How many sea stars can you cram in a box?

[respite]

I was in fin&feather the other day to get water for my weekly change, and i noticed a yellow brittle star.. which i thought was the greatest creature on earth.

I have a 55 gallon tank, and already house a serpent star which is 13 inches from tip to tip, and a white sand star, which is mad because i dont have enough substrate for it to cover itself in.

After i move and things settle down, i plan on having NO fish for a few months to get rid of my ick problem.

Id like to house 3 or 4 small fish and a kole tank as my large fish, or a kole, a pair of mated maroon clowns (fell in love with them, and got 10 times worse after seeing sundragons massive female maroon breed), and one other small fish... so i have plans for a standard bioload.. not detritus soup.


How many and/or what kind of stars can i add to such a system?

[AQUAN8TOR]

The sand sifting star is going to sterilize your sandbed in short order. I used to be a big fan of them until I found out they eat terebellid spaghetti worms, pods, and any other fauna in their path. They aren't just scavengers. As far as other stars, the yellow brittles are fine. I have two of them, as well as 2 harlequin serpents, in a VERY highly stocked 40BR. I'd recommend against putting any linckia type in a tank any smaller than a 90 or 120. HTH.

[mr294]

You should have no problem keeping several brittle/serpent type stars in a 55g as long as you occasionally spot feed them.

[ranceego]

yea, im with brandon, i have 8 in a 180, the sandsifter though are hard to keep, they live a few months then die, plus like jazzy said they eat wanted bugs