dosen't he could nicely persuade them out of the buy. None the less, this person closed up shop this week and is out of business. He got a bad reputation himself of not providing good care for his fish for sale and I think word spread and had a lot to do w/ his store failing.

Well I was one of those buyers 8 or 10 years ago when I converted my 55 with fresh water under gravel using crushed coral and tried to buy an anenome. Needless to see it died within a week..... It is nice that I started this hobby the right way last year and read and researched a lot so I can be successful at this.

I can't freaking wait to get my 180 done, this week is my sump build, next week is my plumbing.....

Greatest hobby!!!

[blennydude]

Chemguy, sea hares can switch sexes if they need to but I'm guessing yours was packin eggs before you got it. If you could raise them you would be a genius. Make sure all your intakes or propeller powerheads are covered good.

[Ninong]

Chemguy, sea hares can switch sexes if they need to...

They don't need to, they're all simultaneous hermaphrodites. It just takes two to tango but any two will do. They assume a head-to-toe position with each other and get it on.

[blennydude]

You mean 69,

[blennydude]

Was that too explicite? Sorry if it was.

[Ninong]

You mean 69,

That's another way to describe it.

[ChemGuy]

Sad news my Sea Hair has died
It dropped egg clusters all over the tank then 3 days later dead.
Anyone know if this is part of the life cycle or not.
I did find it stuck on one of the K4's a day or so ago.

Thanks

[blennydude]

You know what, now that you say that I saw a stringy cluster of eggs stuck to a pipe in my tank days before mine cashed in his chips also. Must be natures way of keeping up the population or something. On a brighter note, my babie banggai's turned a week old today and they are swimming all over the place now.