sea slug advice

[LordOfCthulu]

I have just set up a new 30 gallon non-reef aquarium dedicated to invertibrates about two weeks ago and it should be done cycling soon. I was wondering if it would be appropriate to put a lettuce sea slug in there shortly after it finishes cycling or if they require a more mature aqaquarium. BTW i have about 30 pounds of live rock and 40 pounds of CaribSea live sand (the fine grain kind) in there.
thanks!

 

[Reefing Madness]

Is there enough for him to eat in there? You can add him if the cycle is complete, but he's gotta have plenty to eat.

 

[LordOfCthulu]

There should be plenty of bacteria in there on the rocks and sand plus i have a pretty strong bulb (I've read that they partially photo-synthesize) but I can always target feed him. Do you think that would be necessary?

 

[redfishbluefish]

.......... Do you think that would be necessary?

Yes.....they are algae eaters and need algae to incorporate the chlorophyll into their bodies so they can use light as part of their energy needs.

 

[LordOfCthulu]

I apologize, I mafe a mistake. I meant to say there should be plenty of algae on the rocks and sand for it to eat, not bacteria. In fact, a few of the rocks are entirely or mostly covered in green coralline algae (since they were fully cured from someone else's aquarium when I bought them.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I believe a number of algae eating sea slugs will nibble on coralline, but only as a last choice. Check the specific algae requirements of the species you're interested in. Some are very picky and only eat very specific algaes. Here are two links to slugs....the first hasn't been accessed recently, but still contains tons of useful information.


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