The Silly Things Bristle Stars Do

For a while now I've seen where folks will exclaim that, during feeding, their stars will "reach out and catch" things as they drift by.  I always thought that was a little over-stated.

Two things have happened to start to sway my opinion:

I did a little "light" reading on Brittle Stars (how they aren't really starfish, their digestive system, nervous system, skeletal system, etc).  I learned the nerves in their legs are sensitive enough to detect light (which is how they know when it's dark even though they have no eyes), and that those nerves are also sensitive enough to be able to detect smell.

Over the past week or so, I've noticed that during feeding time (at least with mysis cubes) the Brittle Star, which generally has a few ends of his legs out on the substrate, will begin to sweep the substrate looking for food.  Today there was nothing of the Brittle Star exposed... until the cube hit the water.  Two or three legs came out from his hole almost immediately.  They were dancing around like a couple of Keystone Cops trying to get out of each others way.

Those legs didn't have too much luck with catching mysis... I noticed one, maybe two shrimp that the Brittle had caught.  It wasn't until I noticed the mysis starting to settle upon a rock positioned above his hole that I became a believer.  A leg pops out of a nearby hole, grabs the mysis directly, and disappeared back from where it came from.

I'm thinking that specific leg detected the odor of the mysis and went straight for it.  It's not quite like plucking food out of the water column that is drifting by, but almost.

So I think I'm more open toward comments as such.

It's also been a while since I've posted some pics.  Here's how things are going now:

Notice the tank has a mostly-green color.  That's the prevalent color of the species of coraline algae that is proliferating.

Looking closer at the coraline, it's still mostly green with some hints of purple at the top right and bottom left.  The bottom right rock seems to be encrusting with a grey coraline.  Hair algae can also be seen bottom left, as well as the last remnants of cyanobacteria.  The center rock, at it's bottom, shows the white color those rocks used to be.  And the mushrooms seems to be very happy.  The specs on the back of the glass are "chaeto critters", some sort of "pods".  They are everywhere.

Here you can see more purple and green coraline algae.  The anemone bowl is also starting to take some coraline.  The longer white specs on the bowl are some sort of tube worm.  The smaller specs are just substrate.  To the left, the chaeto can be seen.  It's about twice to three times as big as when I got it.  Not a good sign for my water, but at least I'm combating the nitrates and phosphates in some fashion.  Hopefully a RO/DI system is in my future.

I have a sponge and some sort of white feathery things on the vertical rock bottom right.  The Star Polyps (center) are still doing great, as is the Anthelia (top left).  The rocks to the left are still brown.  The purple coraline seem to prefer these rocks more than the green.

New Sightings

While feeding the tank a mysis cube today, I noticed what looked like a piece of detritus on a small rock up close to the tank.  It was moving a little, but in slow, stop-start movements.  The power filter was off due to feeding, so I figured the weak movement was due to the power head flow from the opposite end of the tank.

I looked around the side of the tank to maybe get a better perspective, but I lost it.  I think the chaeto ball was blocking it.  So I kept an eye out...just in case.

A short while later I noticed two small elongated "pieces of detritus" on the rock.  So I watched.  They approached each other and did a full circle on the rock as if they were dancing.  Whoah.  That's not poop.

I then saw another one of these things "cliff dive" off the same rock, only to disappear over the lip of the ledge it ran at.

Then I notice something lime green twirling around in the chaeto.  I then see even more of these small creamy critters moving about at the perimeter of the chaeto.  I've never seen a copepod in person, but I'm wondering if that's what those are.  I don't have a clue as to what that lime green thing could be, though.  All these critters are pin head or two pin heads in size.

I also noticed the starfish caught some of the krill today.  He switched corners for the day and ended up near the dead spot in the tank.  I noticed him working the krill up his leg toward his body.  Eat well, my friend.

Still planning on vacuuming the tank today as soon as I get an hour free.  I'm also still planning to do something with the chaeto to reform it.  Since there are critters in it, I'm wondering if I should just flatten it out instead of breaking it up into smaller balls.

I was thinking last night what my next milestone will be.  It has to be a "free" milestone, so getting a live sump hooked up isn't on the list.  I think perhaps "zero nitrates/phosphates" followed by "coraline growth" will be considered my next milestones, unless my newness to the hobby is clouding what is actually yet to be.

I'll get some pics up later after the water change.

Observations - Apr 13, 2011

Since adding the chaetomorphis macroalgae 5 days ago, I have noticed a significant reduction in growth of brown (diatom) and red (cyano) algae.

