I love inverts. I want to stock my 75 gallon with rare, oddball, and strange inverts. Any ideas?
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Sea cucumbers, yes - the sand sifting ones are generally easy to keep; the filter feeding ones aren't particularly hard to keep either, but they may require phytoplankton to feed on.I am more on the beginner side of the hobby. Are there any easy to keep sea cucumbers and nudibrachs? I already have a pink urchin
They can - it's very rare, though:I have heard sea cucumbers will release a toxin when they die, killing everything in the tank.
Yeah, I've only heard of a couple of instances where a "cuke nuke" actually took place despite knowing multiple instances of cucumbers ejecting either a toxic fluid, their organs, or their cuvierian tubules, so it's definitely not a common event (at least not with sand sifting species). That said, keep in mind that the toxicity varies from one species to the next, and some species are more toxic in certain ways (some are more toxic when they expel toxins in some way, others contain more toxin in their body wall, etc.), and various circumstances (such as water volume, skimmers, running carbon or not, etc.) about the aquarium they're in can determine how much harm the toxin causes.
Personally, I'd say they generally seem pretty safe, but you need to be aware of the (relatively low) risk and have a plan in place to handle it if things go awry.
The cuke nukings:
An instance of ejecting a fluid (nothing seemed to have been harmed in the tank, but this stuff is reportedly toxic):EMERGENCY - Anemone Toxin / Sea Cucumber Toxin
Hi! Unfortunately, this morning I woke up to all my fish deceased, the sea cucumber and anemone also dead, with some gooey like slime stuck in my return pump. All of my crabs and snails are alive including my pom-pom, Anemone Crab and my Conchs, critters I thought to be extremely sensitive...www.reef2reef.com
EMERGENCY - New Black Sea Cucumber Red Stuff
Hey all, I recently got a black sea cucumber. I acclimated it with the drip method, and after a day it is now expelling this stuff. I've ready a lot about the toxicity, but I'm not sure if I should pull him now or not. All my SPS and fish seem to be fine.www.reef2reef.com
I'm not sure on the lobsters, but there are plenty of unique shrimp out there - pistol shrimp, bumblebee shrimp, saron shrimp (any shrimp of the Saron genus is going to be a cool shrimp IMO), tiger/bongo shrimp, lots of different cleaner shrimp, sexy shrimp, rock shrimp, green lantern shrimp, a variety of "table" (human food) shrimp (these get large and may or may not eat small inverts - not a lot of people keep them), etc.Are there any really unique shrimp? I am somewhat a shrimp enthusiast and I want to have a collection of unique shrimp. Also are there any reef safe non aggressive reef lobsters?
Check out the selection at reefcleaners.orgI love inverts. I want to stock my 75 gallon with rare, oddball, and strange inverts. Any ideas?
What is their shipping policy?Check out the selection at reefcleaners.org
Inside the US I believe.What is their shipping policy?
They have a pretty good selection of all things CuC. All raised in fishless tanks.What about crabs?
Are bongo shrimp okay with serpent starfish?bongo shrimp
pom pom crabs ! 2 inverts for 1I love inverts. I want to stock my 75 gallon with rare, oddball, and strange inverts. Any ideas?
I would assume so, but I don't actually know.Are bongo shrimp okay with serpent starfish?
I do not have an asterina starfish population but I have heard they can eat fish food when hungry.I would assume so, but I don't actually know.
I'm not sure with bongo shrimp (there's not a lot of info) but harlequins only eat starfish - there are conflicting reports on them accepting brittle stars when entirely out of other options, but it seems like if they do, it would be an extreme famine food.As far as I know, bongos and harlequins will eat any type of echinoderm, though they prefer true Asteroidea. Anything with tube feet.
I have never kept them (starfish lover) so I cannot speak from experience.