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FishAreCool
Community Member
Thank you all so much for all these ideas!
Oddball Inverts
- Thread starter FishAreCool
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Bumble Bee Shrimp - not safe with starfish but do not require starfish as a main food source
Ive always found horseshoe crabs fascinating but that will outgrow your tank.
Purple Reef Lobster - cautions for small fish and small inverts
Coco Worms
Moving to a coral/invert mix - Christmas Tree Worm Rock (pricey though) - a nice example -
Rainbow Fire Urchin - Astropyga radiata
A bit untraditional and difficult to keep but tree sponges (though it’s hard to find small ones in my experience)
Ive always found horseshoe crabs fascinating but that will outgrow your tank.
Purple Reef Lobster - cautions for small fish and small inverts
Coco Worms
Moving to a coral/invert mix - Christmas Tree Worm Rock (pricey though) - a nice example -
Rainbow Fire Urchin - Astropyga radiata
A bit untraditional and difficult to keep but tree sponges (though it’s hard to find small ones in my experience)
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
I want it!!!This pink/orange filter feeding cucumber is pretty cool and there are some beautiful feather dusters out there...
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
Is that a sea apple?This pink/orange filter feeding cucumber is pretty cool and there are some beautiful feather dusters out there...
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
No, just a type of filter feeding cucumber...some cucumbers are filter feeders...I can see why you'd think that though since they're both echinoderms in the same class (holothuroidea) so they're closely related...I've never kept a sea apple before so I don't know how mobile they are but this guy can move around if he wants to where the flows suits him best...unlike a sea apple though, he has these sticky little projections on his skin so he can actually climb the glass if he wants...it's so cool watching him eat!
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
Ok, so where do I find one??? Lol
+1 on the lettuce nudibranch. Perfect for a 16g if you are only using the return pump and are using a filter pad on a media basket rather than a filter sock. I would occasionally find mine sitting on top of the filter pad after passing through the intake. Easy to fish out. Loved ulva and bryopsis and, oddly enough, found it parked on top of bubble algae a lot of the time.
Pom poms are fun. Porcelains are fun. I target feed all of my crabs/shrimp and they seem to love me--will eat out of my hand.
I'm on the fence about Saron shrimp. Mine is even more timid than my fire shrimp was (RIP, still missed), and I have a hard time target feeding it.
Serpent sea star can be fun. Mine eats catfish pellets. Fun to watch it eat.
Decorator crabs are really cool, but the one I got was 100% NOT reef safe. It would casually snack on EVERYTHING it went by.
Urchins can be really cool, but tricky and need attention to parameters and size of tank. I saw a pink tuxedo at a Petco just yesterday, which was cool (except for the $40 price tag). Pencil urchins look cool.
Pom poms are fun. Porcelains are fun. I target feed all of my crabs/shrimp and they seem to love me--will eat out of my hand.
I'm on the fence about Saron shrimp. Mine is even more timid than my fire shrimp was (RIP, still missed), and I have a hard time target feeding it.
Serpent sea star can be fun. Mine eats catfish pellets. Fun to watch it eat.
Decorator crabs are really cool, but the one I got was 100% NOT reef safe. It would casually snack on EVERYTHING it went by.
Urchins can be really cool, but tricky and need attention to parameters and size of tank. I saw a pink tuxedo at a Petco just yesterday, which was cool (except for the $40 price tag). Pencil urchins look cool.
Ditto. How big should a tank be for one?
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I have no idea how often they show up in the States unfortunately...I'm in Bangkok and we get some pretty weird livestock in (especially inverts) here...I do believe they're sometimes available over there though because on another thread a guy commented he had one
Here I've seen them as small as an inch long up to a few inches for sale...not sure what they're max size is but since they're filter feeders I'd say they probably grow pretty slowly so as long as you have a little food fit for filter feeders (Phyto, reef Roids would probably be fine, etc.) I don't think you need a very big tank at all...they don't move around much after they find a location with the flow they like so I don't think tank size is generally an issue since I've yet to see one over a few inches long
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
Just keep in mind if you get one though that most cucumbers (a lot of soft bodied inverts actually) do have a toxin they can release as mucus kinda like palytoxins which may irritate your skin or even cause an allergic reaction as another member mentioned if you handle it with your bare hands...so just use caution when moving it if you have to (just keep exposure to a minimum). I've never had to move mine...I kinda just let him be and if you didn't like where he settled, you could probably prompt him to move by changing the flow just a little.
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FishAreCool
Community Member
I've read that the filter feeding sea cucumbers and coco worms are hard to keep and I am a beginner to saltwater tanks, so are they actually hard to keep or are they easy? Same with christmas tree worms, are they also hard to care for?
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OP
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FishAreCool
Community Member
What species of sea cucumber is that if you know?This pink/orange filter feeding cucumber is pretty cool and there are some beautiful feather dusters out there...
To add to this:Reef Cleaners - Clean up Crews and Macroalgae
We specialize in algae eating invertebrates, natural filtration, and algae solutions for saltwater aquariums.www.reefcleaners.org
Reef Cleaners has limpets, money cowries, and fuzzy chitons.
KP Aquatics has "hairy chitons," which may or may not be the same thing as the fuzzy chitons.
Algae Barn also carries limpets.
Salty Bottom Reef Company has keyhole and fleshy limpets (fleshy keyhole limpets).
Terra Reef has Stomatellas (I've yet to hear of anyone buying form them, so I can't vouch for their legitimacy, but they do offer them).
The one shown is known as Cercodemas anceps - supposedly it's a synonym for Pentacta anceps (sold here in the States as Pink and Green Sea Cucumbers, or Spiny Sea Cucumbers). The ones we get here in the States (Pentacta anceps) are green and pink instead of that orangish color and pink. They're available through LiveAquaria, Blue Zoo Aquatics, Aquarium Creations Online, and Vivid Aquariums.
Cercoderma/Pentacta anceps (see my post above).
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FishAreCool
Community Member
Thank you!
Pink and Green Sea Cucumber, Spiny Sea Cucumber - Pentaca anceps
Pink and Green Sea Cucumber (Pentaca anceps) is also known as Spiny Sea Cucumber, Red Sea Cucumber.
www.bluezooaquatics.com
Not in stock right now for the one @ISpeakForTheSeas mentions
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I don't think they're too difficult to keep but I've only had mine for about 3 months although I'd consider my system relatively mature at least...they just need food for filter feeders which isn't difficult to provide for
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
Here he is eating...he moved up the side of the tank between the HOB filter and glass which isn't where id prefer for him to be so I'm just going to try changing the flow to try to get him to move again...if you look closely you can see him putting his tentacles in his mouth to eat (sorry for the dark lighting, it's evening here so the lights are ramping down)...there should be a video attached but it's 11 seconds long so not sure if it uploaded
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