Sea hare toxicity

[e.muehlbauer]

I was interested in the possibility of getting a sea hare (Aplysia)....Etropicals sells them as part of its "build your own cleaner crew" for cheap, about $5.50...but with a very prominent warning about their potential toxicity. In reality, how great is the risk? I remember seeing them as a kid, snorkelling in Bermuda...and they would squirt out a black (or was it purple?) ink when I would pick them up and play with them....my tendency is to avoid anything that carries a warning, but I could use something that might munch on my Caulerpa and hair algae...the stuff is not out of control, and I expect a reduction in the hair algae now that I have finally changed my PC bulbs, but it would be nice to have something that actually eats Caulerpa...my yellow tang won't touch it, and I've never seen a tang eat it. Take care, Eric

 

[NYreefNoob]

sea hare

well i had one die in my tank a month or so ago with no negitive effect

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

I would say they are of about the same toxicity of an anemonie if it gets in a powerhead or something. They also will dye the tank completely whichever color ink they let out. This can cause a major problem. I only recomend them for if you are trying to remove the algae and that's it. Meaning not keep it as a pet although they are interesting.

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

well i had one die in my tank a month or so ago with no negitive effect

Do you know the species? Proly wasn't a toxic kind. All different species have a taste for certain algaes. What did yours like? And why did it die? Could it have been a lettuce nudibranch.

 

[NYreefNoob]

sea hare

mine ate algea was a excellent cleaner but once algea is gone they parrish. it didnt change color of water either. and only reason it died i couldnt find it for a few days then it got blown out from rock, thats howi know it died. here's a link to what i had
http://www.janetsreef.com/sea_hare.htm

 

[tomzpc]

Like the others said they will soon starve in a tank that doesn't have a lush growth of macroalgae to keep them fed. They're okay to add "temporarily" to eliminate a hair algae epidimic but not a good idea to use them as part of a regular cleanup crew.

 

[Cibo]

I have 2 I love them! they are great to watch they never stop eating they do a great job on the glass, I clean the glass once a week or if we are haven company this leaves lots of stuff on the glass for them to eat, I dont mind the glass a little dirty I always have thing out on the glass eating. I had one get cought in the power head I had no other loss in the tank with this death...

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

Just stated the above as LFS don't know the species of animals and will simply call it a sea hare. All I simply meant was a warning as even e. Has stated in the first post that they could release ink and or poison your tank.

 

[Wes]

i have one and he is a lazy SOB...not pulling his weight