Generally by now my substrate would be mostly brown and I would have a few rocks with thick cyanobacteria and would be in need of a brushing and a vacuum.  After 5 days, I only have the residual cyanobacteria that I failed to net during it's last brushing on a rock or two.  I also have a small amount on the substrate where I also failed to catch it.  The glass and substrate are accruing diatom (brown) algae, but at a much slower rate than in the past.

When placing the chaetomorphis in the tank some loose strands got away.  Some of those strands are in dead spots in the tank, and others have found themselves stuck in the power filter intake.  It's actually easier to see the individual chaeto strands growing than the chaeto clump.  The chaeto clump actually compressed during the first few days.

I have no complaints whatsoever about adding the chaeto.  I have to wait for the chaeto to grow larger before it starts to actually starts making headway on nitrates.  In it's current size, it seems to be able to absorb all phosphates - I've tested zero on phosphates since the last water change when I added the chaeto 5 days ago.  Once the power filter builds it's bacteria up again (it was removed for 4 days), I'm hoping the chaeto will be large enough to handle the nitrate output it will give so that my new "normal" will be zero.

Since rescuing the new inhabitants, my tank seems to have started another cycle.  If it were simply fish and soft coral, I would probably let the cycle go on about it's business.  However, the anemone is very dear to us.  Judging by it's size, it is a grand old anemone.  And from research they aren't easy to keep.  So perhaps I'm being extra-diligent.  I'm trying to minimize the effects of a cycle while still allowing the cycle to complete.  I can't afford nutrient spikes, but I do realize some of that needs to be in the water so that the particular bacterias can find their equilibrium, which only prolongs the cycle.  But that's OK.

Since arranging the rock, the starfish has relocated to the left corner.  Yesterday during the rock rearrangement he was under the anemone bowl.  The starfish is easier to see now since it's in a corner where the rock isn't against the back glass.  That will make showing it off a lot easier.

Here's some pictures from today:

The tank in it's entirety.

The right corner - here you can see the little bit of cyano that I was not able to catch on the substrate.  The bottom right rock is generally overflowing with cyano after just a few days.  But with the chaeto, it only has what I was not able to brush off last time.

Another "morning stretch" from the anemone.

The bit of cyanobacteria on the tall rock on the right has been there since my last brushing.  I was not able to reach those areas on the rock before rearranging the other rocks.  Next time I'm in there with the brush, I'll be able to reach it nicely now.  This is also the corner the starfish has claimed.  The chaeto can also be seen here on the left.

Moonlight Views

Got home tonight after the actinics turned off, so it was just the moonlight LEDs lighting the tank.

Even with 1 LED per 12" of linear tank, there are still a lot of details to be seen, especially after a person's eyes adjust to the lack of light and begin to focus on moving shades of grey.

I noticed the new Peppermint Shrimp at the left side of the tank.  As it was inspecting the rock, it came across one of the Brittle Starfish legs.  He began to "box" with the starfish, but the starfish leg went limp and began to curl in the flow.  Almost immediately the shrimp apparently realized the leg was nothing interesting.

A few minutes later the shrimp actually crossed over the starfish and changed rocks.  Good, I'm thinking.  That's the rock with aiptasia.  The rock is about 8 inches in length with the aiptasia on the left edge.  The shrimp was on the right edge.  It crossed along the front of the rock for just a couple of inches, then left the rock and began weaving across the substrate toward the front of the glass...  so the aiptasia lives yet another day.

A while after that the shrimp appeared on the anemone bowl, inspecting the front side.  After a few minutes of this, the shrimp began to get higher and higher on the rock, approaching the edge of the bowl.  Mama Clown just so happened to be on watch just above the shrimps position.  I could see her notice the shrimp's antennae weaving back and forth as appeared over the edge.  A few seconds after noticing, Mama Clown exited the anemone to see what exactly it was.  The clown and shrimp met at the edge at the same time.  A couple head-butts from the clown and the shrimp disappeared behind the Encrusting Anethelia.

So it seems the shrimp is acclimating to it's environment nicely.  We should probably get a few more.  Most of the live rock is not stacked, which leaves a lot of no-mans-land that cannot be reached to be cleaned or vacuumed.  Detrivores will be needed to assist in these areas.  Also, Peppermint Shrimp claim a territory of about 12".  To evenly distribute shrimp across the entire tank, 4 would be needed.

I've also been reading about how the shrimp generally won't dine on larger aiptasia... which is disappointing.  In my opinion, two of the three visible aiptasia are "not small".  So perhaps I'll be entering the tank (or pulling the rock they live on) to at least partly remove the current aiptasia (knowing I will not possibly be able to completely remove it) so that they may grow back smaller & more appealing to the shrimp.  I'd do it right now if the starfish wasn't in the way...

