Thought I'd post an update for anyone who might be interested in what's going on with the slugs (if you're not interested, feel free to stop reading now 
I got a test batch of 6 slugs, which given some reports I'd heard about how hard they are to keep I was nervous would soon be a half-dozen dead slugs very quickly, but a month later they seem quite at home. Turns out the slugs I ordered were not Elysia crispata, but the sister species E. clarkii. However, this closely related group has about the same holding requirements and life history, so we're still in business! Certainly they have the same feeding preferences, as they are happily chowing down on the Bryopsis I was given. In fact, they're eating it faster than I can seem to grow it, so if you or anyone you know has a tank suffering from hair algae, consider it a standing offer that I'll come pick it up and take it away.
I have two UWG students working with me over the summer - one is focused on maintaining the various algae we obtained and monitoring water quality (don't you wish you had someone to do your WQA for you too?); the other is setting up a special tank optimized for breeding, which we nicknamed the "love suite". Our goal is to not only maintain the slugs we have, but get a couple dozen more and have juveniles after the summer breeding season. Wish us luck, and remember to keep me in mind if you have some hair algae you need taken off of your hands (just send me a pm).
p.s. I was going to post some pictures, but I can't manage to take a decent one (there's a reason I did not go into art) and my research tanks are a lot uglier than the great reef aquaria you all are used to anyway. . .
I got a test batch of 6 slugs, which given some reports I'd heard about how hard they are to keep I was nervous would soon be a half-dozen dead slugs very quickly, but a month later they seem quite at home. Turns out the slugs I ordered were not Elysia crispata, but the sister species E. clarkii. However, this closely related group has about the same holding requirements and life history, so we're still in business! Certainly they have the same feeding preferences, as they are happily chowing down on the Bryopsis I was given. In fact, they're eating it faster than I can seem to grow it, so if you or anyone you know has a tank suffering from hair algae, consider it a standing offer that I'll come pick it up and take it away.
I have two UWG students working with me over the summer - one is focused on maintaining the various algae we obtained and monitoring water quality (don't you wish you had someone to do your WQA for you too?); the other is setting up a special tank optimized for breeding, which we nicknamed the "love suite". Our goal is to not only maintain the slugs we have, but get a couple dozen more and have juveniles after the summer breeding season. Wish us luck, and remember to keep me in mind if you have some hair algae you need taken off of your hands (just send me a pm).
p.s. I was going to post some pictures, but I can't manage to take a decent one (there's a reason I did not go into art) and my research tanks are a lot uglier than the great reef aquaria you all are used to anyway. . .
