Info on a Sea Hair?

megisawesome06 · Jun 29, 2015

Hey! My LFS guy recommended I get a Sea Hair for my tank. I have excessive GHA and some Cyanobacteria. Would this tackle both issues or should I still get some Astraea snails to help with that?

saltyphish · Jun 29, 2015

I don't know if they eat cyano, but I know they do eat gha pretty well. Problem is once they have eaten it all you need to find a new home for it I hear since they usually starve.

Tahoe61 · Jun 29, 2015

You just moved this tank correct?

Try water changes and other more common interventions before buying more live stock. I am sure your LFS would love to sell you a Sea Hare (sarcasm).

megisawesome06 · Jun 29, 2015

And this is why I came to you guys. I trust you more than him at this point. Thank you! [emoji38]

cloak · Jun 29, 2015

I agree with the above. Before you try the Sea Hare you might want to think about running some GFO in a reactor and perhaps adding a little bit more flow to the tank as well. GL.

megisawesome06 · Jun 30, 2015

Thanks!

Now another question. My LFS keeps all the fish and whatnot with copper. Aren't inverts intolerant of copper treatment? Would putting their coppery snails in my tank hurt any of my fish? He said that I wouldn't need to qt any snails or crabs. I am working on setting up a QT. If I have an approx 150g tank, how big should my QT be? (I plan on running it until I'm good with all my livestock.) I also want to set one up for corals. Any suggestions?

Tahoe61 · Jun 30, 2015

I would clarify specifically why he does so (the level he maintains is probably not therapeutic) and at what level. Saltwater does contain trace copper, 10-40ppb, higher levels become toxic to inverts. So yes corals and invertebrates are extremely sensitive to copper. I do not QT my snails or other inverts. You're not likely to see a pathogen that will cross contaminate fish nor are you going to treat prophylactically, so what's the point. If you keep all your invert separate from your main system and fish then yes some parasites like Cryptocaryon irritans/Marine Ich will eventually die off. But you must quarantine for at least 3 weeks, and better still 2 months.

Oh look what I found.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rhf/feature/index.php