imo, stars are not hard to keep, well serpent and brittles are not. We had cc star that died after a while, no clue as to why.
Mine like to eat shrimp, bloodworms, brine shrimp whatever.
When I feed the fish, the brittle star comes right out. It's cool to watch the star stand up on 2 legs and wave the other three around for food. the Brittle is trained to eat out of our hands. We've added more lr so now I only really see him during feeding time, before he was out all the time. both stars are over 2 yrs.
btw, I would not recomend either star for a small tank. The brittle's legs were each over 6 inches long...body size bigger than a quarter (cool to see all spread out). The serpent is smaller, legs only 4 inches long or so.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/ikoserpent.html
The Serpent Starfish is a tremendous scavenger that makes a great addition to any tank. They come in colors of black, brown, gray, green, and a combination. Their flexible arms are smooth and they can move very quickly. These starfish are nocturnal and like to spend the day hiding in rockwork. Often times, they will keep their body buried while extending out their arms to sense for food. During the night they will come out of the rockwork to search for food. They are tremendous scavengers and will feed on waste in an aquarium. Serpent Stars prefer lots of rockwork to hide in. More than one can be kept in each aquarium and they do a superb job of controlling excess waste in your aquarium. They are a must for any reef tank.
The Brittle Starfish is a tremendous scavenger that makes a great addition to any tank. They come in colors of black, brown, and a combination of the two. Their flexible arms are lined with many spines that allows them to move very quickly. These starfish are nocturnal and like to spend the day hiding in rockwork. During the night they will come out of the rockwork to search for food. They are tremendous scavengers and will feed on waste in an aquarium. Brittle Stars prefer lots of rockwork to hide in. More than one can be kept in each aquarium and they do a superb job of controlling excess waste in your aquarium. They are a must for any reef tank.
hth
but what about a brittle star, will they be ok with polyps