Abalone

[salisbury a d]

What are they and what is ther role in a marine environment? Are they reef safe?
What do they eat?
Adam

 

[dad]

One of the best types of grazing snails for cleaning off glass is a species of tropical
abalone, the ass's ear abalone (Haliotis asinina). It gets its common name from
its elongate shape, and to someone who probably has never seen a donkey’s ear,
it probably looks like one.
Abalone have a coiled shell, but they don’t really look like it, as the coil expands
so rapidly that the shell looks almost like the bowl of a spoon or an ear. In fact,
the scientific name, Haliotis, means “sea ear.” Abalone shells can be further
identified by the series of small holes running in a line near the left edge. The shell
color is typically mottled greens and reds to yellows, good camouflage coloration
for a reef animal.
These abalone reach a maximum size
of about 10 centimeters (4 inches), but
grow slowly in our systems. The ones
available for the aquarium trade are generally from aquacultured stock and are often
about 2 to 3 centimeters (1 to 1.5 inches) long. They need to be acclimated very
slowly to salinity changes, and it is best to err on the side of caution. They generally
prefer to graze on glass and frequently seek a dark space in which to pass the
brightly lit hours.
but beware..i have heard that they will crawl out of tanks.this is all i know,

 

[salisbury a d]

Thanks dad but do you recamend one for a 46 gallon tank? If so how many just one? Thanks again.
Adam

 

[scy]

Hello,1 per 25gal.The only thing that i find with Abalone,mine never did well in the summer when the tank would get up over 82 for 3 or 4 days in a row.