Dolabella Sea Hare?

[Waters]

So I purchased and received a Dolabella Sea Hare to be part of my CUC to combat some GHA that I just can't seem to get rid of. Unfortunately I must have missed the description that said it would be between 2 and 6 inches. It is roughly 4 inches long.....I was expecting something more large snail sized lol. Do these things have a minimum tank size before they just become destructive knocking things over or are they good as long as they have enough algae to eat? My tank is a 105g SPS tank. Based on the size I might have to feed this thing heads of lettuce once my algae is gone.....if he is even capable of squeezing his huge mouth into the crevices that I need him to lol.

 

[sfin52]

So I purchased and received a Dolabella Sea Hare to be part of my CUC to combat some GHA that I just can't seem to get rid of. Unfortunately I must have missed the description that said it would be between 2 and 6 inches. It is roughly 4 inches long.....I was expecting something more large snail sized lol. Do these things have a minimum tank size before they just become destructive knocking things over or are they good as long as they have enough algae to eat? My tank is a 105g SPS tank.

Mine never did any damage to coral. It may move Loose frag around but they generally are gentle giants.

They eat a ton and will devour algea.

 

[yanton]

mine was as gentle and careful as a kitten

 

[Auquanut]

Mind if I chime in? I've been considering a Dolabella Sea Hare for awhile. I thought that after it takes care of the hair algae in the DT, I might put it in the fuge. My fuge has chaeto and caulerpa. Mostly caulerpa. I harvest quite a bit, and thought if the sea hare eats it, it could be a win/win. As long as it doesn't empty the fuge. Thoughts?

 

[Waters]

Mind if I chime in? I've been considering a Dolabella Sea Hare for awhile. I thought that after it takes care of the hair algae in the DT, I might put it in the fuge. My fuge has chaeto and caulerpa. Mostly caulerpa. I harvest quite a bit, and thought if the sea hare eats it, it could be a win/win. As long as it doesn't empty the fuge. Thoughts?

Well based on these responses so far I am assuming it would be fine, as long as there is a food source. If you order from LiveAquaria, just be prepared for a softball that looks like Shrek.

 

[alysak6075]

I always run tanks with them. They get to the size of a kitten tbh. Never hurt anything, super careful around everything except loose frags.

 

[Waters]

If anybody is following this thread still, the large Sea Hare has been a model citizen. While extremely ugly at first lol, he has quickly become one of my favorite tank inhabitants. Never stops moving and looking for algae. Hides for most of the day.....moves much quicker than I though he would.

 

[nim6us]

@Waters We got a sea hare to help stamp out some GHA, he made short work of it in a week! However as luck would have it this seems to be he only living thing in the tank that my wife loves. I really would like to keep him long term, I just don't know if it's cruel to keep him with the minimal algae that's left. I was thinking of maybe supplementing with nori. Do you still have yours, how's he/she working out?

 

[Miami Reef]

@Waters

Did you have your sea hare in high flow? I’ve read they frequently get chopped in power heads and I’d like to prevent this of course.

 

[sfin52]

@Waters We got a sea hare to help stamp out some GHA, he made short work of it in a week! However as luck would have it this seems to be he only living thing in the tank that my wife loves. I really would like to keep him long term, I just don't know if it's cruel to keep him with the minimal algae that's left. I was thinking of maybe supplementing with nori. Do you still have yours, how's he/she working out?

They need lots of algae.

 

[Waters]

@Waters

Did you have your sea hare in high flow? I’ve read they frequently get chopped in power heads and I’d like to prevent this of course.

Yeah, he was in a SPS tank with high flow. Never got anywhere close to the 4 powerheads I have.....always stayed on the rock or bottom.