What do you all think would be the minimum tank requirements to have a healthy colony of asterina stars and maybe some other microfauna like copepods and amphipods?
I ask because I have a tank of Opae Ula shrimp. They're the little red shrimp you see in those fake-ecosystem Ecosphere things, the ones that eventually collapse. I have about 10 shrimp in a 3-gallon brackish water tank, with some macroalgae and coral rock but not much else, and I haven't fed them since I got them in January. There's algae all over the place that they eat. I've done my research, and even after they breed into a large colony, they'll need very minimal maintenance. Feed them once a week or so, top off evap, and that's it. Their larvae are planktonic, but because there's no filter, the babies just swim around for awhile before settling.
Now, I understand that this works because Opae Ula shrimp are adapted to live in small bodies of water. It got me thinking, though; can you do something relatively similar with a saltwater aquarium for a few hardy inverts? I like asterina stars, personally, and microfauna can be neat to watch. Amphipods are kinda cute, and you never get to see them in a stocked tank with fish.
I'm thinking of a small tank, maybe 3-5g, set up with a bunch of bits of live rock. No heater, maybe a sponge filter, either nearish a window or with a light to grow algae. The LED over my shrimp tank (betta tank setup) seems to be growing a ton of algae. Maybe throw in a few bits of macroalgae. I'd stock it with asterina stars, maybe some copepods and amphipods or other crawlies, but stick to things that eat bio-film and algae. No 'standard' shrimp unless one hitchhikes in, maybe a tiny hermit, absolutely no fish.
The aim would be to have a tank where all I have to do is sprinkle in a touch of food every week or so, keep it from evaporating to nothing, maybe pull out some macroalgae now and then. I'd like the critters to be healthy enough that all the little microfauna breeds to keep the populations from vanishing.
Does that sound like it could work?
I ask because I have a tank of Opae Ula shrimp. They're the little red shrimp you see in those fake-ecosystem Ecosphere things, the ones that eventually collapse. I have about 10 shrimp in a 3-gallon brackish water tank, with some macroalgae and coral rock but not much else, and I haven't fed them since I got them in January. There's algae all over the place that they eat. I've done my research, and even after they breed into a large colony, they'll need very minimal maintenance. Feed them once a week or so, top off evap, and that's it. Their larvae are planktonic, but because there's no filter, the babies just swim around for awhile before settling.
Now, I understand that this works because Opae Ula shrimp are adapted to live in small bodies of water. It got me thinking, though; can you do something relatively similar with a saltwater aquarium for a few hardy inverts? I like asterina stars, personally, and microfauna can be neat to watch. Amphipods are kinda cute, and you never get to see them in a stocked tank with fish.
I'm thinking of a small tank, maybe 3-5g, set up with a bunch of bits of live rock. No heater, maybe a sponge filter, either nearish a window or with a light to grow algae. The LED over my shrimp tank (betta tank setup) seems to be growing a ton of algae. Maybe throw in a few bits of macroalgae. I'd stock it with asterina stars, maybe some copepods and amphipods or other crawlies, but stick to things that eat bio-film and algae. No 'standard' shrimp unless one hitchhikes in, maybe a tiny hermit, absolutely no fish.
The aim would be to have a tank where all I have to do is sprinkle in a touch of food every week or so, keep it from evaporating to nothing, maybe pull out some macroalgae now and then. I'd like the critters to be healthy enough that all the little microfauna breeds to keep the populations from vanishing.
Does that sound like it could work?