The glimmer of Moonlight LEDs from the photosynthetic cyanobacteria.

Water Conditions et al

Nothing much going on, so here's todays water conditions and some photo's.  This weeks water change has just been completed.  I wanted to wait on the water testing until after the change to have a starting point.  I normally do 5% per week (4 gallons), but today I did a 10% change - I forgot to remove the detritus from the power filter and needed some more water.  And since I was in there a second time, why not vacuum the other half of the tank...

Ammonia - .25 ppm
Nitrates - 10 ppm
Phosphates - 0 ppm
Nitrites - 0 ppm
Alkalinity - 300 ppm
pH - 8.4
Specific Gravity - 1.0235
Skim Level - 7/8"

I think it's interesting to watch the history of the water conditions.  It's a textbook study of causality.

While watching the tank feast on ZooPlex, the Brittle gave me a wave.

Not only do the Clowns seem to love ZooPlex, the anemone seems to enjoy it as well.
Here it's folding up a bit, presumably to ingest some ZooPlex that it's caught.

I guess feeding for the anemone allows the Clowns to do a little housekeeping underneath.

WARNING - DRY SCIENTIFIC CONTENT BELOW, SOME OF WHICH IS MORE OR LESS ACCURATE

Let's start at the beginning of the nitrogen cycle:

• Before adding the new inhabitants, skim levels were about where they are now.  Prior to the new inhabitants, I attributed the higher DOC levels to baterial die-off - without fish (only crabs) there was a lot less ammonia to feed the ammonia-consuming bacteria.  Now I think the opposite is happening.  There are inhabitants, they are being fed, and DOC levels have -at least- remained the same (sometimes spiking).  With this amount of feeding and inhabitants, about 1" of skim level is expected to be the new norm.
• Ammonia levels were at zero prior to the inhabitants.  They initially rose to .25 ppm with the addition.  Then the cloudy water day happened and I surmise they peaked at .5 ppm.  Ammonia is still present in the tank at .25 ppm, so it appears as though my tank is going through another cycle (the ammonia-converting bacteria has yet to catch up with the new load)
• Nitrites are the next step in the cycle.  Lately my nitrites have been at zero, meaning I have all the nitrite-converting bacteria that is needed with this load.  With no nitrates in the water, all are being consumed and converted into nitrates.
• Nitrates are next.  I surmise I will always have nitrates until I remove the power filter.  The power filter can easily house the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate, but not so much with the bacteria that converts nitrate to nitrogen gas.  Those bacteria need a oxygen-deprived area to live.  A power filter with constant flow is not an inhabitable environment for those type of bacteria.  However, the nitrate-consuming bacteria that live in the live rock are the one's keeping the nitrates from collecting faster than they already do.  They live next to the nitrite converting bacteria.  Once nitrate is produced, it is handed off to the nitrate converting bacteria.  Nitrate in the water does not have the chance to make it to it's host bacteria since that would take some sort of flow.  Water flow contains oxygenated water, and those bacteria cannot live in oxygenated environments...  See why I want to remove the power filter?  I will still need some sort of particle filtration (aka sump), which is why it's back in the tank now.
• Phosphates are necessary, but only in minute quantities.  I have none in the water (after the water change), which is good.  Like nitrate, that simply means I don't have any "unused" phosphates.  They are still in the tank, just not in the water.  Phosphates are locked up in the live rock and substrate, in the flora, and in the fauna (due to them receiving it via food).  Yesterdays test had .25 ppm of phosphates in the water.  Today I'm back at zero (or very close).  That tells me everything is saturated with the phosphates because it was in yesterdays water.  With more time, it will be interesting to see phosphate in my causality scheme.

A Prehistoric Treat & Some Eye Candy

The Peppermint Shrimp, who has yet to earn his keep, came out from the rock he's been hiding under since acclimation to grab something, then retreat back to his hole.  I got a much better picture of him.

We were treated tonight to an early emergence of the Brittle Starfish as the Clown fish entertained us by skimming the half pipe of which the anemone resides, only to be interrupted by a starfish leg which they promptly shoo'd away.

And the photosynthetic bacteria of the Red Slime Algae glimmered in the Moonlight LEDs to top off the night.

This saltwater world can truly be amazing.

T plus 89:00

It's been 89 hours since the cloudy tank was discovered, and 89 hours of closely monitoring the anemone.

