Can I add a starfish or 2?

knots

knots

Member
I have a 35 gal. tank with the following fish:
1- firefish
1- chalk basslet
1- striped cardinal
3- green chromis
plus snails and crabs (not sure how many)
It is a very peaceful tank and wondering if I have room for a starfish or 2. Right now I am about 1" for 3 or 4 gal. and I think the fish are full grown. If I could add any starfish what type would be good for a 35 gal. tank. I don't want the tank to be overcrowded but I've been wanting starfish. The tank is about 7 months old and numbers are always good. Thanks for any help.
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
starfish dont count as fish they are inverts so u dont count them on the load in ur tank....
id say yes but choose wisely on which species u get cuz some are very hard to acclimate to your tank and die often...
ive tried different ones the kinds ive had luck with are sand sifting stars sepent stars and chocolate chip stars ....
if ur lookin for one to be seen easily go with the chocolate chip star they stay out and move around alot.... u need to spot feed them meaty foor cuz they dont scavenge
 
promisetbg

promisetbg

Active Member
No chocolate chips if you ever want corals.Go with a nice colored serpent star...steer clear of the green ones!:eek:
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
What are your "numbers" specifically? Especially specific gravity...what is good for fish is not always good for seastars, some of the most delicate inverts you can keep.
In addition, how much LR do you have?
Chocolate chip, general and Red African are not reef safe and may also eat snails or other slow inverts...however, they can also easily be spot fed making them the best stars, IMO, for most tanks.
Sand sifter stars are not suitable for your tank size and will most like starve to death.
Reef safe stars such as Linckia and Fromia require lots of LR, can not be spot fed, and need pristine water conditions. Only one might be suitable for smaller tanks under 55g, but the tank still must have lots of LR. IMO, these are not good choices for your tank...most will starve to death within the year....CERTAINLY if you bought two.
The best option, IMO, are serpent/brittlestars - except the green, a known predator in the wild. The large bright red serpent also needs special acclimation to a pristine reef tank. All should be spot fed, IMO.
All stars do have some acclimation needs that you should research before buying...I strongly encourage that no one "impulse buy" a seastar. Many stars die because of that.
 
knots

knots

Member

Originally posted by ophiura
What are your "numbers" specifically? Especially specific gravity...what is good for fish is not always good for seastars, some of the most delicate inverts you can keep.
In addition, how much LR do you have?
All stars do have some acclimation needs that you should research before buying...I strongly encourage that no one "impulse buy" a seastar. Many stars die because of that.

I would never impulse buy again, thats why I appreciate this site so much. It's a great start for research. I have killed fish in the past and am trying to eliminate that for the animals sake as well as mine.
As for numbers they are:
ph 8.1
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate never above 20 but never 0 either
salinity 1.022 (slowly moving up to 1.025)
temp. 79
calcium ? (need to buy a kit)
I'm glad you asked about the lr. I do not have any but I will be getting probably 40 lbs. middle of April.
How long would I need to wait to get a star after lr cures and I put it in the tank? I am not in a big hurry, I want to do it right.
I like the brittlestars because they seem to be more active and fun to watch as apposed to other stars. So that sounds like a good choice. I just didn't know if a 35 was big enough for one. Would they fight if more than 1 is in a tank?
Thanks for all the help.
 
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