My new Sea Hare eating my Hair algae pics.

[sasscuba]

So ugly but so cool! Black with blue spots. Has been in the tank one day. Just started eating tonight. Here are some pics...anyone know what kind it is from the pics? Hope it was worth the $29 I paid for it. It is about 4 inches long! Only one LFS has them in town.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/sasscuba70/100_1995.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/sasscuba70/100_2003-1.jpg

[PallidSilversky]

I love Sea Hares!!
He is so cute!! :D

[greenbean36191]

Looks like Bursatella leachii. I haven't seen them in the hobby before, even though they're one of the better suited species.

[sasscuba]

Do sea hares have eyes?

[JFK_Jr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9084672#post9084672 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sasscuba
Do sea hares have eyes?

The eyes are below the the back pair of rabbit ears.

Sea Hares Rock! http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/227.gif

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/DSCN0669.jpg

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

awesome piks, i just love the first one with blue dots...

[dodgersfan25]

awesome! go sea hares!

[JFK_Jr]

I've had a form of macro algae growing on my live rock called Phylum Phaeophyta Dictyota sp. for about a month now. It grows rapidly and has been a nuisance having to harvest it from my tank at least on a weekly basis. My Yellow tang and Kole tang won't eat it, so I was looking for something that would.

Brown algae / Phaeophyta:
Dictyota sp. Photo courtesy of Marc Levenson (melev)

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/BrownalgaePhaeophytaDictyotasp.jpg

Photo from my tank:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/Dictyotasp.jpg


I recently purchased a Sea Hare from Bali... and let me tell you the Sea Hare... ROCKS!

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/DSCN0671.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/DSCN0669.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/DSCN0654.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/DSCN0653.jpg

It is mowing through the Dictyota sp., consuming it at an awesome pace! I'm going to have to keep some in my sump for when he clears the tank. I've also got a small patch of Bryopsis hair that I'm waiting to see if the Sea Hare eats. He's been so busy with the Dictyota sp. that he hasn't had a chance to get to the Bryopsis. I'll update everyone if he eats it. Sea Hares are known to feed on numerous types of macroalgae, including red, brown, and green... they are lovers of Caulerpa from what I've read. I paid $20 bucks for him, and ordered him through my LFS... he's about 4" long.

They do have an "Inking" defense mechanisim... but I've not had any issues so far... and I've handled him by picking him up and placing him down. Funny... some people think they are ugly... but he's grown on me. The head actually looks like a rabbits when eating... hence the name Sea Hare.

Oh yeah... BTW... He's very gentle cruising in and around my corals without bulldozing anything!

Here are before and after pictures of my algae patch... look at what was hidden underneath :)

Also notice the little patch the Sea Hare left behind before moving on to another area. It seems to always leave a little patch behind, then moves on to another area before coming back to it. Problem is... there's not much left for it to eat... I've already bought some caulerpa to supplement the little macro-algae left in my tank.

Before

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/Dictyotasp.jpg

After

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/JFK_Jr/Dictyotasppost-1.jpg

[sasscuba]

Cool. Hope mine works as well.

[zacharytrimble]

hmmm...I need one of those!!!

[greenbean36191]

Do sea hares have eyes?
You can see them as black dots in this photo. This is Dolabrifera.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/greenbean36191/hare.jpg

Sea Hares are known to feed on numerous types of macroalgae, including red, brown, and green... they are lovers of Caulerpa from what I've read.
I would be careful with generalizations. There are 30 or so species of them and their diets vary a lot between them. Some are very picky. Also, even within the same species they don't all eat the same thing. While yours loves Dictyota, I have a friend who had the same species of slug that wouldn't touch the stuff. I've had two other species of sea hare that also wouldn't touch it. The same goes for Caulerpa. A few vendors claim that Dolabella eats it and I've heard of one hobbyist who can verify that. Most people I know say that theirs won't touch it, which has been my experience too. Caulerpa varies a lot in its palatability though, so it may be as much a function of the algae as the snail.

[tug13]

I was thinking of getting one, but someone told me that they could end up getting into my eco vortech pumps and making a real mess. any info?

[sasscuba]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9088436#post9088436 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tug13
I was thinking of getting one, but someone told me that they could end up getting into my eco vortech pumps and making a real mess. any info?

What do they look like? Screen it off somehow?

[emerald chondro]

congrats Jfk...i too had that algae but instead of being able to get a sea hare to take care of it i had to tear down every riock and scrub it clean took all day :(.....but atleast its gone

[Whisperer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9090395#post9090395 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by emerald chondro
congrats Jfk...i too had that algae but instead of being able to get a sea hare to take care of it i had to tear down every riock and scrub it clean took all day :(.....but atleast its gone

For now :lol:

[sasscuba]

Will a sea hare go out of the water or will they turn around? Mine likes to occasionally get on the glass and go to the top but I am afraid it will try to get out? Do I need to escape proof the tank?

[archie1709]

Can they help with cyano?

[greenbean36191]

I've never seen one of the species offered in the hobby leave the water, but I've seen another species do it in the wild one time. They're big heavy animals though and without the water supporting their weight I don't think they would get very far on a smooth surface like the side of a tank.

Can they help with cyano?
It depends on which one you have. Bursatella and a few of the other small species would. Dolabella and the other larger species that dominate the hobby market won't other than by simply burying it as they move the sand.