Fish and Invert ideas

[kaingers]

My g/f went to a LFS the other day and the guy told her that we could get another goby to along with our yellow watchman. We have a 55 gallon corner tank, and I didn't think that information was correct?!
Also, what kind of starfish can I get thats easy to care for, reef safe, and likes to be on the glass and rocks (aka, not in the sand)??

 

[tank a holic]

Id say in a tank that small probubly not 2 gobies unless you had a maited pair.....
as for the star - I have a green brittle star, he crawls on the rocks alot but never on the glass as he cant stick himself to it but also he's never burried in the sand. I have seen chocolate chip stars on the glass a good bit at the LFS but I dont have one myself

 

[ophiura]

Unfortunately, green brittlestars are known predators in the wild, and always have this potential in captivity. However other species of brittlestars are better.
Reef safe seastars are some of the most difficult animals we can possibly keep long term because they can not be spot fed and require a large mature reef tank with huge amounts of live rock. What are your tank parameters, including water quality, amount of live rock and inhabitants?
The chocolate chip star sadly is not reef safe.

 

[flower]

Best purchase I ever made…I am including a page so you can see the type of info these books offer. You don’t have to study it, just look up the critter you want to know about, and they are small enough you can take them to the LFS with you when you shop for livestock….

 

[bcollett]

I absolutley agree that those books would both be a very worth while investment. They don't contain every animal you may want to put in your aquarium but they sure do cover quite a lot with lots of great information

 

[tank a holic]

I have those books and take them to the store every time I go

 

[kaingers]

Thanks for the book suggestions and replies. My tanks been up 2 months. I have around 75lbs of LR. All my parameters are good, no ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates thanks to my sump. The calcium and KH were a little low, but I dose and test accordingly. I watch my pH and adjust by buffering my ATO water. Salinity is stable at 1.024 because of my ATO. I do 10% H2O changes every other week, and have about a 2 degree change in temp from night to day.

 

[ophiura]

I would consider your specific gravity to be on the low side for seastars, and also would encourage waiting several more months for the tank and rock to mature. Even though the few parameters we test may be ok, many others are still stabilizing. As seastars are quite delicate, it is best to have a solid foundation.

 

[btldreef]

I also would not suggest two gobies in that size tank unless they are a mated pair. I have two Yellow Watchmen Gobies in my 155 there were "supposed to be" a mated pair, they fought for three days and now live at peace on opposite sides of the tank. Every once in a while (once a month) they do still fight and one will steal the others burrow, but at least there's room to do so in my tank. I wouldn't ever put two of these guys together in a tank 1/3 the size of mine without being absolutely positive that they were a mated pair.
For the record, I have two sand sifting starfish that are out very often. They climb the rocks and glass all morning and late afternoon while the actinics are on and all night. They just don't come out during the heart of the day, but I'm not home then so I don't mind. They're really easy to care for in my opinion. I had both in a 40G, and then now have moved them to my 155G. Do a great job with the sand and are fun to watch. They might not be as fun to watch as some of the more colorful species, but they can be spot fed.

 

[kaingers]

Thanks for the input you guys! Ima wait a couple more months and let the tank mature.