Domino damsel in distress... Whamba jammeda along w/ an Aplysiid in a 29 cube    7/7/13
Hi. I purchased a domino damsel about three days ago from the pet store.
My tank is already cycled and its about four months new and its a 29g biocube.
<Yikes... this Dascyllus is mis-placed here... Gets too large, too mean to house w/ other fishes in small volumes>
I have a fire fish that's been living in it for about three weeks already and he's doing fine and also a scooter dragonette. I also have a small red leg hermit crab and emerald crab and two snails. I also purchased a sea hare
<Umm, what species? You should find out ASAPractical. See WWM re... Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/SeahareCompF.htm
and the linked files above re coldwater, too large specimens mis-sold in the trade for tropical use>
 the same day as the damsel because I have a ton of algae.
<... see WWM re this as well>
This morning I noticed he had some white spots on him..ick I am sure..and I just wanted to know if he would be hardy enough to shake it without having to remove him to a quarantine tank because I am not medicating my tank with my live rock in there. What do you think I should do?
<Read for now... Add Cryptocaryon to your WWM list>
 I know they are pretty hardy and he's still eating like a pig but I am not sure if it will get worse or this is just a stress related thing from moving the rocks around..I also added two new pieces of live rock the same day I got the damsel.
<You've added too much, too soon here... and organisms that don't fit in such a tiny space>
All the
crabs and fire goby and scooter look fine ..its just the damsel. Thanks for any advice.
<Keep reading... Write back w/ specific questions after. Bob Fenner>

Sea Hare Dead/Sea Slug Health 8/21/10
Hello WWM crew!
<Hello Adam>
I'm not sure this is so much a question as a warning. I recently introduced a sea hare to my 72 reef for hair algae control. It was doing wonderfully for a week and then turned up dead. I thought it might have gotten too close to my Sebae so I bought another. This one I watched closely. Less than 24 hours in I noticed that both of my fairly large (3-4") cleaner shrimp appeared to be cleaning him at the top of the tank near the glass. Apparently they were killing him.
<Mmm, very unlikely.>
30 minutes into their (cleaning) he dropped to the bottom of the tank where there was a free for all eating him. I had not seen cleaners do this before and thought it was interesting.
<My thought would be that the shrimp irritated the Sea Hare causing it to drop to the bottom. Sea Hares of this genus are capable of releasing a 'purple ink' when disturbed which can cause problems in closed systems.>
Needless to say I am now looking for a new hair algae cleaner. Perhaps a pin cushion urchin? And thoughts?
<Sea Hares can be very difficult to keep long term, my suggestion would be a Tuxedo Urchin.>
Thanks!
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Adam Thompson

R4: Vacation - Power Failure - Nuclear Holocaust, and Aplysia sel. -- 09/26/08 Doh! Sorry, Eric. I was reading a post by Neale and I guess his name was in my head. <<LOL! He writes some informative and memorable posts for sure 'I should be flattered to be confused with... No worries Andy!>> Thanks for your help (again). <<Always welcome, mate>> I am not wavering--I am committed to going fishless for 4-6 months. <<Great!>> I was looking in my sump and tank this morning and saw lots of pods crawling around, so I am very happy. <<These will recover quite quickly with the improved conditions. And I know you said you were not feeding the tank, but these critters (mainly Amphipods and Mysids) are very predaceous, to the point of eating their own. I have found that a few shrimp pellets every day or two tossed in to the sump and refugium can go a long way towards boosting populations>> I also opened up my fuge to take a look and boy oh boy has my Chaeto grown since the crash. <<Ah'¦no doubt>> My 30g fuge was jam-packed, side to side, top to bottom, with Chaeto. I thinned it out by about half (I usually trade this to my LFS for store credit, but they are such a pain to deal with . . ..,I just decided to chuck it). <<Excellent 'but too bad about your LFS'¦some folks are just short-sighted>> I set my light cycle at 6 hours for the MH and 8 hours for the actinics (usually I run 9 hours and 11 hours, respectively). <<I see no reason not to go back to your normal schedule'¦is closer to a 'normal' tropical cycle too>> The Astraea Snails I added are doing a good job of eating the algae that's accumulated on the glass. I was thinking of adding a Caribbean Sea Hare to this mix, as I have had good success with them in the past. <<Mmm, okay'¦then perhaps you already know to be cautious of getting a 'temperate' species'¦often sold as 'tropical'>> My skimmer is still pulling a decent amount of skimmate, so clearly dissolved organics remain. <<Don't ya just love skimmers!>> Take care. Andy <<And you my friend. Be chatting, Eric Russell'¦(not Neale [big grin]) >>

