[i]Tamaria sp.[/i]

[Sarah]

I just bought a Tarmia sp. sea star yesterday. I have read that they are more difficult then some inverts to acclimate. I added it after a 3 hour "bag trick" acclimation to my quarantine tank, is this necessary or could I have acclimated it to my main system? I know that it probably feeds on microorganisms (which are definately not present in my q. tank) so am I just going to stress it out more by quarantining it first? Will it be okay for 2 weeks in the q. tank without food? Also, are air bubbles disturbing to it?

 

[GSchiemer]

Tamaria sp. sea stars are not easy to maintain. You were correct in acclimating it slowly, but it should have gone straight into your main reef aquarium. This way you would have handled it just one time, and it would have a better chance of finding food items in a mature reef aquarium. They are reported to feed on microscopic algae and invertebrate fauna. I've never seen one eat prepared foods.

I'm not sure what you mean by air bubbles, but "yes" that can be irritating to sea creatures.

Greg Schiemer

 

[Biogeek]

I agree with Greg, and do not usually quaratine my invertebrates, especially ones with a record of being difficult to acclimate. Very little is known about these stars, and to date there have been no scientific studies of their diet in the wild. The only report of their diet is from the Baensch Marine Atlas, which reports they graze surface scum (Aufwuchs) from live rock. Like most marine invertebrates, these animals are fairly resistent to starvation, and 2 weeks without food is unlikely to have much impact on their health, provided they were healthy to start with.

Hopefully the conditions in your Q-tank are the same as those in your main tank and you can transfer the star with minimal stress. If conditions are not identical, then your best bet at this point will be for you to slowly bring the water conditions in your Q-tank into line with your main tank so that you can make the transfer by doing frequent partial water changes (perhaps even twice daily) on the Q-tank with replacement water being drawn from your main aquarium until the conditions are identical. In the meanwhile, if you are worried about the animal starving, perhaps you can add a well-established piece of live rock to your Q-tank to tide it over until the water conditions allow a transfer...

Good luck!

Rob