lionfish1991
New member
Do sea stars do well in small tanks? I have a 10 gallon and a 20 gallon tank and would like to add a sea star to both tanks. also what do you feed them?
sea stars in small tanks?
- Thread starter lionfish1991
- Start date
greenbean36191
Premium Member
Besides Asterina, true seastars don't do well in small tanks. They don't generally do that well in large tanks, but there is at least some hope for them there. The diet of most of the stars in the hobby is unknown and very few of the reef safe species take to spot feeding.
In a 10-20 gallon a small brittle or serpent star would be ok as long as you fed it meaty food occasionally and made a special effort to keep your salinity constant. Most echinoderms are pretty intolerant of salinity changes, so you would have to work to keep on top of evaporation in such a small tank.
In a 10-20 gallon a small brittle or serpent star would be ok as long as you fed it meaty food occasionally and made a special effort to keep your salinity constant. Most echinoderms are pretty intolerant of salinity changes, so you would have to work to keep on top of evaporation in such a small tank.
mr. bojangsjang
New member
what about those micro stars that florida pets sells?
mr. bojangsjang
New member
These ones:
"
Micro Stars
These little guys are very good detritous feeders. They will hide in crevaces in rocks or bury slightly beneath the sand by day, and venture out by night to forage. They have been known to reproduce easily in aquariums. They will definatey eat stuff where nothing else can get to. Another GREAT price from FloridaPets!
.99/ea."
One problem I heard though is that they tend do over-run a tank if there is some extra food left over, just don't overfeed or anything
"
Micro Stars
These little guys are very good detritous feeders. They will hide in crevaces in rocks or bury slightly beneath the sand by day, and venture out by night to forage. They have been known to reproduce easily in aquariums. They will definatey eat stuff where nothing else can get to. Another GREAT price from FloridaPets!
.99/ea."
One problem I heard though is that they tend do over-run a tank if there is some extra food left over, just don't overfeed or anything
ophiuroid
Premium Member
The micros stars - whether brittle or asterina - are really the only suitable stars. It is possible to keep certain brittlestars in these tanks - but considering that stars are highly sensitive to water parameters, it is critical that you are very experienced at keeping smaller tanks and very disciplined at keeping things in check every day.
The hitch hiker brittlestars and seastars - the micros - are relatively "hardier" so can tolerate a bit more fluctuation in water parameters.
The hitch hiker brittlestars and seastars - the micros - are relatively "hardier" so can tolerate a bit more fluctuation in water parameters.
