New to the site and temperate aquaria.

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Looks pretty good so far. I guess it needs more light to keep the turban snails alive.

Nice abalone shell btw.

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Welcome..

Hope you have a good lid on that tank with a weight on top..Or Rube's will be getting out for a walk..

Have you got a chiller ?

And what lights are you running atm ?

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Oh, I didn't see any algae until that last pic.

If you want seastar(s) you could try Leptasterias hexactis which has a maximum diameter of 4"; Leather star's is like 12". It also may have a diet that is easier to fulfill, and doesn't eat anemones.

Very cool stuff!!! I love keeping the Reds and GPO's from around here

Are you in Oregon or Washington? I'm just outside of Portland and I run a temperate livestock supply company if you need anything just hit me up

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Water changes are a regular part of Temperate maintainance (weekly),along with stable temperatures and fresh water top ups .Are you running a skimmer big enough to do your DT ? Whats your flow rate and you need a chiller( not an option) . The Rube's sound like he was effected more buy parisites than PH ,the pale skin is an indicator of Marine Velvet due to the unstable conditions and the PH spikes the MV would have a great spot to bloom and if the salt level was to high and large temp spikes as well "Boom"..I know people think rock pools have faster changing enviroments but they do get fresh water changes many times a day ,unlike a closed loop DT ..

Temperate isnt easier because its cold, quite the opposite..Try keeping a tropical marine DT without heaters ,no differant to keeping temperate without a chiller if you dont have one your going to have issues with Marine velvet, marine white spot, and other parsites not to mention general health issues etc.. I use fresh sea water that is filtered and sterlized with UV for 3 days before adding it and every collected spiecies is quarantined before introduction including rocks ,weed etc.

You also need a good marine test kit . HTH's good luck