By the time I'd gotten home from a short day of work the daylights had already had their 4 hour cycle.  The anemone still looks nice and full, even if a little "pale".  I bumped up the light timer one notch, which is 20 minutes or so (I think there are three notches per hour, but it's hard to tell).  I'm going to keep bumping it one notch a day until the anemone begins to shrink - a sign that it's getting too much light.  Then perhaps we'll start the additional hour per week for light acclimation.

I had enough things to do on my "need to get" list that I dropped by my LFS.  The atmosphere was a nice one today, I must say.  The owner was not around, but his wife was.  We swapped a few stories - she said she walked in today to what she thought was a shrimp birth...  Hundreds of these things swimming around.  It was neat to hear how excited she still gets with saltwater discoveries like that.  It gives me hope this hobby won't get old, at least for my wife and me.

I grabbed a phosphate test kit from the get-go, and the browsed while she helped the customer before me.  I spotted the Peppermint Shrimp and eyed them quickly before searching for their price.  Ten dollars each, or three for $24.  Phosphate kit was also ten bucks. So far so good... can't spend too much.  I told her about the tribulations with the anemone.  She conveyed a couple anecdotes about her experiences with anemones.  The moral of her story was that if it were going to die, it would be obvious.  Good news there.

While I was there, I inquired about the Cardinals.  They've only snacked a bit here and there for the last week.  I asked what they use to feed theirs - she said "Krill".  I have Krill pellets... "No, I mean Krill".  Show me this Krill.  She produced a can of freeze dried krill.  I quickly scanned the ingredients - krill and a vitamin supplement.  She demonstrated how to feed krill on their clown/anemone tank.  To my surprise, she placed the last bit of krill right into the anemone.  It closed up on her fingers and she pulled her hand out.  Wow, I haven't yet gotten the nerve to do that.

I told her if the Cardinals keep snacking this week, I'll be in for some.

I explained my concerns for the anemone being bleached and told her I've read they can be nursed back as long as they are target fed everyday - I've heard of using Mysis Shrimp for this.  She agreed that they love it and produced a frozen package of it.

Out the door for $28 and change and had one of the most reassuring and informative visits I've had in a little while.

Once I got home my wife was excited to hear the story about the owners wife hand-feeding their anemone.  She wanted to try it.  She did so successfully.  She even played a bit with the tentacles.  I asked if they were sticky or slimy.  They're sticky - good!  The Clowns had some of the shrimp, but not much.  The Cardinals weren't interested in it at all.

The Peppermint Shrimp, once in the tank, headed to the opposite end of the tank as the aiptasia, so no aiptasia will be consumed today.  And the small cloudy white snail we saw a week or to ago... Found it on the glass today.  The shell is beginning to become pronounced.  From the looks of it, it could be a Chiton, Limpet, or Stomatella.  As it matures, I'm sure it will become obvious.

Here are some photo's from this afternoon:

The Brittle Starfish made a small appearance this afternoon.

Here is the side view of the "Snail" we saw a couple weeks ago.

Here is the underside of the unknown "Snail".

Wasn't thinking too well.  It's the only picture so far of the Peppermint Shrimp.

The Luxury of Time has been Taken Away

It's been a week since the Damsels were returned.  I've been growing accustomed to spectating.  Things have changed.

My wife called about 9am.  A client of her employer has a leak in their tank.  They have a ton of things they are nearly giving away just to save them.

She didn't know specifically what they had, but there were fish, coral, live rock, and live sand.  She gave me her clients phone to call.

I called and asked if I could help, verified what I would need to bring (just a couple 5 gallon buckets) and got the directions.

This had to have been a 300 gallon tank.  When I got there the water was two thirds of the way down.  Their basement was littered with 40 gallon Brute cans with the live rock, corals, etc.  The fish were still in the tank.

We talked a bit about the size and maturity of my tank and equipment.  They had a couple of clowns, a couple cardinals, some shrimp, 3 starfish, what looked like an eel, plus some angels.

I let them know I would do everything I could to help save what they had.  Part of that was not to take on too much.  I ended up with the two clowns, their hosting anemone, the live rock the anemone had claimed, some mushroom coral, a couple other types of polyp coral, and two cardinals.  Oh, and a starfish.  I figured I was pushing the limits of the tank with 4 fish and an anemone so I elected to get a starfish for help with the cleanup crew.

It took a few hours, but everything has been acclimated to our tank.  The anemone re-situated itself in it's bowl-shaped rock.  The clowns have found their host.  The starfish is hiding, and the cardinals really don't know what to do.

No more spectating.  I am now an active participant.