Removing my socks

[Mudbeaver]

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68/Basilesim/Mon%20systeme/My%20great%20shots/735.jpg

I'm in a bit of a dilema here . My tank , mainly softies with a bioload of heavy filter feeders like gorgonians, i have an NPS zone dedicated to them, clams, a crinoid and soon a basket seastar that needs an owner fast because my tank seems the only one with a hight enough nutrient rich to host her.

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My 150 G main tank is fed by gravity with a 75G display refugium. I dose supplements every day for my macroalgaes and my filter feeders. My nitrates are at 5ppm and phosphates at 0.5 which is normal for and desirable with a refugium of that size otherwise your macro wont survive long.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68/Basilesim/Mon%20systeme/My%20great%20shots/Photo701.jpg

So with the arrival of a basket seastar that complicate things. A crinoid was hard enough, but a basket seastar.

Biology/Natural History: One of the largest known ophiuroids, it can have a diameter of up to half a meter. It feeds on suspended particles by spreading its rays out like a fan, oriented mostly perpendicular to the current. Macroscopic zooplankton such as copepods, chaetognaths, and jellyfish are caught by microscopic hooks on the rays. The fine branchlet tips (see picture) then curl around the object and slowly move it toward the mouth (exact method is unclear). The prey of basket star species is said to range up to 3 cm (just over an inch) in size, and most basket stars capture prey mainly at night but may retain their prey until daytime to actually feed on them. Mucus may also help to immobilize prey. This species has also been reported to feed on the small benthic sea pen Stylatula elongata.

This species seems to have a strong co-occurrence with the soft coral Gersemia rubiformis. In Puget Sound, Gorgonocephalus juveniles have been reported within the pharynges of Gersemia polyps, where they appear to develop and apparently feed. The young do not leave the Gersemia until their rays are long enough to capture food.

Unlike any other local ophiuroid, the rays of the basket star branch repeatedly dichotomously. The central disk is covered with a loose-fitting skin with a dark brown color between the bases of the rays and a pinkish color, more similar to the ray color, near the ray bases. Actual color may be variable from tan, beige, orange-red, and pink to almost white; but the central disk is usually darker than the rays.


So i'm thinking of removing my socks to give it more chance at grabbing pods and what not, I'll be dosing mysis and spot feeding as well as i would any particular. i just hope its enough. What do you think.

[Mudbeaver]

I found out about a guy who shop vack his sump every WC he makes , lol so that gave me the push for the trials. My buddy says his nylons are full of captured pods, the very thing i'm hopping will become the stapple food for the basket, as its uses its mucus and sharp claws in its basket to capture these guys at night and consume them during the day. Apparently the basket is not that expensive , and why not nobody wants to pay for something they know they can't kep. I'm sort of angry that permits are given to yank those animals out of the sea. I'm taking this one because the guy knows my tank and i know that if i don't its going to go in a sterile tank where its doomed. This is the pic he sent me she's arriving next week. I missed the call last night and next delivery is next friday.

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By the way, you know that i do not touch my sand at all, i mean i don't vacum or syphon at all . So last night i was counting the little nassarius snails so small not much bigger than the sand, i found 110 so far , they're the same color as the sand , so can imagine how many really their is..... it use to take a week to disolve a kelp leaf left at the bottom of the tank. Now 2 days its gone these guys and i imagine pods and critters alike are well and alive in that sand, i nearly lost a gorgonian that fell in my sand. I left it there for the day and it was almost consume to the core when i got back from shopping. So the detritus in that sand doesn't stay long in there let me tell ya. Thats because i've let nature take over that part. Just wanted to share that piece of experience with you guys.

Now i'm affraid to put my fingers in there in case i loose a digital LOL

[Mudbeaver]

I've taken out the socks this morning to see the affects on the tank, this week before she comes in, i'll see the responce on my crinoid, how she behave. For those who are wondering what a crinoid is; a feather starfish

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Feeding
Crinoids feed by filtering small particles of food from the sea water with their feather like arms. The tube feet are covered with a sticky mucus that traps any food that floats past. Once they have caught a particle of food, the tube feet can flick it into the ambulacral groove, where the cilia are able to propel the stream of mucus towards the mouth. Generally speaking, crinoids living in environments with relatively little plankton have longer and more highly branched arms than those living in rich environments.
The mouth descends into a short oesophagus. There is no true stomach, so the oesophagus connects directly to the intestine, which runs in a single loop right around the inside of the calyx. The intestine often includes numerous diverticulae, some of which may be long or branched. The end of the intestine opens into a short muscular rectum. This ascends towards the anus, which projects from a small conical protuberance at the edge of the tegmen.

[Mudbeaver]

Well i found my crinoid still at the same place now for a week now , but this morning she's got her arms extended. Which means she's feeding. According to litterature when in a ball they're resting or protecting themselves, but when fully extended they're feeding and uses the currents to do so.


