Red crinoid Diary- Himerometra robustipinna

[jap783]

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.

 

[jap783]

So I couldn't locate the shrimp again :(, I should have moved it out quicker than I did. I did get Brightwell's Phytogold M and offered it twice today. I recorded this evening's feeding and it gets real freaky at about a minute in. If it survives I think I'm going to call it Dr. Zoidberg. Are there any sources for crinoid physiology? I was wondering what the tentacle-y parts in the center are called. Does it mean it's feeding when they move? The crinoid also tends to close after most feedings (except tonight's), so I'm not sure if what I'm doing is annoying Dr. Zoidberg or if closing up indicates satiation.

 

[F i s h y]

So I couldn't locate the shrimp again :(, I should have moved it out quicker than I did. I did get Brightwell's Phytogold M and offered it twice today. I recorded this evening's feeding and it gets real freaky at about a minute in. If it survives I think I'm going to call it Dr. Zoidberg. Are there any sources for crinoid physiology? I was wondering what the tentacle-y parts in the center are called. Does it mean it's feeding when they move? The crinoid also tends to close after most feedings (except tonight's), so I'm not sure if what I'm doing is annoying Dr. Zoidberg or if closing up indicates satiation.

That is so cool... I wish I had answers for you. I wish you luck on your journey. Please please please keep this thread updated. Following along. Absolutely amazing.

 

[Greg Smith]

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.

We have kept crinoids for many years
We fed them live rotifers
If you get a feeding response from frozen ones they should work but watch for water quality

 

[jap783]

It didn’t seem to accept the frozen rotifers in the video. It appeared to reject any that were caught in its feathers. I may end up culturing live ones to see if there produce a feeding response. Do you recall which species you were working with? My understanding is that the red species will only accept food particles <100 microns while other species will take much larger food particles.

Heres an update for tonight: it hasn’t grown at all and has lost an anchoring leg yesterday. I have only been feeding 0.25 ml phytogold-m or phytochrom diluted into 1ml 2-3 times daily. Tonight I fed 1 ml phytogold-m undiluted and Dr. Zoidberg seemed to gobble it up greedily. At least it appears to be a feeding response when compared to other foods I’ve tried. Here are recordings of both