What killed my sea hare?!?

[Sculpin]

It took me forever to find a sea hare for sale, and I drove an hour to buy one once I found a place selling some. I took the time to slowly acclimate the little guy to the tank and kept checking it for several hours to make sure it was adjusting well. Everything seemed to be going well, the sea hare started eating my hair allege immediately and moved around a bit. The next day when I went looking for the little guy, I couldn't find him. The only thing I found was some grayish black slime caught at the top of my tank's overflow grate.

So, what killed my sea hare? I read on other posts about people losing sea hares to power head blades (the sea hares going after allege on the power head), but I recently put in new power heads and the screens around them are too narrow for the sea hare to fit. I have different crabs in my tank. Might one of them have gone after it? Did I need to do something extra during the acclimation process?

Any thoughts would be helpful. I’m still struggling with a bad hair allege problem so I'd love to give the sea hare another shot, I just want to make sure my tank is safe before trying again. Until I am certain, I’m not going to risk trying again.

 

[mark peacock]

I bought a sea hare a week ago and done what you did it started eating the hair alge straight away but mine is still living even though some days i cannot see him looks like a rock when he is not moving i find that if he goes into a rock cave i think they get stuck because i have had to pull mine out a couple of times from a small cave in the rock work not sure why? have you found any sight of your hare.
mark

 

[Curtswearing]

It's probably still alive....it just got scared by something and inked. (When they ink, there's a nasty slime that comes out too).

Hopefully, you're running activated carbon.

I even found a movie for you.

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache...e.php+sea+hare+slime&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

 

[StacyS]

It took me forever to find a sea hare for sale, and I drove an hour to buy one once I found a place selling some. I took the time to slowly acclimate the little guy to the tank and kept checking it for several hours to make sure it was adjusting well. Everything seemed to be going well, the sea hare started eating my hair allege immediately and moved around a bit. The next day when I went looking for the little guy, I couldn't find him. The only thing I found was some grayish black slime caught at the top of my tank's overflow grate.

So, what killed my sea hare? I read on other posts about people losing sea hares to power head blades (the sea hares going after allege on the power head), but I recently put in new power heads and the screens around them are too narrow for the sea hare to fit. I have different crabs in my tank. Might one of them have gone after it? Did I need to do something extra during the acclimation process?

Any thoughts would be helpful. I’m still struggling with a bad hair allege problem so I'd love to give the sea hare another shot, I just want to make sure my tank is safe before trying again. Until I am certain, I’m not going to risk trying again.

My sea hares did not do well in my tank due to the flow. The tank must be very calm. They are very cool!

 

[Sculpin]

My tank does have pretty strong flow, I wonder if that might have done him in. I haven't seen him since the first day, granted there are lots of nooks and crannies that he could fit in, but i haven't noticed any allege patches that have been grazed either.

So, it doesn't sound like I have to worry too much about preditors in the tank. No worries about my crabs eating the sea hare the way I worry about them eating my snails?

 

[The Apprentice]

Sculpin do you have a sand bed greater than 2" deep?

 

[Sculpin]

Sculpin do you have a sand bed greater than 2" deep?

I have very little sand in my tank. In most places in the tank the bottom is bare due to the powerheads shifting the sand to the corners.

 

[The Apprentice]

less hiding spots

Mine will go under the sand beed for days, I had just a hunch if you had a sand bed it might have been doing. Another place to look is over flows I had to screen mine to keep them out they will climb right on over.

I have very little sand in my tank. In most places in the tank the bottom is bare due to the powerheads shifting the sand to the corners.

 

[luke33]

IME, sea hares are not a good choice for tanks with alot of flow. I can't keep them as they get sucked on by the powerheads. I think there very cool, but I don't want to have any die on my expense.