I acquired a red crinoid on 5/15. I know it has a 99.9% chance of not making it past the next few weeks and have accepted that but I wanted to give it a good old college try. So far I can only find that @AcroNem has successfully kept this species long term by offering a continuous supply of Thalassiosira weissflogii and Thalassiosira pseudonana as well as Paracoccus powder. If I switch to a constant rate infusion of phytoplankton, then I will use Reed Mariculture's TW 1800 and TP1800. I'm trying to determine the optimal amount of food and delivery method necessary for growth. I recorded it's reactions to various foods I have offered and you can check out the videos below. The best reaction in my opinion has been to Brightwell's Phytochrom but I also ordered Phytogold-M which only contains Thalassiosira sp. Are there any other crinoid keepers that can identify feeding behaviors?
P.S. It came with a commensal shrimp which I noticed in the acclimation bucket. I separated it and put it in a floating breeder box so my wrasses wouldn't suck it down the first chance they got. Last night the suction cups came undone and I thought the worst but it is surprisingly still alive and magically made it to the crinoid despite the fish, powerhead and filtration. I am going to try to sequester it bc my melanurus wrasses are constantly hunting. I apologize for the poor quality photo and videos, all I have is an iPad and iPhone.
P.S. It came with a commensal shrimp which I noticed in the acclimation bucket. I separated it and put it in a floating breeder box so my wrasses wouldn't suck it down the first chance they got. Last night the suction cups came undone and I thought the worst but it is surprisingly still alive and magically made it to the crinoid despite the fish, powerhead and filtration. I am going to try to sequester it bc my melanurus wrasses are constantly hunting. I apologize for the poor quality photo and videos, all I have is an iPad and iPhone.