Basket Starfish
- Thread starter titi59
- Start date
Pretty much impossible. They're like crinoids- they need to be fed multiple times a day, they only eat tiny particulates of a certain very specific size, and they need absolutely pristine water that must be kept pristine despite the huge amounts of food being dumped into the tank. Theoretically possible, and there are a couple of people with crinoids being kept alive, but usually the poor things starve. Thing is, they take long enough to starve (several months) that the owner thinks they're succeeding.
IMO, even if you have the equipment, time, and cash to keep one alive, they aren't worth it. They're cool, but not 'feed several times a day with expensive food and do constant water changes" cool.
IMO, even if you have the equipment, time, and cash to keep one alive, they aren't worth it. They're cool, but not 'feed several times a day with expensive food and do constant water changes" cool.
Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
I don't think accurate saltwater maintence books exist.
Four (or more) times a day with exactly the right sized food (and nobody's certain what size that is or if it varies) with exactly the right nutritional content (again, nobody's sure), and probably twice-daily (or more) water changes to maintain the pristine water they need.
Even if you somehow get the formula exactly right, you are going to be spending a LOT of money on food, RO water, and salt, and we're talking quite a lot of time every day to keep this thing alive, and good luck ever finding a pet-sitter who can properly do this. Say goodbye to vacations and a big chunk of your daily free time.
Most books on saltwater tanks can't be trusted. By the time you can get a book published, there have been new discoveries, and most of those books are several years old already. I used to have a book that recommended under-gravel filters, fish-in cycling, little to no live rock, and once-monthly water changes for saltwater tanks. That book ended up being thrown away because most of it was pure nonsense.
It's comparable to reading a book on zookeeping that recommends those jail-cell-like cages for animals.
Which is really a shame- a good book on saltwater aquarium maintenance would be very helpful.
Even if you somehow get the formula exactly right, you are going to be spending a LOT of money on food, RO water, and salt, and we're talking quite a lot of time every day to keep this thing alive, and good luck ever finding a pet-sitter who can properly do this. Say goodbye to vacations and a big chunk of your daily free time.
Most books on saltwater tanks can't be trusted. By the time you can get a book published, there have been new discoveries, and most of those books are several years old already. I used to have a book that recommended under-gravel filters, fish-in cycling, little to no live rock, and once-monthly water changes for saltwater tanks. That book ended up being thrown away because most of it was pure nonsense.
It's comparable to reading a book on zookeeping that recommends those jail-cell-like cages for animals.
Which is really a shame- a good book on saltwater aquarium maintenance would be very helpful.
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