R5: Vacation - Power Failure - Nuclear Holocaust -- 09/26/08 Eric-- <<Andy>> I want the entire FAQ's for today to have the heading "Vacation - Power Failure - Nuclear Holocaust", so I'm going to respond to you yet again ;-). <<Ha! We're well on our way!>> Actually, I believe it was you who taught me long ago to feed my fuge/sump with shrimp pellets, and I have been doing that since you taught me and since the crash (what I meant by not feeding the tank was, I'm obviously not doing what I normally would if there were fish/coral in the tank). <<Ah! Excellent>> I am well aware of the problems with the sale of sea hares. I have read such warnings here and in Calfo's/Fenner's Reef Invertebrates. <<Indeed>> The Caribbean ones are easy to distinguish from Aplysia californica, which unfortunately is what most of my LFS sell. <<And many others>> Whenever I see them on display, I make it a point to tell the owner that he/she shouldn't be selling Aplysia californica to anyone that doesn't have a temperate tank--they look at me like I'm speaking a foreign language. <<Not uncommon, I assure you>> I even had one self-professed expert LFS owner say "Really? They come from California?" <<dismal'¦>> Sadly, one of the more reputable vendors, That Fish Place, sells them and notes in their specifications that they come from the Indo-Pacific, which is clearly false. <<Perhaps you could send them a note re>> As I'm sure you know, the Caribbean varieties aren't as big or interesting looking, but that's no reason to buy them. << The Sea Slug Forum states that Aplysia californica has been reported to reach more than 30' in length! Aplysia morio can grow to about 18' though I don't think it is a regular in the trade'¦the smaller species you refer to is probably Aplysia dactylomela which grows to about 6' and is a much more appropriate species for reef aquaria use>> I will put my lights back up to a normal schedule and let the greening of the tank continue! <<Enjoy the adventure!>> Thanks again. Andy <<Cheers mate. EricR>>

Sea Hare/Systems 2/28/08 Hi <Hello> I was thinking of purchasing a sea hare, however I am a little concerned with the fact they produce poisonous ink. If none of the other fish provoke it could it still ink? <Possibly, and can release the ink upon their death.> What would happen if it was to die would the ink be released? <Could lead to the death of other inhabitants. I very good chemical filter is needed to remove this compound if released.> I have a 180 gallon reef tank with a Clown Fish, Yellow Tang, Hawk Fish, Sleeper Goby, blenny, and various corals and a few different kinds of shrimp. Would this be a good set up for a sea hare? I have an abundance of algae. <Adam, these animals are very difficult to maintain and I would discourage you from getting one. It will eventually die and cause problems for you.> Thanks, <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)> Adam

Aiptasia & Sea Hare comp.... & Bio. alg. contr.    2/3/08 Although our 55 gallon FOWLR has been doing fine (fish growing & happy, no death, stable water) I have three nickel sized Aiptasia and some hair algae. Can/will the sting of an Aiptasia injury or kill a Sea Hare? <Won't be the best combination but certainly not the best solution for both problems. For the Aips see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aiptasia.htm. And the causes of the Hair Algae must be addressed first. The Sea Hare will just be recycling the nutrients the algae use. Read on Nutrient export etc. Olly>

Re: sea hare, stolen image/s (we don't post), coldwater animals misplaced in tropical settings   2/1/08 probaly <?> not eaten sense it was larger then all the fish in my tank about 3 inches. I am attaching a picture of what it looked like but mine was greenish tan <... this is a "lifted" as in stolen image of an Aplysia californica... a cold water animal... Misplaced if this is what you have. Please, read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/seaslugcomp.htm and the linked files above. Don't write us, read. Bob Fenner>

Sea hare sel., comp.  12/30/06 OK, so after moving my tank (150g Berlin, 250lbs live rock, light bio-load) I had a huge outbreak of long green hair algae. Covered everything. Tried cutting back on the light, but I only achieved making it's color less attractive. After reading all I could, I decided I didn't want to go with scraping, chemical, etc....but add a natural solution. When weighing out the pro's & con's of such grazers, I settled on a sea hare, <Mmm, what species?> as it seemed to be the most voracious grazer. I wasn't so worried about it dying, as my tank is quite healthy and there is much for it to eat....... but with such a nocturnal creature, how on earth would you know if something that you rarely (if ever, lately...) see? <Mmm, the results of their night-time foraging?> Also, in a 150g, how much pollution/death could I be facing if I do not find the body? <Could be appreciable depending on the species, size... your filtration, maintenance...> 250lbs of rock is a pretty sizable pile to dig through. Thanks in advance, my briny friends!   -Pat <Do take care to try a tropical species (not a cool/coldwater one), that is, and stays small-ish. You have read here?: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm and the linked files above? There are other "biological means" to consider... Bob Fenner>

