Dedicated Starfish Tank

al mc

Active Member
Interesting thought. I have not. What is your plan as many sea stars have unique nutritional needs that are still not completely understood? (BTW..I know you know this ,as you have lots of experience in the swf world, just asking.)
 

alix2.0

Active Member
rykna, nice seein ya! i havent heard much from you lately, were you just hiding out in the seahorse forum? anyways hi.
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by Al Mc
http:///forum/post/2680980
Interesting thought. I have not. What is your plan as many sea stars have unique nutritional needs that are still not completely understood? (BTW..I know you know this ,as you have lots of experience in the swf world, just asking.)
awwwwwwe thank you

The idea came to me right after I purchased a green brittle star(GBS)...yes the famous "green death". I've always wanted a tank dedicated to this beautiful star. I purchased the GBS to help cycle my 55 sump tank.( I'm doing a reverse set up for my new dwarf seahorse tank, since the DT is sterile, I'm growing the pod population in the sump). Now that "Vader"(Changed names, idea from Al Mc) has settled in. It occurred to me that no one had ever posted a "Star tank."
The only stars that I know of that have not be successfully kept in captivity are basket and feather stars. These stars are filter feeders, and until we can duplicate the soup they like to eat, the end result for them is starvation.
Most stars are opportunists. My guess is they wouldn't hesitate to munch on their neighbor if push came to shove. The stars need daily feeding. I've been very successful keeping brittle and sand stars. My sand star"Patric" loved shrimp pellets.
Here's a pic of Patric:

I was thinking of trying a couple of brittle stars together. maybe 3 or 4. Not sure, I'll have to think about it.
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by alix2.0 http:///forum/post/2680988
rykna, nice seein ya! i havent heard much from you lately, were you just hiding out in the seahorse forum? anyways hi.

Good to hear from you too

Well, hiding from is more like it. I lost all 41 of my beautiful dwarf seahorses(ponies). I was crushed. Some how I had managed to

[hr]
up the salinity, a complete tank crash.
It took me two months before I could go back online here without crying.
So now I'm trying a new set up.
This is the new tank's main post:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/317439/new-beginnings
this one is about the sump that goes with it:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/326624/need-fish-with-an-attitude
which lead to my question about a star tank.

So when can I talk you into a seahorse tank

Any thoughts on tank mates for the green death would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Rykna
 

al mc

Active Member
Currently I have three green 'death stars' (feels like we are talking about star wars). One in three different tanks and they have not bothered any fish. In two of the tanks I have orange Linkias that have cohabitated with them for over a year and a 'red' brittle in the other. I have had little luck with sand sifters. All (2) have died within 6-8 months
.
I do think the concept of a 'star only' tank is interesting. Have you asked Ophuira about it?
 

rykna

Active Member

Originally Posted by Al Mc
http:///forum/post/2681136
Currently I have three green 'death stars' (feels like we are talking about star wars).
One in three different tanks and they have not bothered any fish. In two of the tanks I have orange Linkias that have cohabitated with them for over a year and a 'red' brittle in the other. I have had little luck with sand sifters. All (2) have died within 6-8 months
.
I do think the concept of a 'star only' tank is interesting. Have you asked Ophuira about it?
"Death Stars" that's awesome!!! I'm changing my green death's name to "Vader"!!!!
Asking Ophuira is a great idea, I'll see what she says.
 
A

alexmir

Guest
IMO, the prettiest stars either need a VERY established tank that is pretty large to survive. OR there are some that you feed(saw one in the LFS today actually) but they kill all the inverts.
IT sounds pretty cool, but stars are too slow for me, and mine hide all day long
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by alexmir
http:///forum/post/2682222
IMO, the prettiest stars either need a VERY established tank that is pretty large to survive. OR there are some that you feed(saw one in the LFS today actually) but they kill all the inverts.
IT sounds pretty cool, but stars are too slow for me, and mine hide all day long

Yeah some of the stars can be very fussy. Most stars need to be fed even if they do live in a well established tank. I must be able to pick out the most contrary fish-inverts etc. out there. My pin cushion "Timmy" loved to be held. My fire goby "Flash", was the most laid back fish I've ever had(he lives in Wisconsin now) Flash ignored every fish in the tank. And now the green death I just bought, "Vader", hangs out in front and center in the 55g 24/7. Especially since I "food dish" trained him. He likes to hang out under a ledge with one tentacle draped in the food dish waiting for meal time.
I can't wait to get my camera back from my inlaws
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2685648
having a sterile DT wont matter if you dont have a sterile sump.

Since the one aiptasia invasion all of my seahorse tanks have been artificially seeded. I'm going to connect the 15g display tank to the 55g sump in 3-4 months. During those months I'll be seeding the 55g with cultured pods to prevent infestation of hitch hikers. The current 20lbs of LS in the sump, I grew in my other pony tank after I boiled and bleached the heck out of all the LR and LS.The dwarf seahorse tank can be set up sterile once the sump is cycled, the flow return will transfer pods into the DS, while preserving the main colony in the sump tank. Eventually I'll be adding several different types of shrimp because their tiny larvae offspring are also a favorite of seahorses.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
gotcha, I misunderstood and thought it was going to be a standard sump with normal LR and such, and it didnt make sense to me.
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2686303
gotcha, I misunderstood and thought it was going to be a standard sump with normal LR and such, and it didnt make sense to me.

No problem...half the time I have to reread the stuff I type to make sure it makes sense
 

vstar27

New Member
I am. In the next month I'll be setting up a 55 gallon tank completely dedicated to 10 Forbes sea stars. They live rather peacefully together so I'm not worried about them eating each other, plus they will be fed everyday.
 
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