Anyone have a sea hare?

[Mark_C]

Got one about the size of a baseball, it eats algae like a vacuum, and is by far the coolest animal in my tank. It's a fuzzy/spiky variety (Aplysia sp). I'm supplementing with seaweed.
Just curious if anyone has kept one successfully long term and has any advice to offer.

 

[myrjon]

if it becomes startled, it may release a purple dye to repel attacking fish. does this happen to you mark ?

 

[Mark_C]

if it becomes startled, it may release a purple dye to repel attacking fish. does this happen to you mark ?

Not really, but sometimes when I'm really scared I pee a little.

 

[art13]

I have one currently, the guy i got it from said he has had 2 of them for a while, i believe a couple of years. I also have a ton of algae atm though. It's kind of funny to watch him just let go at times and float around in the current for a bit, not sure why he does this.

 

[myrjon]

art you never had one shoot purple dye. cause i really need one..

 

[art13]

The other guy never mentioned that, i've never noticed any discoloring in my tank, i've noticed my skimmer act up for a day or two recently, i don't believe that to be the work of the sea hair though, as there was no discoloration.

 

[Mark_C]

My tang has taken a few shots at it and the pistol shrimp had tried to bully it off a few times. No notice of any dye shooting. It's made short work of the hair algae, less than a week in and the tank is clear. I dropped in a piece of seaweed today and it seems quite happy with it. It is a bit of a bulldozer on some of the 'not glued down too tightly' corals.