Sea Hare (Dolabella auricularia) question 2/3/05 Hi, We have a local reef club and are thinking of making a group order for the Dolabella auricularia from Blowfish Aquatics. They are supposed to be great algae eaters (will even eat Cyano).  <Good... becoming voracious when large! Although effective, the tremendous appetite of these critters becomes a problem when they deplete the available algae.> The owner of Blowfish says that several have released ink at one time in their tanks with no harm to any fish, etc.  <It is possible that ink release is completely harmless, but keep in mind that your LFS's system is probably at least many hundreds of gallons and may be elaborately filtered. Would this still be harmless in your home aquarium... I don't know. In any case, if you are desperate to solve your algae problems and want to risk it, I would advise running carbon continuously while you have this animal, and be prepared to move them around from aquarist to aquarist as they deplete available food from each tank.> However, we can't find anything on the web that says they do or don't produce deadly toxin when scared or when they die. Before we order, we are hoping you can advise us.  <See this article by Dr. Rob Toonen: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2004/invert.htm and note the interactions listed for various animals that come in contact with the ink. Also note that the size of the system used for the testing is not specified.> Thanks for any help you can provide! <Hope this helps! Best Regards. AdamC.>

Sea hare?... pass 4/12/04  Hi There  <howdy>  My LFS has sea hares they are selling for which they claim is algae and Cyano control. I have heard before that the sea hares can consume Cyano.  <some do>  These dudes are real ugly rock like critters. Do they really help control red algae/Cyano??  <its likely a moot point. The few sea hares that make it into the aquarium trade are typically temperate species (cool waters). They are naturally short lived to begin with. Not a safe or recommended choice IMO. Furthermore, they would be treating the symptom (Cyano) and not the problem (nutrient control). Focus on the latter my friend... we have many recommendations for this in the archives. Do a keyword search from our home page at wetwebmedia.com for "Cyano", "sea hares", "nutrient control", etc. Anthony>

