Introducing a sea slug

November 12, 2001
From: Alisa Taylor

I am caring for a 12 year old 55 gallon reef tank for a biology class at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, Michigan, USA.

We would like to introduce a sea slug(s) but are unsure which would be best in the tank. We recently (2 weeks ago) added new live rock and have seen an increase in brown aglae since. We have a clown fish that is moderately aggressive and a banded coral shrimp. Would a slug be a good selection for our tank? If so, which would you recommend based on retail availability?

Thank-You so much for your help.

P.S. Your site is absolutely fantastic. Phenomenal Photos!
Alisa Taylor

agailtaylor@hotmail.com

Taylor, A., 2001 (Nov 12) Introducing a sea slug. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5661

Dear Alisa,
I'm afraid I can't recommend keeping nudibranch in aquaria because of the difficulty in feeding them. Have a look at the other messages below yours on this page where I discuss very aspects of the problem. A alternative to a nudibranch would be a Sea Hare. Being herbivorous, they would probably help with keeping weed growth down in the aquarium.

Another indicator that a sea slug would not be a good idea is your mention of a clown fish and a banded coral shrimp. Do you have an anemone for them? If so slugs often fall into large anemones - they crawl up the sides, start crawling upside down on the water surface and drop off. Commensal shrimps can also be very aggressive and will quickly 'pick' a nudibranch to death.

So I guess my advice is to perhaps avoid sea slug in your aquarium.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Nov 12). Comment on Introducing a sea slug by Alisa Taylor. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5661

Factsheet

Keeping sea slugs in captivity

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