Keeping a sea squirt

[Douglas]

Just looking for info, opinions, or experiences on keeping these interesting creatures. I've attached a picture of the type of sea squirt.

[ScubaSteve]

Can you be more specific as to which ones you're looking at/for? The different species have different requirements, which makes some easier to care for than others.

But on the whole, they're tough to keep. I love squirts, they're up there with nudi's as being my favourite critters. But like nudi's they're one of those species that can be a real challenge. The bigger squirts like the orange monkey sea squirts are basically out of the question unless you are prepared to do a lot of target feeding or do a species specific tank like an azoox tank.

You'll probably have better luck with the small to medium sized colonial tunicates (I'm on the hunt for some myself). They'll spontaneously grow on live rock and can stay around for quite a while. The trick to them is getting good placement. Basically treat them like a sponge; they need good flow to bring nutrients to them but not too high they can't capture food or are torn from the rocks.

Though they are a challenge, don't let that discourage you from trying to figure them out. Do your home work and try new things. Sort of like how a few years ago people said you couldn't keep mandarins in small tanks, but once we figured out tricks like rubble piles and refugiums you see them being kept in nano tanks successfully. So the same goes with tunicates... you just have to figure out that critical element for success. If you want to try to figure them out I'll gladly help ya out!

[daniella3d]

Those tunicates are incredibly hard to keep. They slowly starve in aquarium and I have never seen anyone keep them for long.

I tried 2 and although I feed my tank heavily with all sort of filter feeder food like fauna marin, reefroid, coral frenzy, zooplankton and phytoplankton, they still died in a few months. They get black and die.

They need a certain orientation to the current, and they need a constant amount of iodine because without it they cannot produce the mucus they need to absorb nutriments.

REally awesome but you slowly watch them die.

Just looking for info, opinions, or experiences on keeping these interesting creatures. I've attached a picture of the type of sea squirt.

[naesco]

Unless you have a small aquarium with lots of live rock and feed phyto/zoo to the point that the water is coloured or are a marine scientist studying this speices, do not attempt to keep these as they will starve to death.

[StirCrazy]

forget about buying them like has been said. in a good set up they will occure naturaly, maybe not the type you pictured but you will get sponges and tunicates eventualy.

Steve

[daniella3d]

In deed...I do have a little pink one that is about 3/4" that appeared not so long ago and it has set itself where I have very strong current and absolutely no light doing there. It is a little pink tunicate, not sure where it comes from.

Each time I remove that rock for cleaning I think it's going to die being exposed to air but it survive. I wish I could relocate it though! lol!


forget about buying them like has been said. in a good set up they will occure naturaly, maybe not the type you pictured but you will get sponges and tunicates eventualy.

Steve