Great Beginner Tip for Getting New Corals :-)

Hey Guys,

So I got some great new additions to the tank today .

And the trick is ................ Take your mum to the LFS!!!!! Mum has slowly warmed to my tank. Initially she was completely against it, but now is really starting to enjoy it. I took her along because she needed to get out of the house for abit and she loved some of the stock so much I got some new things

These are some of the things I got . They have just been drip acclimated and have been in the tank a for less than an hour.

A rose BTA - (I think - may need some I.D).


Its not a great photo, its actually pink and has little purple ends. In the shop it was nice and puffed up but got a little rough handling and it hasnt bounced back yet.

A green BTA


A star fish (I.D of the species would be great)


And a small hammer fragment


Any advice on how to keep them healthy or some little notes that you guys have found in keep these would be great.

Fingers crossed my clowns house one and me porcelain anemone crab house the other .

 

The star fish is a Linkia type I believe, a very hard invert to keep alive, especially in new tanks. There are many different types so the exact type is difficult. The most popular in the US are the blue, purple and red. Unfortunately the vast majority die, every once in a while someone can keep one long term, that is the exception and not the rule so do not be fooled into thinking it's easily done.

Star fish are extremely sensitive to swings in pH and SG. They only tolerating a limited range of both.

You can offer the Star fish small pieces of clam meat, their dietary needs are poorly understood. Most believe though they eat the bio-film found on the surfaces of the tank and just any bio-film will not do.

 

Dam, I hope the star stays alive. How will I know when it is dead/ dying?

 

It will turn grey and start to melt.

Sometimes from the tips of the arms or it may also begin at the central disk.

 

Ok thanks alot. I will keep a close eye on it.

Do you think feeding it daily with clam meat would be good? or just weekly? I actually have some.

 

The pieces have to be very small and you do not want to contribute to a decline in water quality by feeding too much or too often.

Twice a week if the Star fish accepts it, remove uneaten pieces. You have to be patient and present the pieces to the star fish, generally they move too slow to find it on their own before a member of the CUC finds it or the food begins to decay further.

 

I believe the Linkia ID is correct. I made the "mistake" of getting a red one from my LFS about 6 months ago when the guy told me that they are very easy to keep. My tank had been up and running for about 6-8 months at that time. To my very good fortune he is still alive. I feed my fish brine shrimp, small pieces of scalop and some other stuff mixed in. I have no idea if the star eats the detrius from the feeding or the biofim on my rocks and tank walls. I cant say i have ever seen him eat anything but obviously he must cuz he is still alive. I hear the blue ones do very poorly and the reds a little better. I have been able to find only a very small amount of info about their care, most of which tells me that my star should have been dead a while ago. If i actually figure out how mine stays alive i ll post an article. Otherwise he is a lot of fun to watch... moves all over the tank and is actually kind of quick. Good luck!!!

 

How old is your tank? You'll want to watch water parameters very carefully with those BTAs. They are very hardy anemones, but they are still anemones.

 

I dont think the first anemone is a BTA, I think it may actually be a sebae anemone or if it has small bumps or spots on the stalk it may be a Long tentacle

I could be wrong as its hard to tell from the pics

 

Hmmm I have been doing some looking and I think tinctorus you are right that it is a sebae anemone.

Im have done some reading on them and I have heard they are very difficult to acclimate. I hope it survives .