Starfish with my CUC?

[little_tuna]

So im thinking about getting a starfish when it comes time to add my cleanup crew. Ive been reading that brittle and serpent starfish are best though ive seen some brittle starfish at my lfs that are really big. Will they be ok in a 29 gallon? Will I need to limit my cuc to just one or two snails so the starfish starve? Will it be ok with a shrimp?

 

[little_fish]

They should be fine in a 29, i just might feed them a large meaty item like table shrimp or a silver side once a week to make sure they are getting plenty of food.

Stay away from the green brittle stars, they get freaking HUGE and will hunt and eat your fish.

 

[AmberSunrise]

I have a brittle starfish in my 29g. You never see more than little legs poking out of the rocks but he is happy to take chunks of shrimp or an occasional veggie pellet when I hand it to him.

They are pretty sensitive to changes in PH which I learned the hard way with my first linkia starfish so be sure to drip acclimate it for several hours, I let my serpent star drip for about 6 hours.

 

[d2mini]

So im thinking about getting a starfish when it comes time to add my cleanup crew. Ive been reading that brittle and serpent starfish are best though ive seen some brittle starfish at my lfs that are really big. Will they be ok in a 29 gallon? Will I need to limit my cuc to just one or two snails so the starfish starve? Will it be ok with a shrimp?

Do not limit your snails. They'll be eating algae and your star will eat excess food and stuff. Look for a brown bristle or banded serpent. No greens like mentioned above.

 

[little_tuna]

Ok cool. Will it be fine with a shrimp? I figured my cuc would consist of a brittle or serpent starfish, a skump or fire shrimp, and a small variety of snails and crabs (maybe 3 or 4)

Does that sound good to where they will all be happy?

 

[little_fish]

They will be fine with your choice of shrimp, but you are going to want more snails and crabs that that.

 

[d2mini]

Ya, you could have a few good sized Turbo snails, a couple dozen florida cerith snails, a dozen or two blue hermits... fill out the custom order form at reefcleaners.org and john will customize a setup just for your tank. He doesn't tend to have stars usually so you can get one locally instead. But he'll hook you up with snails and crabs.

 

[AmberSunrise]

I am sorry but I disagree I have a 27g and I have about 4 snails and 2 hermits and one starfish and its plenty.

I think that is WAY to many suggested. They will never have enough to eat! You will just end up starving them or having to feed them which is kind of pointless.

Get a few and if you think you can use more later then get more.

 

[d2mini]

I guess it depends how you feed your tank, but I was feeding my 46 bow once every other day and I had way more than that in there. Probably 50 snails and close to that in the small blue legged hermits. Plus a star. 4 snails won't accomplish much. 4 turbos would. But they're huge. And they wouldn't be the only snail i'd have in there.

Here's another vendor who also suggests about 1 hermit per gallon, and 1 astrea snail per 2 gallons, plus a couple other things for cuc. Some people don't like hermits though, so you can replace them with other kinds of snails.
Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock - The Package Pricing Chart

 

[AmberSunrise]

I just cant imagine 29 hermits in my tank that would be so ugly! I have 2 hermits and some porcelain crabs which are nice to have but BLAH to 30 crabs and snails

I do have 2 mexican turbos and cerinth snails they are great.

 

[little_tuna]

Yeah I've seen that suggested hear and there but I didn't know if that many were really necessary. Even when ordering them they suggest a large clean up crew but I figured I would just start out with a few guys and see how they do

 

[d2mini]

I just cant imagine 29 hermits in my tank that would be so ugly! I have 2 hermits and some porcelain crabs which are nice to have but BLAH to 30 crabs and snails

I do have 2 mexican turbos and cerinth snails they are great.

haha, i have at least 6 hermits in my 6g nano... that i can find. And they are hard to find.
Plus a few astreas, a few nassarius, a sexy shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, a porcelain crab... It's amazing how all that stuff blends in. I'm not even going to attempt to count what's in my 130g. :lol:

 

[AmberSunrise]

haha, i have at least 6 hermits in my 6g nano... that i can find. And they are hard to find.
Plus a few astreas, a few nassarius, a sexy shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, a porcelain crab... It's amazing how all that stuff blends in. I'm not even going to attempt to count what's in my 130g. :lol:

I do have about 4 porcelain crabs which I really do like.

I have some more on my new LR that is hiding my mantis also but they are in the PICO tank until i get the mantis out. :grumble:

To each his own. :D