Waging war on hair algae Bob, <Mike G here> I wanted to get your thoughts on introducing a Sea Hare to take care of some painful green hair algae? <Sea Hares are wonderful consumers of hair algae. It may aid you in physically removing algae, but will certainly not solve your problem single-handedly. They are messy eats, and minute particles of Hair Algae WILL get released every time they take a bite. Also, their feces will contain partially digested hair algae, and possibly hair algae spores. A sea hare would be a wonderful warrior in your battle against hair algae, but you need to also eliminate the problem that is causing the algae in the first place.> I've had the aquarium up 8 years and have never had a battle like this with hair algae - I feel I'm starting to lose the battle. <That's a very common feeling when one is pitted against hair algae. I had problems with it when I first started my tank (15g). It was completely eradicated by doing 2 gallon (10%) water changes every other days and by adding a refugium of 25% of my water volume (5g) to my system.> It's been going on 8 weeks now. I've seen 2 Sea Hare species for sale: Aplysia punctata & Dolabella auricularia. Fosters & Smith rates Aplysia punctata as extremely delicate/expert with serious negative affects from possible ink secretions. Aplysia punctata isn't found on WWM. <I recently purchased a Sea Hare to control my Caulerpa problem. The only species available was Dolabella auricularia. I can assure you that he does a goodly job on Cyanobacteria, Bryopsis, bubble, and pretty much any microalgae he comes across. I think that if he were to come across hair algae, he would eat it with gusto. Of course, he does not eat Caulerpa. It figures.> Dolabella auricularia is mentioned twice on WWM and a seller of it praises its traits without a mention of any issues with the species. I know it also secretes ink as well, but what about hardiness? Would you pick one over the other & how toxic is the ink? <Mine has "inked" in my tank twice now...either time with absolutely no negative effects. Granted, I do run a skimmer that is quite large for my tank (CPR BakPak), and I did a 10% water change as soon as it inked. Upon researching hares, I have found that Aplysia produce a considerably more toxic ink than Dolabella. I think a Dolabella would be the way to go if you decide on getting a Hare. As a side note, the hare toxins can be easily removed with carbon and a water change.> For back ground, I've been following all the algae reduction husbandry: All water changes & evaporate top-off done with buffered/aerated RO water from Kent Maxxima Hi Silicate (changed out all membranes 4 months ago), 30% water changes every 2 weeks (every one now), thaw, rinse & strain food prior to feeding, careful not to overfeed, 1800+gph turn over, over-powered skimmer (AquaC EV120), 45gal refugium w/ DSB & Chaeto, 520w PC lights that were recently changed, phosphates reading zero, but running PhosGuard as precaution. The green hair algae is still kicking my tail. I think I've narrowed down the original cause to a partially blocked line on my skimmer, which started the outbreak 12wks ago and then was fueled by a continuing die off of all my turbo snails (past email). About 6 weeks ago, 20 Turbos went through QT for a month - lost about 3 in QT. At the time, I thought it was just a natural/unlucky die off. Since they've been introduced into the main tank I've lost about 18. Originally, only the new ones seemed to go. My old ones are covered in coralline algae, so they were easy to tell apart. Now the old ones are going too, seems like one every 4-5 days and that's just the ones I can see. My 30+ Cerith & 40+ blue legs seem completely unaffected. My two "indicators" - RBTA and Hippo tang couldn't be better. I brought the Turbos in to help combat algae problem - now I think they're fueling it. I'm to the point now of thinking about taking all the Turbos out & putting them into QT. Any thoughts? <Certainly. If I were you, I would remove all of the turbo snails, as they do not seem to be doing anything more than providing nutrients for an algal bloom. It sounds as if your refugium is completely adequate, so you can't really expand on that. What really ended my hair algae infestation were 10% water changes every other day. This may be extremely difficult for you considering your tank and refugium sizes. However, It may very well be worth a try. You may also want to look into a high quality phosphate reducer. Lately, more and more people have been reporting success with PhosBan. It really all depends on what you think would work best in your situation.> I've been scrubbing the LR manually with a toothbrush & then immediately doing a water change to try and remove as much of it as possible. Last week I thought I delivered the final blow by spending 4 hours and manually scrubbing every single piece of my 180lbs of LR, one at a time, always submerged, in a bucket of saltwater from the tank. I used 3 separate buckets of saltwater to keep the algae export as high as possible. I certainly staggered it, but it looks to be getting back up. With the toothbrush method, do you think I'm doing more harm than good by spreading it around? My thought was that dislodging it and removing some though the filter & water change would be more effective than just letting it grow unabated. Any other advice? <I think that you are only spreading it more when you scrub it off the rocks. You are releasing minute particles into the water, which can easily find new places to lodge and form new "colonies" of algae.> Since I've been way too involved in algae recently, I wanted pass on a personal observation that the most productive hair algae remover in my tank is my Foxface Lo (Siganus vulpinus). After watching my tank for hours, he is certainly outperforming my robust lawnmower blenny and seems to be getting the better of my spineless clean-up crew. I've seen him wipe out 3 long sprigs of hair algae in a 90 second window. I just haven't seen him get much press for that on WWM or anywhere else and besides, he's a gorgeous fish and I haven't seen a single negative trait from him (having slightly venomous spines probably doesn't help him, but I'd find it hard to see how I'd get stuck by him). Just wanted to sing the Rabbitfish praises a little. <Rabbitfishes are well-known and wonderful herbivores. Glad to hear yours is working out for you.> BTW - wanted to get your thoughts on a sump/refugium I've designed and am thinking about having built. Especially concerning transition methods from one chamber to the next. I've attached the layout. As a note, the PVC return pipes in the refugium will be covered by a 6" DSB & the 2" ball valve into the refugium is designed to support complete gph control through the refugium. The overall design goal was to maximize the efficiency within the footprint & have an uncluttered/clean appearance. All my aquarium equipment is in the mechanical room below my office, so space isn't an issue. My current sump/refugiums were born from a series of upgrade bolt-ons over the years. Restricted water flow through the refugiums, wasted water volume due to in-line plumbing spacing & general clutter were the reason for the potential new sump. <I see no problem with your design for your sump/refugium.> So sorry for the length of the note - I just realized how long it is. Obviously, I'm excited about the hobby and can't express the gratitude in having the joint knowledge of WWM available to me and other enthusiasts. Get to me when you can & feel free to break the note up if it makes for easier reading.