Lettuce Sea Slug (Nudibranch) and hair algae

[dmbnpj]

Will the Lettuce Sea Slug (Nudibranch) take care of hair algae as well as bryopsis?

[nick_reefing]

I had a lettuce sea slug b4 and it sure did took care of the hair algae but also becareful, it also devoured my zoos.

[Chibils]

Bryopsis is almost impossible to remove, even with lights-out, siphoning, and a CUC all at once; try raising your magnesium.

[greenbean36191]

I would be surprised if your sea slug had much to do with the demise of your hair algae and it certainly didn't do your zoas in.

All of the sacoglossans are strictly herbivorous and aren't equipped to attack any animals such as zoas.

Like all sacoglossans, rather than "eating" the algae they feed on, lettuce slugs pierce the cells and suck the juice out. They can eat a good bit of algae, but usually don't clear out entire swaths like grazing snails do. Also beware that there are at least 3 species sold as lettuce slugs within the hobby and there is considerable confusion among researchers about which of those species actually feed on hair algae.

[dmbnpj]

greenbean, what brand snails/hermits do you feel are best to add to take care of green hair algae?

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

From my experience the lettuce slug only eats bryopsis. If you're looking for something that'll eat hair algae I can tell you with absolute certainty that the sea hare (dwarf or otherwise) will eat ALL of your hair algae. Mine is only about 2 inches if that and it eats EVERYTHING.

[dmbnpj]

If you have a reef tank you might want to be careful with that sea hare. I remember reading they emit toxins and if they ever perish they can nuke a tank.

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

This is true, supposedly when sea hares are stressed or when they die they will emit toxins but I haven't known anyone to have problems with them. I personally had to manhandle mine away from an intake and it was fine. All it did was curl up, but that's really it. Overall they're pretty safe. All my friends who've had them have never had any problems. The only time they've ever known them to release the toxins is upon death or upon being ripped up by an aggressive fish.

[xian]

Sea Hares come from grass beds, they don't live in reefs and need far more algae than a reef can provide. If the sea hare becomes stressed it may ink in your tank.

I like turbo snails for eating hair algae.

One other thing to note. There are many species of "hair" algae. One of the best approaches to nuisance algae in general is to keep a variety of herbivores.

-Matt

[greenbean36191]

I wouldn't really suggest any biological controls for hair algae. They're just bandaids. It will take a long time, but strict nutrient control is the way to go. If you really feel like you need something to help with it, I'd personally go with a longspine urchin. They aren't the best for eating hair algae, but they eat it and then won't starve afterwards which is always a plus.

Again with sea hares, there are a lot of species (at least 10) that make it in to the hobby. Many of them won't eat hair algae. Many also don't ink, but that's a moot point since it was an assumption that the ink was toxic. It isn't. A few years ago they figured out it's just a soup of amino acids that overload the senses of predators.

[good advice]

I have a sea hare in my tank. It eats hair algae, no doubt about it. Also, I went to move it once and it inked in the tank... didn't harm anything other than the sea hare who was obviously stressed...

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Awesome, how big is your sea hare? Any pics?