Brittle Stars- 9 Gal too small?

Draco

Draco

Active Member
I have a 9 gal Ehiem cube.

I am reading conflicting info on Brittle Stars.. is 9 gals too small for one?

If so, what do you suggest for an excellent clean-up member? Right now I have different types of snails, and 2 scarlet crabs and a cleaner shrimp. I am looking for something unique.
 
Snid

Snid

Active Member
The thing about Brittle Starfish is that they consume just about anything living in or on the sandbed, including all the beneficial organisms that they can get their mouths on. In such a small tank, they can make fast work of it, essentially stripping away everything good about your sand minus the bacteria. Then they will go to work on your Live Rocks, and then they will start to starve to death. I wouldn't recommend one, and it's usually best to steer clear of them in almost any tank setup to be honest.

I like Urchins, but I'm not sure there are any that can go so small. I'd steer clear of the type I have, Longspined Sea Urchins, because mine have spines that are probably around 9 inches long now. You might be able to find a different one, but these are more rock and glass Algae grazers than anything. So probably not the type of CUC member you're thinking of when considering a Starfish.

What types of snails do you have? Nassarius Snails are great for cleaning up detritus and any meaty foods that fall to the bottom.
 
Draco

Draco

Active Member
RE Starfish- that's what I thought. Glad I asked to confirm!

I have 5 nassarius snails (2 larger ones, 3 small ones), lots of cerith snails and 3 turbo snails.

What about pencil urchins? That's another that had conflicting tank sizes.
 
Snid

Snid

Active Member
I can't say for sure with a Pencil Urchin. I'd have to do more research on my part and will try to do so later today or tomorrow if nobody else chimes in. ;)

I can say that usually whenever I find conflicting reports, 9 times out of 10 it is probably best to lean towards the safer route. A lot of times someone will say that something is okay because it has worked for them in the time being. Many times when that happens, a year later they end up saying, never mind, I was wrong and it didn't work out the way I thought it was. There are of course always exceptions, but for me I don't like trying to be an exception when it comes to living things. ;)
 
L

lzrlvr

Member
I have had small brittle stars in my 3 gal nano reef and possibly still have but I would not add a large brittle star to a 9 gal tank.
 
reggaedrummin

reggaedrummin

Member
Urchins will pick up and move everything they can get their spines on. Pencils and long spines will eat zoas, gsp, and some lps like acans, and some sps like acros. Tuxedos tend to be more reef safe but they all eat coraline, pick things up and will damage electrical cords while eating algae. Also, they move throughout the tank by leverage on things indiscriminately and they have knocked free a lot of frags in my tank over the years. I finally called it quits on them. In such a small tank, I think any urchin will probably become a nuisance. I would recommend a serpent star over a brittle. I have two in my 30g and they are great. They are carnivorous so they become very active when you feed your fish but they otherwise don't bother much. You can find them in a variety of colors and I think one would probably do fine in your 9.
 
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