so my girlfriend really likes seastars and she saw one at the lfs, a chocolate chip seastar. I was thinking about getting one. Could i get away with a 10 gallon tank w only the seastar in it? or wud a twenty be better? any specific needs? i read that theyre pretty hardy. would i need a skimmer? im trying to keep it as low maintenance as possible lol. thanks in advance
chocolate chip seastar
- Thread starter troutking
- Start date
if you're just gonna have the starfish either tank should be fine... no really crazy needs most consider them a pest more than anything. id at least throw a damsel in there with it for some color for a while 
Im not sure a 10g would sustain enough food to keep the choco star alive for very long. They tend to move all over and they are not coral friendly. Personally, I think its too small only because I think it will starve.
Chocolate chip stars require supplimental feeding...brine shrimp, mysis, flake food, or any aquarium fair should work well...however don't count on them to be happy grazing algea.
A 20 gallon would always be better. They do get rather large. As long as you do regular water changes every month (2x a month) you would be fine especially if the sea star is the only animal in the tank. So no skimmer needed. You can feed them pieces of fish or shrimp a couple of times a week. Also, they are not good tankmates for corals or clams.
James
James
A significant portion of their natural diet is sponges. There is some food that contains sponge material made specifically for sponge feeding angels. It has other stuff in it that should be good for the chocolate chip.