Hair Slug dead

IE Reefer · Oct 12, 2022

Bought a hair slug more than a week ago to combat my hair algae, it kicked butt w/ eating it but I saw it dead in my tank a bit ago, I'm not entirely sure how to handle it or how it was even caused (possibly starvation, but there was plenty higher up on the rocks) especially since I'm away and my parents are taking "care" of my tank (feeding/top offs). Any ideas? Thanks!

vetteguy53081 · Oct 12, 2022

I assume you’re referring to sea hare. Sea hares are very delicate and don’t fare well with changes in chemistry
Often when dying, their backs will split or they’re on the sandbed listless
Although they feel weird, you can lift with your hand and place in ziplock bag and freeze until trash day

PeterEde · Oct 12, 2022

I have a 2nd "QT" tank setup running that has a large amount of algae so when my DT was algae free I put my SH in the QT.
So far so good. Still alive and eating. I think I even had bryopsis growing which it looks to have eaten too

IE Reefer · Oct 12, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
I assume you’re referring to sea hare. Sea hares are very delicate and don’t fare well with changes in chemistry
Often when dying, their backs will split or they’re on the sandbed listless
Although they feel weird, you can lift with your hand and place in ziplock bag and freeze until trash day

It's possible that my water chemistry is imbalanced due to the hair algae vacuuming up any nitrates, but the last time I checked (about a couple of months ago) my nitrates were less than 2ppm. When poking at it, it was floating around, pale, dark brown/grey detailed skin completely gone almost like it was shedding, and didn't react to anything, so I ended up flushing him down the toilet. I just hope my skimmer and carbon will remove anything toxic in the water column.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 12, 2022

IE Reefer said:
It's possible that my water chemistry is imbalanced due to the hair algae vacuuming up any nitrates, but the last time I checked (about a couple of months ago) my nitrates were less than 2ppm. When poking at it, it was floating around, pale, dark brown/grey detailed skin completely gone almost like it was shedding, and didn't react to anything, so I ended up flushing him down the toilet. I just hope my skimmer and carbon will remove anything toxic in the water column.

There is a chance yes, and i would focus on your nitrate and phosphate levels which often contribute to the algae growth. Is your tank at or near a window?
Any pics underwhite lighting you can provide of the algae ?

vetteguy53081 · Oct 12, 2022

IE Reefer said:
It's possible that my water chemistry is imbalanced due to the hair algae vacuuming up any nitrates, but the last time I checked (about a couple of months ago) my nitrates were less than 2ppm. When poking at it, it was floating around, pale, dark brown/grey detailed skin completely gone almost like it was shedding, and didn't react to anything, so I ended up flushing him down the toilet. I just hope my skimmer and carbon will remove anything toxic in the water column.

Carbon will.

SlugSnorter · Dec 15, 2022

IE Reefer said:
Bought a hair slug more than a week ago to combat my hair algae, it kicked butt w/ eating it but I saw it dead in my tank a bit ago, I'm not entirely sure how to handle it or how it was even caused (possibly starvation, but there was plenty higher up on the rocks) especially since I'm away and my parents are taking "care" of my tank (feeding/top offs). Any ideas? Thanks!

along with what other people have said, it may not have eaten that strain of algae, or the algae could have had some poison that the animal couldn't process

blaxsun · Dec 15, 2022

If you're looking for a "slug" more tolerant of higher nitrates or parameter swings, try an abalone. They're probably just as (if not more) effective than sea hares.

I've tried (unsuccessfully) keeping sea hares, but they don't seem to last more than 3-4 months in my reef environment. The abalone, on the other hand, are thriving 6- months on...

SlugSnorter · Dec 15, 2022

blaxsun said:
If you're looking for a "slug" more tolerant of higher nitrates or parameter swings, try an abalone. They're probably just as (if not more) effective than sea hares.

I've tried (unsuccessfully) keeping sea hares, but they don't seem to last more than 3-4 months in my reef environment. The abalone, on the other hand, are thriving 6- months on...

Stomella Snails (will breed and create a colony) and Larger turbos would both fill that role pretty well too