Haven't been awhile...new project question

[usafresq1]

Hey all, I had to go play in a huge sandbox for alittle while but I am back now and better than ever. I have a question about serpeant stars, that I can't really find on the net. I am curious as to what it would take to keep just one serpant star (or brittle star) alive. Mainly I'm looking in terms of filtration, lighting...things like that. Most info that I find is just on adding these awesome creatures to already exsistings systems. Any thoughts??

~usaf

 

[Bleeding Blue]

I am not sure I understand the question. If the question is can you keep a brittle star in a glass of saltwater, than the answer is no. However, if you wanted to set up a 5g tank with some live rock and a powerhead, than all you would have to do is drop a couple of flakes of food in every now and again for them to be happy. The tank might be a little like watching paint dry though.

Mike

 

[Joey French]

A good acclimation and every once in a while inspecting to see that the star's center is rather round, as opposed to flat, should be all that is required. Look at it every once in a while to make sure that it is not losing legs or anything, keep well fed (hence the round appearance) and no sudden changes of salinity, pH, like normal reef animal requirements, and everything should be fine, very low maintenance animals. Kinda boring, however they are excellent scavengers.
Joey

 

[usafresq1]

thanks for the info. I would be doing the water changes and all that from actual Beach water. I am lucky enough to be in hawaii and have an endless resource. Lately though I have just been snorkeling alot. I keep thinking I wanna start another salty tank but I don't have the motivation to spend the money on the filtration needs. So until I find that motivation I am going to stay away from starting a new salty.
These things are soo fascinating wish it was cheaper and easier to build/maintain these wonderful little worlds.

Thanks again guys

usafresq