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Unread 08/25/2010, 04:36 PM   #1
cocoaandme
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Seahare not eating hair algae?

I just got a sea hare for my tank and I have quite a bit of hair algae in it but it doesn't seem to be touching it. Instead it is eating the microalgae from off the glass. Is it possible that I got a strain that does not eat hair algae? Do they prefer microalgae over hair algae? Thanks.


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Unread 08/25/2010, 04:43 PM   #2
thebkramer
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What sea hare is it? The dolabella, spotted, etc?


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Unread 08/25/2010, 04:46 PM   #3
shiveley
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maybe it's already full


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Unread 08/25/2010, 04:58 PM   #4
cocoaandme
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thebkramer View Post
What sea hare is it? The dolabella, spotted, etc?
Ermm not sure. It looks like this one:



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Unread 08/25/2010, 05:07 PM   #5
thebkramer
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Thats the Dolabella
They are known to be HA eaters and nothing but. However... they can also be a hit and miss
I would honestly give him a few days. Like previous poster said.. he could be full! He does look pretty fat lol I have had Dolabellas in the past that would eat both macro and my HA. I wouldn't give up all hope yet
Also.. just want to add that if in the morning you can't find him.. don't get too worried. Dolabellas like to bury themselves in the sand


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Unread 08/25/2010, 05:24 PM   #6
cocoaandme
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Cool thanks! That picture isn't him hehe I just found it online. But he does look pretty fat. I just figured since he was eating the algae off my glass he was still hungry.


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Unread 08/29/2010, 01:31 AM   #7
cocoaandme
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Hmm he still doesn't seem to be touching the hair algae. He is eat the other algae but not the hair algae. Are there certain strains of hair algae that they won't eat? Should I try another sea hare?


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Unread 08/29/2010, 07:30 AM   #8
mscarpena
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Well tell him he's FIRED.


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Unread 08/29/2010, 09:22 AM   #9
donya
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At the risk of making one of those wishy-washy "in my experience" posts, every Dolabella sea hare I've kept has not been content with a single type of food. They will go through phases where they've had enough of one thing and want something else when well-fed. My current Dolabella is going through a no-hair-algae time and only shows interest in algae wafers and nori. A couple weeks ago it was hair algae all the way and little interest in nori.

There is also an article I've read recently, "Selectivity and Growth of the Generalist Herbivore Dolabella auricularia Feeding upon Complementary Resources." by Pennings et al. (in Ecology, 1993) that addresses some interesting issues of diet. Some relevant info from the abstract in case the pdf isn't easily accessible:

"(...)The sea hare Dolabella auricularia (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Anaspidea) grew far better upon an ad libitum mixture of four species of algae than upon any of the algal species alone, suggesting that algae were complementary resources. (...) Preference for a species of algae was always higher when it was not the maintenance diet compared to when it was. (...)"

So, perhaps your sea hare is just exploiting a resource while it lasts (the algae on the glass) and will go back to the hair algae later.


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Unread 05/07/2021, 09:15 PM   #10
miserkris
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I'm going thru the same issue...
My sea hare isn't touching HA.

also he's small and his head is white/ translucent.... Is that normal?

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk


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Unread 05/26/2021, 08:32 PM   #11
jcmjoe
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Seahare note

My seahare literally just expelled his gut and I think was on the way to poisoning my tank. Came out of nowhere, he was the best algae eater cleanup crew in one I have ever had. I read they could do this but never dreamed I would have it happen. seemed very active and happy. Just posted pics in the Reef forums.


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File Type: jpg seahare 1.jpg (79.5 KB, 8 views)
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Last edited by jcmjoe; 05/26/2021 at 08:42 PM.
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