starfish compatibility

[saltguy21]

i have a 120 gal tank with a snowflake eel. porc puffer, lunar wrasse and maroon clown. any thoughts on adding some starfish to control the waste? suggestions appreciated.

 

[NaH2O]

What is your current maintenance routine? I don't know that a starfish would do enough to help keep the waste under control. What type of starfish are you considering?

 

[saltguy21]

you tell me

 

[steve-s]

The only star that would be effective to any degree is a serpet or banded star. Of the two, a serpent would be more "active" in this regard although a black brittle star (Ophiocoma erinaceus) would be much less aggressive than Ophiarachna incrassata.

The main concern with your current fish stock is the puffer though. If there is insufficient LR for the star to hide/shield itself, it could become a meal. The eel is of no concern as long as it's regularly fed.

What is your current maintenance routine?

In the long run though, I think working through this question is the answer to your problem more so than a particular animal addition.

Cheers
Steve

 

[MCSInc]

How about going another direction. How about Micro Serpent Stars - do you have live rock in your tank. They would tuck into all the little cracks and are great little cleaners. No one will eat them and they will not hurt anything in the tank. And they multiply according to how much waste is available to suport the population.

I am quite partial to having little legs waving out of every available crack in the rock begging for food.

 

[wrightme43]

I agree with serpent stars, I have a pink reef brittle star, and a green serpent star. I had one before but I traded it back to the store, because it became the snail reaper. It would sit with its belly of the sand and wait, then grab and eat snails. This one has not been observed doing that yet. Like Nikki said, maintence routines are much better than a critter to do cleanup. The critters only cycle into flesh a small portion of the waste that builds up. A good skimmer and a frequent turkey basting of the rock does a much better job. You can still have the starfish, it will still get plenty to eat. HTH Steve

 

[Jiddy]

How many stars do you rec for a 220gal?

 

[steve-s]

Base it on the need required for the amount of waste being dealt with. It depends greaty on what fish, size and feeding routine (given they are compatible). Personally I would start with one and add another later if needed. More often than not, one per 100 gal of tank space (not tank size) is plenty.

As above though, it's best to correct the underlying issues causing the problem rather than "sweeping in up" so to speak.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Jiddy]

Nicely put Steve-S

 

[wrightme43]

Or you can feed your stars and have as many as you want. They do not seem to be bid waste producers, they seem to cycle thier food in very well. If you expect it to survive only on cleanup then less is great. I like to feed mine. Its cool to watch them grab food and wrap it up and eat it. Steve

 

[steve-s]

True serpent/brittle stars can be target fed easily enough. It does however kinda defeat the purpose of adding them as a means of waste control though.

Cheers
Steve