Basket star?

BubblesandSqueak

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On my TBS rock this morning I noticed some weird looking tentacles sticking out. Thought it was just plant life/algae but they retracted as it caught stuff going by. They are white and not uniform. Think this is a basket star? Or possibly cucumber? I don’t have a YouTube but posted a couple videos as well as pics. Doesn’t look like feather dusters.

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BubblesandSqueak

BubblesandSqueak

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The coloration would be very unique for a basket, so I'm thinking those are sea cucumber oral tentacles.
The hole is slightly smaller than 1/4”. Probably 1/2” diameter tentacles and 3/4” long. So if it’s a cucumber, that would probably be 2-3” inside of there? Originally I thought plant life until it retracted that way. I’ll try to get better pictures. Think that would be safe in there for the octopus?
 

ISpeakForTheSeas

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Think that would be safe in there for the octopus?
Possibly, though it really depends on the octopus. If the octopus leaves it alone, then I'd say yes, otherwise, I'd pull it.

For a discussion on octo tankmates:
 

LiverockRocks

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The coloration would be very unique for a basket, so I'm thinking those are sea cucumber oral tentacles.
Agree, probably a cucumber.
Never had a basket hitchhiker, J specifically leaves those rocks in the sea. (They tend to be yellows, orange or black.)
 
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BubblesandSqueak

BubblesandSqueak

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Possibly, though it really depends on the octopus. If the octopus leaves it alone, then I'd say yes, otherwise, I'd pull it.

For a discussion on octo tankmates:
So I actually have several of those. Not so sure it’s a cucumber. Then as I was looking in there, I saw this guy “finally” which I believe is a mantis shrimp. It’s under blue lights but in the blink of an eye it just disappeared! Hope you can view the video as to how fast it disappears at the end.
 

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Making themselves at home: Have you intentionally done anything in your aquarium to enhance the natural behavior of your fish?

  • I planned my tank to encourage natural fish behavior.

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  • Anything that encourages natural fish behavior was a byproduct of the aquascaping.

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  • I did not do anything to encourage natural fish behavior.

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