Does anyone have a starfish/urchin dominated tank?

[zachjohnson65]

I have always been fasinated by starfish and urchins. Is is possible to have a tank with just them? Suggestions? I have read that you can have a CC star in a small tank and feed it clams and it will do well, (AFM June 2006) is that true. i know there are alot of species that do not do well in captivity. Thanks in advance Zach

 

[Boltster]

My urchin is about 4 months in and is doing well. He fascinates me as well a lot of people when he's out. It's hard to believe how much they move around. Excellent scavenger. You can actually see where he's been. Wipes out everything in his path, even coralline algae.
I've read they can live 250 years or more in the wild and their DNA is being investigated for a particular gene.

 

[journey0820]

Fascinating. I really like the long spine urchins and the tuxedos. I just found a tiny pink pencil urchin in my LR...a hitchiker that isn't bigger than the erasor on the back of a pencil. Good luck to you!

 

[zachjohnson65]

i was wondering can you keep more then one star in a tank. From what i read they can get agressive toward others. And do CC stars eat everything (fish, algae, corals)as stated in texts?

 

[Fishieness]

You can definatly deep numerous species in a tank, depending on the species. There are some you are going to want to stay away from if you are just starting out, especially if you have a small tank, and definatly dont want to add more than one unless it is really big, and that is a LInkia or Fromia starfish because of their feeding habits. They pretty much only eat micro fauna and flora on the live rock, so that is why large tanks are needed (you need a lot of live rock). But keeping numerous species of others such as chocolate chips, brittles, serpents, would all be perfectly fine. As far as aggression, there are a lot of species that will eat corals (such as a chocolate chip) and some if they are very large will eat any inverts they can catch such as shrimp, although the shrimp are pretty darn good at getting away. As far as aggression towards other stars, it's not something that I would worry about. In the wild you may encounter that, as there are some species which feed primarily on other starfish. However nothing that is really available in the aquarium trade. As far as towards fish, the same thing goes with inverts. I've heard people claim that their large (LARGE) brittle star ate their fish. But the fish would have to be pretty small and very weak to get trapped. The fish is usually sick/dying before the star is able to catch it.
If you end up doing an entire urchin/star tank, I would try to feed each individual star and you are going to have to supplement the tank with algae sheets or macro if you can get enough of it for the urchins.

 

[zachjohnson65]

Cool, I know i would be target feeding, meat items. Thanks for the replies.

 

[kay-bee]

...I've heard people claim that their large (LARGE) brittle star ate their fish. But the fish would have to be pretty small and very weak to get trapped. The fish is usually sick/dying before the star is able to catch it...

Not necessarily the case with the green brittle stars (Ophiarachna incrassata) also known as the 'green deaths'. Known pro-active fish eaters, they're capable of nabbing fish when they're sleeping, with the health or diminutive size of the fish not being factors (i.e., healthy fish can end up missing with one of these in the tank).

 

[Fishieness]

Not necessarily the case with the green brittle stars (Ophiarachna incrassata) also known as the 'green deaths'. Known pro-active fish eaters, they're capable of nabbing fish when they're sleeping, with the health or diminutive size of the fish not being factors (i.e., healthy fish can end up missing with one of these in the tank).

that's exactly what I was talking about and mentioned. But trust me, they dont go around seeking fish. If they happen to grab on to it and is able to eat it, then it will just like any starfish. The thing is, like i said, it just has to be very very large. And also trust me when i say that most of the stories are exaggerated or excuses for why someone's fish died. The whole "green death" thing is really blown out of proportion and a huge hype, IMO.

 

[kay-bee]

...The thing is, like i said, it just has to be very very large...

This probably the case.

I know of a person who experienced several fish losses over a span of a few months until he extracted the culprit, a very large green brittlestar which was subsequently given to a LFS. I was there when he turned it in.

The individual arms of this thing each appeared to be 9"-12" in length, and the diameter of just the disk (or body) looked 2.5"-3" across. It's still at the LFS, I've never seen one that large before. The fish which were taken were said to be small, but not tiny (about 2") and in great health.

It is TRUE, however, that the fish losses could have been due to other factors and that the brittlestar's role only circumstancial.

 

[missc4]

I have two urchins 1 ia a pink urchin,the other I am not sure what type he is but he looks like the pink only he is white,a very large CC star and a green brittle star in my 135 gallon tank and they all get along well.I agree with fishieness on this one.I think green brittle stars have a bad rep that is not deserved.I have had mine alomost a year and have not lost any fish,snails,or crabs to him or any one else,with the excepton of snails to my picasso.My green brittle is right at 12" or better across.