Sea Hare for hair algae? What species?

Tham121988 · Apr 18, 2019

I am have an outbreak of some hair algae. It isn't a ton, but left unattended it will get there. I have heard that people will get a sea hare, have it eradicate the problem, and then trade it off to another hobbyist or return it to the lfs. My question is, is there a specific sea hare I need? Are they all poisonous? Does their poison only target fish and inverts or will it target corals as well? Any good online places to buy one? Thanks for any information in advance!

Mjrenz · Apr 18, 2019

A dolabella won't release any ink but I've had trouble keeping them alive myself. My theory is that my cleaner shrimp has been injuring them while trying to clean them. They seem to die right after the cleaner jumps on them.

Tham121988 · Apr 18, 2019

Mjrenz said:
A dolabella won't release any ink but I've had trouble keeping them alive myself. My theory is that my cleaner shrimp has been injuring them while trying to clean them. They seem to die right after the cleaner jumps on them.

Well dang, that might not work for me then. This is my pico exclusive coral tank and it only has a cleaner shrimp, a few hermits, and a pom pom in there. I'm sure he would go right to it to clean it. Any other ideas on how to get rid of it? Emerald crab? Lawnmower blenny?

Mjrenz · Apr 18, 2019

I've tried both to little avail, the lawnmower blenny preferred to wait for feeding time rather than eat much algae and the emerald crabs tend to prefer bubble algae. Another problem with the emeralds I had was they would nip at things without looking and occasionally damage a coral. I've had the best luck with manual removal and a pincushion urchin. The only problem with the urchin is they love to pick up small corals and carry them around the tank but there's usually no damage

Tham121988 · Apr 18, 2019

Mjrenz said:
I've tried both to little avail, the lawnmower blenny preferred to wait for feeding time rather than eat much algae and the emerald crabs tend to prefer bubble algae. Another problem with the emeralds I had was they would nip at things without looking and occasionally damage a coral. I've had the best luck with manual removal and a pincushion urchin. The only problem with the urchin is they love to pick up small corals and carry them around the tank but there's usually no damage

Yeah, I guess the emerald crabs are pretty specific for the bubble algae. I had that at one point and they did their job there! I know my LFS has pincushion urchins. At least the last time I was in there. I think they look really fascinating and almost got one not long ago. Will they mostly just pick up polyps from zoas or will they rip up mushrooms and other soft coral? I find it fascinating how they use it for camouflage though. You have peaked my interest on this guy again.

Adamantium · Apr 18, 2019

I would highly advise against a sea hare if you have any exposed powerheads. I got a blue spot that only lasted one night :/

Thankfully, it didn't nuke my tank. Just a bummer.

norfolkgarden · Apr 18, 2019

1 trochus snail. May starve eventually.
How many gallons of pico?

Tham121988 · Apr 18, 2019

Adamantium said:
I would highly advise against a sea hare if you have any exposed powerheads. I got a blue spot that only lasted one night :/

Thankfully, it didn't nuke my tank. Just a bummer.

Hopefully not! Fingers crossed for you!

Tham121988 · Apr 18, 2019

norfolkgarden said:
1 trochus snail. May starve eventually.
How many gallons of pico?

Its a 7 gallon with a 1 gallon or so refugium. So might be considered nano instead of pico. Not sure what the range is.

Tham121988 · Apr 18, 2019

Mjrenz said:
I've tried both to little avail, the lawnmower blenny preferred to wait for feeding time rather than eat much algae and the emerald crabs tend to prefer bubble algae. Another problem with the emeralds I had was they would nip at things without looking and occasionally damage a coral. I've had the best luck with manual removal and a pincushion urchin. The only problem with the urchin is they love to pick up small corals and carry them around the tank but there's usually no damage

Here is the pincushion urchin I ended up getting today. Really beautiful.

Mjrenz · Apr 18, 2019

Tham121988 said:
Here is the pincushion urchin I ended up getting today. Really beautiful.

Love it! Here's a pic of one of mine wearing one that didn't make it like a hat. For a creature with no brain they seem to have a lot of personality

Tham121988 · Apr 18, 2019

Mjrenz said:
Love it! Here's a pic of one of mine wearing one that didn't make it like a hat. For a creature with no brain they seem to have a lot of personality

Haha that is awesome! Looks great! They are really cool looking. Love the feeling tentacles it uses to check out its surroundings. Certainly going to be fun to watch!

Mjrenz · Apr 18, 2019

Tham121988 said:
Haha that is awesome! Looks great! They are really cool looking. Love the feeling tentacles it uses to check out its surroundings. Certainly going to be fun to watch!

Just keep an eye out for missing coral frags lol. If you have small hermits they love to carry them around too

Mjrenz · Apr 18, 2019

Tham121988 said:
Yeah, I guess the emerald crabs are pretty specific for the bubble algae. I had that at one point and they did their job there! I know my LFS has pincushion urchins. At least the last time I was in there. I think they look really fascinating and almost got one not long ago. Will they mostly just pick up polyps from zoas or will they rip up mushrooms and other soft coral? I find it fascinating how they use it for camouflage though. You have peaked my interest on this guy again.

I missed this post earlier, mine will usually only grab onto stony corals. I just had to re-superglue an acro frag when I got home this evening

cracker · Apr 18, 2019

Glad You got an urchin They do eat the HA ! I have several never knock anything over if so they it ends up on the backs where you can easily pluck it off !
Hope it got a long acclimation .