Tunicate Slime (4/4/04)  Hello, thanks again for this fantastic resource. <A pleasure to participate.> I just bought this The Blue Lollipop Stalked Ascidian from my LFS a week ago. It had been doing great! Last night, one of my Astrea snails was climbing on the stalks for about an hour and a half. It did not do any visible damage on the stalks, it didn't look like it was eating them. Immediately afterwards, the heads at the end of the stalks, got a mucous covering over them. This morning, more of the heads now have this covering. I was wandering what your input is on this, were they stressed and will recover, or is it not looking good? This is a beautiful animal, I would hate to lose it plus it was expensive!  Thanks! Steven O. Garcia (Ascidians are actually very difficult to keep alive in aquariums and have a short lifespan (months). The ones that come free on live rock are much hardier than the ones you buy. It could be that the snail just irritated it and it will recover. Then again, survival in aquariums is uncommon. I'd suggest you read the chapter on ascidians in "Reef Invertebrates" by Anthony Calfo & Robert Fenner. It will tell you how best to care for them. Hope this helps. Steve Allen.>

Please no! The Blue Lollipop Stalked Ascidian 4/5/04 Hello, thanks again for this fantastic resource. <thanks kindly :)> I just bought this The Blue Lollipop Stalked Ascidian from my LFS a week ago.  It had been doing great!   <Ughhh! please, no. This animal is not "doing great". Its simply still alive and yet still doomed to starve to death in weeks/months. They really should not be collected or sold perhaps. Not until we are able to understand their needs and keep them alive. Many ascidians are bacteriovores. We do not have enough or enough of the right kind of foods to keep these animals alive. Yours will die soon, alas> Last night, one of my Astrea snails was climbing on the stalks for about an hour and a half. It did not do any visible damage on the stalks, it didn't look like it was eating them.   <and I assure you it was not... the tunics of ascidians are very toxic, by and large> Immediately afterwards, the heads at the end of the stalks, got a mucous covering over them. <this is the sloughing of a stressed animal. It can/will regrow a new "head"/zooids... but it is using limited reserves to do so. Still starving to death.> This morning, more of the heads now have this covering. <a common occurrence> I was wandering what your input is on this, were they stressed and will recover, or is it not looking good? <please do read more about this animal in our wetwebmedia.com archives or in our Reef Invertebrates book. It was not a wise or conscientious decision my friend. Please do live and learn here. Do not buy an animal that you do not know how to care for (what it eats/needs, etc)> This is a beautiful animal, I would hate to lose it plus it was expensive! <this will be a hard lesson for you and especially the Ascidian> Thanks! Steven O. Garcia <to better days, Anthony>

Re: Oxycorynia/Neptheis lollipop "coral" (Ascidian/Sea Squirts 4/6/04)  Very, very disturbing news. I always take a look at your site before I buy anything! There was no information on the blue lollipop, so I took a chance.  <you are on the right path... do research before you buy. But no site can be wholly comprehensive and regardless, buy nothing that you do not know how to feed/care for. Your chance taken in this case not only cost the life of this animal, but others that will be collected/killed in transit to fill your merchant's re-order of this sold specimen. A dreadful cycle. Not to berate you at all my friend... most of us have done this at some point. But it does cost animals lives. And it is an error that should not be repeated.>  Looks like this might be the first post. Hopefully this will deter anyone else from buying these beautiful animals!  thanks again, Steven Garcia  <this creature is also shipped as blue lollipop "coral" and is usually cited as an Oxycorynia or Neptheis species. Steve Tyree gives better coverage to this group than any other hobby reference I know of at:  http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/publishsquirtseries.htm   best regards, Anthony>

Colored sea squirt dead or alive? 4/13/04 If you could, I need some help please. I have a 125gal saltwater aquarium. It has been set up for almost 2years. The nitrates are 2.5, nitrites 0, pH. 8.4, Alk. 3.6, Ammonia .25, Phosphates .5 and Calcium is 400. <all good> I have a Naso tang, a yellow tang, a tomato clown, fancy red serpent sea star, tiger sand sifting star, about 10 little crabs and a whole bunch of snails (mainly baby snails because they keep reproducing). I recently added a blue Linckia star, a possum wrasse , a derasa clam and a colored sea squirt. Everything is fine except for my sea squirt. It looks as though the black part (exhaust/intake) is falling off. Does this mean he is dead or dying? Has one of my other animals harmed him? PLEASE HELP. Thank You.   <although they can/do slough their tunic (naturally and under stress, but survivable), they also have a very short natural lifespans... months to just a couple of years. Do be careful when it dies, they are highly noxious. Be prepared with a water change and close attention to water quality for some days afterwards. Anthony>