Sea hare and sea cucumber danger?

MyNameBlank · Dec 31, 2019

Been looking at getting a dollabella sea hare and/or a yellow sea cucumber. I have a 60g DT and a 20g sump. If either, or both were to die, how likely is it they will crash the tank with toxins? Have a pretty full and diverse CUC at the moment with 2 banggai and a Cherubfish pygmy angelfish if stocking matters. I think the 2 inverts in question are really interesting but just want to weigh if they are worth the risk.

ZoWhat · Dec 31, 2019

I've had like two hares die in my 180g on separate occasions. I was able to locate them and remove them within a few days of them dying.

No issues fir me as far as fish or coral.

The dang thing with hares is sometimes they look dead but really aren't. The telltale sign is they turn black

stanleo · Dec 31, 2019

MyNameBlank said:
Been looking at getting a dollabella sea hare and/or a yellow sea cucumber. I have a 60g DT and a 20g sump. If either, or both were to die, how likely is it they will crash the tank with toxins? Have a pretty full and diverse CUC at the moment with 2 banggai and a Cherubfish pygmy angelfish if stocking matters. I think the 2 inverts in question are really interesting but just want to weigh if they are worth the risk.

I know sea hares need to eat a lot. If your tank doesn't have enough algae for it to graze on you will need to feed it a lot every day to satisfy it and that still may not be enough. Feeding it that much will cause a nutrient spike that can feed an algae bloom causing problems in your tank. When they die some species will release a toxin but I think as long as you are running sufficient amounts of carbon and changing it out enough you should be fine there.