[TahoeMtn]

I have had a very nice Sea Apple for 4-5 years and he just went belly up over the last week. No Poison excreted whew. I put him in a hospital tank to offer more food and care, but I still lost him. Params were all near perfect and no other losses in the tank. And no other tankmates seemed to pay any attention to him day or night.

 

[JennM]

Wow - congratulations on keeping such a fragile creature for so long.

I'm not sure what their natural lifespan is, but you did great with that one!

When I saw the subject line, I was thinking - the lifespan of the OTHER creatures in the tank will be "as short" as the sea apple - I don't sell sea apples but I've seen the disasters that can occur when people buy them and they come into harm's way... they nuke and kill everything

4-5 years - my hat is off to you -well done!

Jenn

 

[Hardhead Cat]

WOW, I think you had a very senior sea apple - they usually don't live nearly that long in captivity! Congratulations on keeping it alive and happy for so many years!

HHC

 

[Geoff]

i was with Jenn, i was going to start spewing the normal feeding problems and stuff of sea apples, but if you were able to keep on for 4-5 years you fully understood he feeding requirements of them.

did it maintain its size all the way to the end? have you changed anything in the tank? substrates/ feeding?

G~

 

[VWD]

I agree on 4 to 5 years being very good, I also have no idea what the life span is. I do know someone that had one for about 2 years now. I swear it is in the same place everytime I visit, he tells me it moves all the time. just seems like it in the same place same rock

 

[TahoeMtn]

He did "seem" to stay in the same place all the time, but he did move around alot. In the end he crawled down to the sand and just laid down, till he was gone. Stayed the same size, just quit moving. Once a couple of years ago he started spewing a white thick liquid. I thought, O-noooo, but it all settled on a rock and began to grow like sponge and then about a year later a pencil urchin settled on the rock and ate all of the white stuff. I don't know if I will get another, they are beautiful animals, but the worry of properly careing for them and the results if they become unhappy.....

 

[superwizbang]

So here is the *real* question. Did you get him after fully reading about them *OR* was it a "I GOTTA HAVE IT" purchase (that no one else around here does...*looks around accusingly*) before you really knew the dangers?

Lol!

-K

 

[Little Luey]

They are beautifull animals but for me the risk is just too great.

 

[Viv]

Sorry for your loss. Sometimes its hard when you have and animal that long. With what sounds like a short life in captivity, you did a great job!

 

[Sprayin70]

Sorry for your loss. Congrats on keeping him for so long.

 

[TahoeMtn]

He was well researched in advance. I had seen them on several trips to my LFS "Ofishal in Reno" Great bunch of guy and girls. But I digress, I had been to the LFS and looking several times and even on the day I got him I had said "No, too much risk" and drove home. I ended up sending my son back to Reno to pick him up (It's only an hour each way) Now that my tank is 200 gallons with a larger anount of livestock, I will once again have to weigh risk vs beauty