Choc Chip Star Why a lg tank?

[Menace2Sobriety]

I'm curious.....

Why does a Chocolate Chip star need a large tank? I realize they can get big (12") but they don't move like a fish.... I bought one today for my Nano that I would LIKE to put in my fuge for my main DT down the road. Main is 72 Gal bowfront (soon to be) reef with a 30 gal sump and the fuge will be 2/3 of that sump.

Can I put a large CC star in the fuge? Or will it be un-happy? (right now he's small and for the price I don't mind giving him back when he reaches 3" or so and buying another small one cuz they're dirt cheap) Before buying I DID make sure with the LFS that I could give it back if it got too big so I'm 100% prepared to be responsible with it. I'm just curious as to WHY an animal that moves so little requires so much space? If it's due to lack of ability to handle rapid parameter changes then my near 100 gal of water should make it ok in the sump. My Sump's fuge will be a "display" with a circular window in the stand doors and will be maintained as a DT so I have every intention of feeding him by hand.

Should I just give him back when I'm ready to add corals to my main DT? Or can he survive up to 6" or so before giving him back and replacing him?

Thx.

Menace

 

[Calappidae]

He can catch fish and such.

Think about it.. hold a 12" diameter frisbee on the side of your tank.. now you can see the space taken up.

They can catch slow moving fish and inverts in a smaller tank.. larger tanks give them more room to run and give the star a harder time to catch em..

That's one big mouth to feed.. it will eat all your rocks dry so a big tank would be needed to supply enough food long term.

Water quality is an issue.. I have a 125 gallon with a 40 gallon fuge and store stars in there for my harlequin shrimp.. half the time I end up freezing them as they sometimes don't survive long enough to get to the shrimp..

He'll be fine in the DT if there are no corals and no low sleeping fish like gobies and pipefish until he reachs 10" or so...

My thoughts anyway.

 

[snorvich]

Don't forget, starfish starve to death more often than not, including chocolate chip starfish.