Serpent and Brittle Sea Stars are popular additions to reef aquariums that contain live sand as they constantly stir the bed and provide oxygen to beneficial bacteria. Standard reef aquarium water parameters are perfect for this starfish, too. Rock harvested from a reef is covered in things not normally seen in the wild as we dont usually get sufficiently close to see them, being as tiny as they are. Below is a list of some of the numerous creatures, both good and bad, that may be introduced to a marine aquarium indirectly on / in live rock, corals, fish, water added to the system. Late last night I was looking in the tank and saw a tiny little starfish on the back glass. (Even the supposedly "safe" white ones) We added 3 white asterina starfish almost 2 years ago. These are, by far, the best starfish for the home aquarium in my opinion. Tan in color, and about the size of a dime. But when cycled live rock (carrying sponges) is carefully transplanted to a tank, they can proliferate and thrive in typical reef tank water conditions. I would no longer recommend adding asterina starfish to your tank and would remove and kill any I found in the tank. All of the equipment necessary for keeping a marine aquarium was large and too big to use on small aquariums. ive seen that marble star fish stay small and are reef safe, but i want a starfish that will eat prepared foods also. Sponges are susceptible to drying out when transported on un-cured live rock and can cause problems if placed in your tank, uncycled. DaveK replied Oct 12, 2020 at 11:17 PM. Starfish are quite popular in reef tanks. They thrive in both reef tank and fish only setups, and can be kept in tanks as small as 10 to 15 gallons if they are target fed weekly. The Brittle Star, Ophiocoma sp., is a species of starfish with long, flexible limbs that have small pointed projections across their bodies.They come in colors of black, brown, and a combination of the two, sometimes having grey bands around some of their limbs. are there any small reef safe starfish that could fair well in a nano tank around 10 gallons? Take care to try and avoid rapid swings in water parameters and keep nitrate levels down (which is a best practice for any reef tank). Gorgeous! The following starfish are considered reef tank safe: Brittle starfish (Ophiocoma erinaceus) Serpent starfish ... My little girl spotted a tiny brittle starfish in the tank today, and I was ... Blue tang in a small box. They require a tank with plenty of live rock to scavenge from, and take refuge in during the day. They like all the extra food in that tank. I have some in the reef as well but not near the same number. I literally have thousands in my seahorse tank. Brittles and Serpents handle shipping extremely well, and are … I have no clue what kind it is or if it is or will be safe in my tank. #2. lcstorc, Aug 1, 2007. In the aquarium they can be fed small pieces of fish, placing the food near or even under the Sea Star. im also going to have a 10 gallon fuge dedicated to the nano. Many of these creatures, such as the Sand sifting sea star (Astropecten polycanthus) and Chocolate chip starfish are predatory and should not be housed in reef tanks. None of those threads confused these different colored asterina starfish with the wonderful tiny 1/2" brittle starfish. It has 5 legs, looks just like the sand sifting one, maybe even the chocolate chip one. Fortunately, aquarium manufacturers stepped up and designed aquariums, lighting and filtration systems perfectly matched to for keeping marine fish and invertebrates in small nano tanks. 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