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[HartnellHermit]

Hi fellow aquarists. I work at a California central coast college and we have a 3 year old cold water marine tank. I just had some new inverts donated and have questions about their care. I have a Pisaster star and a feather duster worm (not identified yet), a mussel (with barnacles attached) and some tunicates that are new to me. Residents include a Hemigrapsus, some hermits, Tegula, and some amphipods. They have been doing well for 3 years. I have a modest micro flora and fauna established also. I am concerned about the filter feeders getting enough to eat, and also, don't know how often to feed the Pisaster, which is currently isolated from the other animals. Any help will be greatly appreciated. So happy to have found this site, after searching so many coral reef sites.

[AquaticEngineer]

Well with any of the Pisaster species pretty much all your bivalves and slow moving mollusks are on the menu I actually harvest small clusters of mussels to feed the ones I intend to keep longer than others.

I just got a few Pisaster Giganteus from southern california last week, still got one on my site for sale: http://www.coldwatermarineaquatics.com/products/giant-knobby-sea-star-pisaster-giganteus

For the filter feeders, I would try and get some phyto plankton cultures going and dose those, or buy some phytoplankton from local fish store. I keep cultures of tigriopus californicus along with phytoplankton and just dump a bunch in every few days.

Let me know if you guys want any other species, I sell livestock to several other universities.

[HartnellHermit]

Thanks for the info. I was kind of surprised how difficult it is to find temperate suppliers. I'll check out your site. I guess the flashy tropicals are more popular. I am interested in using our tank of locals for educational purposes. Plus, I could just sit for hours observing behavior. Watched a great hermit crab interaction last week. (shell fight). Thanks again.

[AquaticEngineer]

That's one of the reasons why I decided to pursue this as more than just a personal hobby. If I had a hard time getting livestock I figured everyone else was as well.

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