Is my sea hare dying?

stanleo · Feb 3, 2014

The last several days my sea hare has been acting funny. His symptoms are, lathargic, has a lump on the right side about half way down the body, won't climb on the glass, spends a lot of time on his back, and when he does move it doesn't look like he is using his foot. He just kind of lets the current take him. I have seen him a couple times roll sideways accross the tank. He ate a seaweed sheet yesterday and I have seen him grazing a few times on algae.

A couple weeks ago he did lay an egg clump and starting on Wednesday I started changing 2 gl of water daily in his 55gl tank and dosing vodka but I am pretty sure he started acting lathargic before that. Just now I see him on his back and rocking his head back and forth and running his mouth over his foot like he is licking it. I don't want to take him out yet in the hope that he is just sick and might pull through this. I am watching very closely for if he dies I want to remove him ASAP. Do you think I should just euthanize him? I don't want to jump the gun. His species is Aplysia Juliana.

The water tests come out fine with phosphates and nitrates being undetectable on my API kits. pH is 8.2, salinty is 1.025 and calcium, Mg and Alk are all withing the normal range. Nothing else in the tank is acting odd.

He are a couple pics to illustrate my point.

-Logzor · Feb 3, 2014

I feel like this happens to every sea hare anyone has every bought, they just eventually die.

ReefFrenzy · Feb 3, 2014

Once the hare has cleaned up all the hair algae in your tank they will starve unless something suitable is found for them to feed on. Our LFS has a sea hare "loaner" program where you rent the sea hare for a week until he cleans up your algae problem and then trade him back to the store.

Is it possible your tank is "too" clean and he has starved?

Larry

fasiczka · Feb 3, 2014

Sorry looks like a goner, they don't last long from what Ive noticed

stanleo · Feb 3, 2014

Yeah they don't live very long, most only a year. I didn't actually buy it, it got sent to me by mistake a month ago when I ordered some Halimeda. I was hoping to have him longer than a month but it is entirely possible he is at the end of his lifecycle. I really like him, he is fascinating to watch but I will never intentionally get another one. They eat messy stuff, they poop A LOT and they don't live very long.