critter found in tide pools main coast

[Ronny#66]

My daughter was on vacation near old orchard beach. When tide went out they gathered crabs big and very small , Star fish can they survive in a reef tank. I told her cold water there but they have them in pail and all seems well as of today . I'm interested in the star fish some only size of quarter this is what I'm interested in . Can we aclimate them ? Well won't have pics of what she has till 7:00 pm or so . Her tank crashed cat unpluged everything I told her to put stuff in her new water and see what happends I don't want to kill my tank with some disiese or something. So are we nuts to try this ?

 

[jejton]

Its hard to give a definative answer without a photo id but generally cold water species ( being that you found this in Maine its safe to assume they are cold water species ) dont do too well in warm water. They might survive for a relatively short while. Another factor to consider is diet. Do you know what these starfish and crabs eat and can you provide it regularly?

 

[seapug]

Yeah, the likelihood of the animal surviving long in a tropical tank is very slim. Plus, most randomly found crabs and starfish are opportunistic scavengers that find clams and corals particularly tasty.

 

[griss]

Not to mention what parasites these animals could introduce into your tank.

 

[Ronny#66]

Ya I figured all this but thanks anyway will let her put them in empty tank.