" Feeding
Crinoids are passive suspension feeders that consume food items captured from surrounding waters, being passive because they don't generate any sort of current themselves. Instead, they let the water bring food to them. However, they can change their location, overall orientation, and arm and pinnule extension to maximize food collection under different environmental conditions. Also note that some species apparently prefer strong currents while others prefer lower to weak currents (Meyer 1982, Meyer et al. 1984, Baumiller 1997).

When feeding, the adhesive podia emerging from the arms and pinnules snare food items, sometimes with the assistance of mucous threads, and then pass them into the grooves that line them. Cilia in the grooves then guide the items to the mouth where they are ingested (Nichols 1960, Byrne & Fontaine 1981, Meyer 1982, Holland et al. 1986).

So, what is it that they eat? Lots of things, with diets being highly variable from species to species. Known food items include: particles of detritus, ciliated protozoans, diatoms, foraminifera, and crustacean zooplankton, as well as several types of eggs, embryos, and larvae, with most all items being in the range of 0.05 to 0.4mm in size (Rutman & Fishelson 1969, West 1978, Meyer 1979 & 1982, La Touche & West 1980, Holland et al. 1991, Fossa & Nilsen 2002, Kitazawa et al. 2007)."

"Behavior
Crinoids typically sit in place with their arms extended to feed. However, as noted above, they can ball up when not feeding by rolling their arms up into tight coils, or by wrapping them around their body. Feather stars can also crawl around by using the cirri on their underside, and as mentioned above, sea lilies can also crawl about using their arms and/or the cirri on their stalks. This allows crinoids to move to a location where the current is suitable for feeding and/or to avoid predation."

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/7/inverts

So imagine my delight this morning. I'll be adding to my dosing suppliment, the following;

-OysterFeast
-Cyclop-eeze
-what ever i can find for filter feeders that will suit them.

I have now all the fauna marin filterfeeders product and sponge foods, in a mix and dosing every hour, so it should do ok . The socks are OFF the the responce of the feather star is encouraging.

[cody6766]

There's nothing wrong with an experiment. I'd leave them off until you see something going wrong in the tank. Keep a close eye on it and make the call based on excess algae or other unwanted effects. I don't run a sock, and didn't notice a difference when I did, so they're not always needed. They seem to be a good way to keep ultra clean systems ultra clean. Yours is 'dirty' and needs to be so. The worst thing that will happen is a little algae grows and you have to put it back in.

[Mudbeaver]

There's nothing wrong with an experiment. I'd leave them off until you see something going wrong in the tank. Keep a close eye on it and make the call based on excess algae or other unwanted effects. I don't run a sock, and didn't notice a difference when I did, so they're not always needed. They seem to be a good way to keep ultra clean systems ultra clean. Yours is 'dirty' and needs to be so. The worst thing that will happen is a little algae grows and you have to put it back in.

That's what i'm thinking too and a bit of algae wouldn't be a problem either i have a very god CUC, 3 urching that are only asking for algaes, i'm feeding them dry seaweeds along with the tangs and lots of stomellas and turbo's ,and conch that are doing an excellent job in the sand.

12 serpents stars for detritus and 110 small nassarius babys so far along with 12 adults and 15 babylonians , some blue leg hermiths and emerald crabs. A 24 inch tiger cuke, 15 sponges are taking care of the water filtration as well.

So i've set it up to accommodate a fairely dirty tank lol. An active tank too with some finicky eaters. The socks are more for the sps type tank oriented i believe. They dose more chemicals i have to dose more food

Thanks for your interest.

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I write big for my iphone friends

[julie180]

Hope your feet don't get cold :)

[Mudbeaver]

Found my new toy to clean my new dirty sump and also water mess.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pond-Vacuum-Vac-Vaccuum-pool-muck-cleaner-spa-5-gal-cap-koi-fish-water-feature-/391003045797?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b0998ffa5

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68/Basilesim/Tech%20things/watervack.jpg

Their's plenty of other models between $190-250 depending. its worth a pump and its also convenient when you have a mess so why not we're all prone to have one once and a while.

The Pond Vac is one of the newest and most powerful pond vacuums in the industry. This vacuum's 2 H.P. motor can remove dirt particles up to 3/8" in diameter, such as algae, dead plants and leaves.

The Matala Pond Vac also has an on board electronic monitor switch. Once the container is full, the Vacuum automatically turns off. The container empties in 25-30 seconds and course debris can be collected into a sludge collection bag that is included. Works well with ponds up to 3 ft. depth.

More powerful suction than the competing Oase Pondomatic or Pond-Tech brand vaccums!

Specifications:

Hose on Intake: 16' Long.

Hose on Discharge: 8.2' Long.

Max Suction Height: 7 ft.

Warranty: 2 yr.

Dimensions (dia X H): 15" X 20".

Cord Length: 16 ft.

Voltage: 120V. Max Watts: 1400.

I've named it R2D4 FOR MY WATER CHAGES TOO.

[skey44]

I want a droid for water changes!