Originally Posted by
ophiura
It is really amazing to me, actually, how different the personalities of some of these guys can be. I have a black brittlestar - most likely what you are talking about (and shown on this site), and I rarely see it out (I reckon it MIGHT come out at night). I have 2 other "serpent" stars that also are rarely seen. Another "brittlestar" basically is pretty docile and hangs out in one spot. Then 2 serpentstars that will be out, but not aggressive, when feeding. Finally I have 3 greens and a red serpent that I would say are extremely energetic, and possibly aggressive (though I can not, definitively, accuse them of anything - I feed VERY heavily). So there is a full spectrum there. THe same species in others tanks may display totally the opposite behavior! Strange but true.
I would possibly boost up your salinity a touch, to 1.025-1.026, simply by topping off with saltwater instead of fresh. Always do these sorts of things slowly. 1.024 is about as low as I would consider going.
BTW, I disagree that it will be "beneficial" to the tank. It is a good scavenger, but should not be left to scavenge, and in fact I wouldn't consider mine particularly active all in all. Maybe they would at night :notsure: but by that time the other "bugs" have probably eaten most stuff. It is also not a sand sifter as they are sometimes sold. So they are very cool creatures with interesting behaviors, but they are a potential risk (as are your shrimp, crabs, and many other creatures
)
Your water change...well, was this a 100% water change? Did the filters and rock and everything stay wet? If so, then it was not a restart of the tank, IMO, because your biological filter stayed intact.
I have on very few occasions seen my black brittlestar during the day. Today being one, only because I spotted its hiding place today. LOL. At about four a.m. I saw it across one of my live rocks(grazing I guess). I other than my peppermint shrimp(who do much work at night too I found out) and the star, haven't seen any other night activity.
You mention a potential risk, what types do you mean?
I would say a 80-95% water change in the end. The filters, I did a 2 second FW dip then back into saltwater where they stayed throughout the process. The bio wheels stayed wet in the orig. saltwater. One pump/filter stayed cycling the temp. tank. I ended up trashing the live rock, hindsight may not have done that, lesson learned. I got new rock, 52 pounds of it that was cured and then had been in the lfs for over a week. I cycled the live rock and live sand(still in tank) for a couple days before re-introducing the fish etc. I am planning a 10 gal+- water change(pre-mixed from lfs) for tomorrow to help with that slight spike in nitrates. I had little to no change from yesterdays testing. Everyone seems quite normal and happy.
Aslo, you mentioned feeding heavily. I'm scared of feeding too much, but does this schedule seem like enough or too much? At 8:45 am automatic feeder does small flake feeding, at noon I do a couple types of frozen equaling less than half a square(brine, mysis, emerald, and/or squid) and at about 4pm I do a light flake feeding, and at 8:45 pm automatic feeding, then goodnight. And I keep the algea sheet available too. I have tried to wait until they really are antsy for food though.
