stomas galore - finally slowing in reproduction

Ryengoth · Oct 31, 2016

stomas and asterinas were reproducing like crazy after my starry blenny disappeared and I suppose rotted in the crack of a rock somewhere in my wall. At the same time the adult ochres were mouth-brooding 2-3 times a month and the male kept dumping the eggs adding to nutrient issues. After my 4" blue-green hammer melted I decided to adopt that beasts out and reduce the bio load.

I had no choice but to manually remove and kill 10-12 adult and juvi stomas and 3-4 asterina stars a week to keep the critters from adding to the bio load.

Hey man, this is my spot.. beat it!
(sorry for the blurry stoma shot I rarely get a clear eye-stalk pic of the emeralds so I took it when I could)

Nothing to see here... move along

Some of the adults are almost 1.5" long now. That's a coral plug top in the middle with a meteor shower growing. Hopefully it'll cover that overflow panel in 4-5 months.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 1, 2016

I bet you could sell the stomas.
I gave them away in my local club last year and folks still find the post and Ask.

ahiggins · Nov 2, 2016

I bet a lot of people would buy!
I know I would

Coastie Reefer · Nov 2, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
I bet you could sell the stomas.
I gave them away in my local club last year and folks still find the post and Ask.

ahiggins said:
I bet a lot of people would buy!
I know I would

For real! I'd love to have some stomas. They're absolutely awesome in my book. I'd drop them in my frag tank in a heartbeat!

Ryengoth · Nov 2, 2016

The shipping is so expensive on them, though. Charge $1 for a stoma and then it costs like $20 to overnight it.

ahiggins · Nov 2, 2016

LOL you could sell locally.
I have 4-5 Ive found as hitchhikers but NO ONE sells just them

Ryengoth · Nov 2, 2016

I dunno if you guys knew or not, but the stomas have a defense mechanism similar to lizards. If you try to pull them off a rock they will drop their tail, attached to the rock and ball up into their shell and float off. The tail waves around distracting the fish. The piece of white flesh in the middle of that beaker that has four points is a tail that one dropped.

Ryengoth · Nov 2, 2016

ahiggins said:
LOL you could sell locally.
I have 4-5 Ive found as hitchhikers but NO ONE sells just them

Yeah, most of the shops have no interest in buying stomas, asterinas or snails. They will only buy from their wholesalers. I'm not involved in a reef group here. The nutrients are dropping and algae is fading so they (and my encrusted turbos) are dying off. I have a bunch in my sump now which is where I want most of them.

Lionfish Lair · Nov 2, 2016

You can ship them priority and they don't need much water. I would buy some from a fellow hobbyist.

Ryengoth · Nov 2, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
You can ship them priority and they don't need much water. I would buy some from a fellow hobbyist.

Small flat rate box eh? Hm.. So like a damp cotton ball, double bagged or do they need to stay submerged. I see them periodically roaming around above the water line feeding on the water line crust and on filter media that's exposed.