What would it take to make this a SW tank? Am I ready to go down this road?

[Khemul]

Sounds like an Asterina Starfish. The problem with those is that we typically narrow down the species to... Asterina sp.. Put two side-by-side and you probably aren't going to spot a difference. Most are harmless. Others, not so much. That is why you see conflicting information. Different people are talking about different species, but can't narrow it down beyond Asterina sp..


It's a recurring theme with marine invertebrates. Unfortunately.

 

[A. Nonymous]

I googled pics and you're right. Some of the pics were strange though. Some of those starfish have 5 arms, others seem to have 7 or 8. Mine has 5 arms. Not sure if that makes any difference at all. Definitely looks like what I've got.

Consensus is that I should remove the guy or keep him?

 

[greech]

Leave it be. Sometimes I have a 100 and sometimes I only have a few. They will eat coraline but not at a rate that is of concern. I believe that the coral munching versions are few and far between.

 

[A. Nonymous]

I did a partial water change today. Nitrite is still high. Ammonia is .5 afterwards. Nitrate is still there. It appears I'm semi-stuck at the nitrite stage. The bacteria is there to eat the ammonia and the bacteria is there to change the nitrite to nitrate, but not enough of it there.

I added my new protein skimmer and am getting it running. I am not liking all the crap hanging in the tank. It just looks unsightly. I have given some thought to adding a sump. I have a 20l and a 10g both sitting empty right now. Both would make a decent sump I think I just have to figure out how plumb it so I'm pumping water into the tank at the same rate it's draining and how to keep the entire tank from draining in the event of a power outage.

 

[A. Nonymous]

Well, ammonia is 0, nitrite is hovering at 1.0 and is stuck at 1.0 and nitrate is at between 5-10 ppm. Hard to tell. I really wish it would get past this nitrite hump.

 

[greech]

Use the bigger tank for the sump if at all possible. You avoid overfilling the sump by ensuring that your overflow/drain is set to a height that maintains the desired water level in the tank and that your return line(s) is either set in a position that only allows a certain amount of water to back siphon or you drill some holes in your return (just below the running water line) so that a siphone break occurrs. Neither are difficult.

As for the nitrites, you may want to have someone else verify your test or use a different test kit. The other option is to consider something like biofuel or MB7 to give your bacteria bed a boost.

 

[A. Nonymous]

Well, I may be ready to add fish, but then again I might not. I can't figure out what is going on with my cycle now. I tested today and ammonia was 0, nitrite had dropped to 0 and nitrate was also 0. I honestly have no clue what's going on with this tank today. I guess I'm going to have to re-test later on today when I get some free time. I still need to get that protein skimmer worked out. Have not had a chance this week to work on it. This tank is turning into a huge PITA.