Starfish For My Tank

[Ranger]

I'm just sitting here unable to sleep so i thought I'd ask a few questions. I haven't started my tank yet, its 25 gal, 24x12x20. I was wondering if there is any kind of star fish that would be able to fit in this tank, i was thinking a chocolate chip but I read that they get to 40 cm . Also just for WAY future reference (and something to toy with in my imagination) are there any types of anemonies(sp) that would fit in my tank?

 

[SkiFletch]

You could have smaller bristlestarfish but no others would be advisable. Anemones also are not advisable in a tank that size, especially for a beginner . You'd need really high lighting, a mature tank, and sophisticated water flow apparatus to do it. Not the kind of thing a first timer can easily grasp.

 

[Ranger]

Brittlestar sounds fun. I figured I wouldn't be able to have an anemone. Do brittlestars sift through the sand the same way a starfish would?

 

[Opcn]

Interestingly enough starfish will actually shrink down to a smaller size if they cannot find enough food, however, in a 25 gallon tank there isn't going to be enough food for a traditional type of star fish to not starve, brittle stars and serpent stars are what lie in your future if you are to have any success at all. As for Nems there aren't any species that are available, that look good, that won't eat all of your fish, that can fit in your tank, that don't need chillers, that you even have a 25% chance of keeping alive as an experienced aquarist, Let alone someone who is new to the hoby, I urge you not to fall into the newbie trap of thinking that people are just being catious, give it some time.

Edit: Most star fish do not sift through the sand, maybe you could get a sand sifting star, I certainly know alot of people who keep them in nanos, but I don't really recomend them because I don't like having a predator eating all the critters that life in sand beds.

 

[Lynden]

As for Nems there aren't any species that are available, that look good, that won't eat all of your fish, that can fit in your tank, that don't need chillers, that you even have a 25% chance of keeping alive as an experienced aquarist, Let alone someone who is new to the hoby, I urge you not to fall into the newbie trap of thinking that people are just being catious, give it some time

.

Too true, too true. Although I have heard of Tube Anemones being kept in full reef tanks

-Lynden

 

[SkiFletch]

Thats true Lynden, tube anemones are an exception to the rule, but they look nothing like the mental image a beginning aquarist has of anemones . They're easier to keep in that they're less tempermental, but they will require direct feeding to stay alive since they're non photosynthetic

 

[Ranger]

Interestingly enough starfish will actually shrink down to a smaller size if they cannot find enough food, however, in a 25 gallon tank there isn't going to be enough food for a traditional type of star fish to not starve, brittle stars and serpent stars are what lie in your future if you are to have any success at all. As for Nems there aren't any species that are available, that look good, that won't eat all of your fish, that can fit in your tank, that don't need chillers, that you even have a 25% chance of keeping alive as an experienced aquarist, Let alone someone who is new to the hoby, I urge you not to fall into the newbie trap of thinking that people are just being catious, give it some time.

Edit: Most star fish do not sift through the sand, maybe you could get a sand sifting star, I certainly know alot of people who keep them in nanos, but I don't really recomend them because I don't like having a predator eating all the critters that life in sand beds.

Very interesting, I was under the impression that Starfish ate what was on the sand or rocks... seeing as their mouths are right there... Am i missing something? How/what do starfish eat?

 

[SkiFletch]

Starfish diets are exceptionally varied so that question is nearly impossible to answer directly. Starfish diets can include or exclude any of the following: detritus, amphipods, copepods, isopods, clams, hermit crabs, snails, carrion, corals, worms, tube worms, fan worms, dead fish, shrimp, othe rmollusks or invertebrates. The list is long and varied depending on which starfish you have

 

[Ranger]

Ski, you mentioned above that I could keep a smaller brittlestar in my tank. Is that meaning that I could keep a smaler species, or a juvenile brittlestar? Also do they need special lighting?

 

[Opcn]

Either, I would suggest a colony of a smaller species like micros or minis, They need no lighting what so every.

 

[Lynden]

Avoid Starfish with spines or lumps on their backs. Often these types or starfish, such as the Red General and the aformentioned Chocolate Chip Star (Protoreaster sp.) have an immense predatory capability. Unfortunately, I know this from experience as well as research

-Lynden