Starfish for 55 gallon cube

[BitFix]

I've only had my tank for about 6 months, but am already thinking about upgrading. I have a 25 gallon tank + 10 gallon sump right now, which is clearly not enough for any starfish (besides serpent starfish), but plan on upgrading for a 55 gallon cube soon.

Which starfish would be suitable for that tank size? Before someone says or asks, I've been researching about starfish for a couple of weeks now, so I know about their super sensitivity to water parameters and hard to provide diet, but I am willing to give it a try proper care once my tank is stable enough for one.

From my research a fromia of some kind would be the best suited for my tank size, linkias would get way too big, sand sifting starfish would destroy my microfauna, asterina just aren't my thing and serpent/bristle starfish are pretty cool looking IMO, so I will probably get one, but I also wanted a more standard looking starfish.

Any help would be appreciated. From what species would be recommended (if any) and care for said species. I don't want to buy an animal unless it has a decent chance of survival in my tank.

 

[Ron Reefman]

The sad truth is, other than serpent and brittle stars, there aren't any that are good in a tank of that size (I don't consider asterina as stars worth trying to get). It's similar to tangs, they need more room. Tangs need space to swim, stars need room for food to develop faster than the eat it. So you can buy small and re-home when they get bigger. But this is certainly not a practice I would endorse.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Agree above fromia would go into the next basket of moderate care level. But ~50 lbs of rock is not nearly enough to keep fed long term. They grow really quickly when happy, so that tank with one 2 years later is the same size, is just barely holding on.

even in a larger system they need a very mature system. And their effect on microfauna diversity should not be overstated.

 

[BitFix]

After reading some more I decided to ditch the starfish. At first I thought it was just a matter of maturity of the system, but not only would my tank be too small, but starfish (from what I've read), just don't survive very long in captivity, even in systems with plenty of food.

If we end up finding a reef-safe starfish as easy to care for as a chocolate chip I would give it a try, right now it's clearly just a recipe for disaster.

Thank you for all the help!

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have 4 serpent/brittle stars that I had for a couple of years in my 40g cube and now they are in my 90g new tank. Nothing wrong with them other than they tend to live under rocks and aren't seen much during the day unless you are feeding!

 

[BitFix]

I have 4 serpent/brittle stars that I had for a couple of years in my 40g cube and now they are in my 90g new tank. Nothing wrong with them other than they tend to live under rocks and aren't seen much during the day unless you are feeding!

I will definitely grab one or two, I already had a plan to get a banded serpent starfish, since they're a great cuc, just wanted to make sure there was enough rock for it to hide during the day.

Side question, do you think I would be able to keep a dragonet (either Red Ruby or Mandarin) in a 55 gallon cube? Provided I have a large enough refugium?

 

[Gareth elliott]

I will definitely grab one or two, I already had a plan to get a banded serpent starfish, since they're a great cuc, just wanted to make sure there was enough rock for it to hide during the day.

Side question, do you think I would be able to keep a dragonet (either Red Ruby or Mandarin) in a 55 gallon cube? Provided I have a large enough refugium?

Tank age and rock amount will dictate this more than a fuge. The more rock the more surface area for pods to reproduce. When a tank is first getting its kicks(first year or 2). Pod population is highly variable from week to week. A mature 55 thats not minimally scaped should be fine for dragonette.

 

[BitFix]

Tank age and rock amount will dictate this more than a fuge. The more rock the more surface area for pods to reproduce. When a tank is first getting its kicks(first year or 2). Pod population is highly variable from week to week. A mature 55 thats not minimally scaped should be fine for dragonette.

I'll definitely let the pod population stabilize and the tank mature for an year or so. Just wanted to make sure I wouldn't need to spot feed him daily or anything like that.