Starfish are Incredible but Not as Simple as People may Think

[livinlifeinBKK]

The variety of starfish out there is truly incredible...I'll post a couple pics of ones up for sale right now just to show some of the diversity available here right now...

 

[sixty_reefer]

Yeah, I'm working to raise my nutrients a little bit. I do have some noticeable biofilm where I can see my sandbed through the glass though. It's a pretty deep sandbed too.

Btw, I'm sure people get tired of hearing me talk about starfish so much but they're just so interesting to me! I think I'll start up a starfish breeding company someday haha

It’s a interesting topic, and it’s in a way satisfying trying to accomplish something that hasn’t been done before or we’ll understood.

 

[sixty_reefer]

The variety of starfish out there is truly incredible...I'll post a couple pics of ones up for sale right now just to show some of the diversity available here right now...

I was looking at the one in the first pic not so long ago in my lfs, my new system in only young and decided that I need a bit longer before I do the decision of adding one.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I was looking at the one in the first pic not so long ago in my lfs, my new system in only young and decided that I need a bit longer before I do the decision of adding one.

That's a different species of Fromia I believe...here one I saw for sale not long ago I absolutely loved...this is an Australian Biscuit

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

To be honest, I bet the little bit of carbon dosing I do couples with the probiotics are especially beneficial...since he excretes his stomach to eat, I imagine it makes contact with some of the probiotics that stick to the inside of his stomach and some of the polysaccharides from the product I dose are still in the water column so I don't have to directly feed him any probiotic laced foods or anything like that for it to be healthy

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

@sixty_reefer So should I add a little bit of that Zeovit Zeofood Plus directly to the tank with my star since it builds a biofilm quickly and just put off my other plan for now? That product is supposed to be a mix of vitamins and aminos acids btw...or what was the name of the stuff you use to build a thicker biofilm?

 

[sixty_reefer]

@sixty_reefer So should I add a little bit of that Zeovit Zeofood Plus directly to the tank with my star since it builds a biofilm quickly and just put off my other plan for now? That product is supposed to be a mix of vitamins and aminos acids btw...or what was the name of the stuff you use to build a thicker biofilm?

The ingredients are just different forms of nitrogen that will feed your bacteria and increase numbers, I use similar products although the ingredients are the same or similar.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

The ingredients are just different forms of nitrogen that will feed your bacteria and increase numbers, I use similar products although the ingredients are the same or similar.

That's what I figured...like every company has the same product just with a different name and price haha

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

@sixty_reefer I really don't want to get ahead of myself or risk sounding overly confident, but I don't forsee having any problems with this guy anytime soon...I mean it's pretty easy to tell he's eating and he hasn't lost any arms or anything so I don't know why anything would take a bad turn at this point. Maybe it's because of all the research I've done makes me feel like I know a lot about him

 

[sixty_reefer]

@sixty_reefer I really don't want to get ahead of myself or risk sounding overly confident, but I don't forsee having any problems with this guy anytime soon...I mean it's pretty easy to tell he's eating and he hasn't lost any arms or anything so I don't know why anything would take a bad turn at this point. Maybe it's because of all the research I've done makes me feel like I know a lot about him

Hopefully all goes well, try and keep us updated on developments

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Hopefully all goes well, try and keep us updated on developments

I will! I'd still like to grow a few encrusting sponges for him in my second tank maybe and give him one every once in a while but I think most sponges are pretty slow growing

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

@sixty_reefer btw, other than dendros, what other corals or inverts do you have in that tank? I was just thinking about how the addition of all those nutrients to grow a thick biofilm might influence the oxygen concentration in the water due to the increased bacterial growth after doing more research...not that it would be an issue for fish or most corals but it appears that starfish health can be negatively impacted by reduced oxygen levels and given that this tank isn't so big I'm not sure if I should be concerned about that or not yet...is oxygen concentration something you've ever monitored or noticed decreases in by chance?

 

[sixty_reefer]

@sixty_reefer btw, other than dendros, what other corals or inverts do you have in that tank? I was just thinking about how the addition of all those nutrients to grow a thick biofilm might influence the oxygen concentration in the water due to the increased bacterial growth after doing more research...not that it would be an issue for fish or most corals but it appears that starfish health can be negatively impacted by reduced oxygen levels and given that this tank isn't so big I'm not sure if I should be concerned about that or not yet...is oxygen concentration something you've ever monitored or noticed decreases in by chance?

Oxygen will be a problem if you where to overdosed organic carbon in your tank, the bacterial growth is limited in growth by this nutrient if you were to do a large initial dose this could cause a bacteria bloom and starve the tank from oxygen. Wend you carbon dose to manipulate bacterial growth you always have to start small, with my 26 gallon I’ve started small 0.5 ml of vodka as a source of carbon and slowly increase it as needed.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Oxygen will be a problem if you where to overdosed organic carbon in your tank, the bacterial growth is limited in growth by this nutrient if you were to do a large initial dose this could cause a bacteria bloom and starve the tank from oxygen. Wend you carbon dose to manipulate bacterial growth you always have to start small, with my 26 gallon I’ve started small 0.5 ml of vodka as a source of carbon and slowly increase it as needed.

Glad I thought about that!...I actually already carbon dose a small amount but like we were discussing probably going to try to boost it up just a little more

 

[sixty_reefer]

Glad I thought about that!...I actually already carbon dose a small amount but like we were discussing probably going to try to boost it up just a little more

Do you have a protein skimmer in the system?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Do you have a protein skimmer in the system?

No but I run an airstone to increase oxygenation