Sea Hare(Slug) feeding

[PhilOlsen]

Any suggestion on feeding a Sea Hare? He (snuffalufagus, named by my wife) has already wiped out the hair algae in my 38 pony tank, I tried boiled lettuce and he aint interested. I am planning on getting some macro today for a fuge and maybe some for him to eat.

 

[KMP]

not sure about what to feed, but have read these guys are so efficient that folks tend to share them among other reefers. good luck.

 

[BoomerD]

Have you tried nori sheets?

That's the problem with animals that are relatively specific eaters...when their food is gone, they can be DIFFICULT to feed...

 

[JFK_Jr]

Most LFS carry Caulerpa. Sea Hares will eat most types of macro-algae.

If you can cultivate Caulerpa in your fuge, then you will have a replenishable food source...

Have I mentioned that Sea Hares Totally ROCK?

 

[iluvzigz]

i've been thinking of getting one then passing it on-

my LFS has three of them right now for 15 bucks a piece..nice lookin ones too.

 

[reefjitsu]

I would go with the nori and macro first. Many vegetables can be good too, but they should be lightly steamed, not boiled. Also, lettuce has almost no nutritional content, it mostly just water and cellulose. Try some of the other leafy vegetables like Romaine lettuce, or Bok Choy. Thinly sliced steamed carrot may be good too.

 

[PhilOlsen]

Have you tried nori sheets?

That's the problem with animals that are relatively specific eaters...when their food is gone, they can be DIFFICULT to feed...

I picked up some today... he loves it, he keeps going back to where it was for more. He ate all the hair algae that was in the tank in 3 days so I was a little concerned but all is well, specifically it is green marine algae so for anyone thing about getting one, at least mine eats it willingly.

 

[JFK_Jr]

This is what my Sea Hare munched on in my tank.

I've had a form of macro algae growing on my live rock called Phylum Phaeophyta Dictyota sp. for about a month now. It grows rapidly and has been a nuisance having to harvest it from my tank at least on a weekly basis. My Yellow tang and Kole tang won't eat it, so I was looking for something that would.

Brown algae / Phaeophyta:
Dictyota sp. Photo courtesy of Marc Levenson (melev)

Photo from my tank:

 

[bluespotjawfish]

I ahve several tangs in my tank and any plants that are in the tank are wiped clean in seconds. Mine has never gone after any macro algae that I have put in the tank. If the fish don't eat it right away or if it gets in someplace the fish can't get to, it just sits there. Mine is doing fine just on the micro stuff he finds on the rocks, glass, or sand. As long as you are getting a slight green slime on your glass at least weekly he should do fine. If you want to try something else, you might try an algae tablet that will sink. You will need to place it very close to him so that he knows it is there. I do feed rotifers with velvet green. Don't know if that is feeding him too.

Good luck.