what saltwater invertebrates can be housed in 5 gallon tank

[kate123]

could you put any species of starfish in a 5 gallon ? maybe like two or even just one by itself in a 5 gallon ? im really interested in any invertebrates .

[RedCrow]

Micro brittle stars are it really. Starfish as a whole do very poorly in aquaria and often starve. 

[hinnenkm]

Porcelain crab, anemone crab, several varieties of anemone shrimp, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, snails, hermits, fighting conch..... as long as you keep them well fed they should be fine in a 5 gallon.

[Tamberav]

2 hours ago, kate123 said:

could you put any species of starfish in a 5 gallon ? maybe like two or even just one by itself in a 5 gallon ? im really interested in any invertebrates .

asterina stars and micro brittles.

 

Most starfish would slowly starve and die in a tank so small. 

[kate123]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

asterina stars and micro brittles.

 

Most starfish would slowly starve and die in a tank so small. 

okay good thats what i was thinking. i only want something small and easy to start off for my first tank and not too challenging considering i have other pets to take care of. i assumed through my research these would be good thank you for confirming this !

[Clown79]

There's quite a bit you can do like

 

Asterina's,  small brittle, crabs, shrimp, and even rfa's

[kate123]

3 hours ago, Clown79 said:

There's quite a bit you can do like

 

Asterina's,  small brittle, crabs, shrimp, and even rfa's

mind me asking but what are rfa's?

[ChristopherDido]

15 minutes ago, kate123 said:

mind me asking but what are rfa's?

Rock Flower Anemones, they come in all kinds of crazy different colors and are beautiful.

[kate123]

4 minutes ago, ChristopherDido said:

Rock Flower Anemones, they come in all kinds of crazy different colors and are beautiful.

thank you !!! 

[mcarroll]

If starfish are particularly interesting, you really should consider some Asterinas. 

 

They get on the glass all the time, which makes then EXCELLENT subjects for investigation with a magnifying glass, jeweler's loupe, or even one of those digital microscopes that come on a suction cup stand.  (Which are uselessly shaky for anything else besides tank viewing....opt for the metal stand.)

 

Also consider just having a tank of micro-inverts:  copepods, amphipods, mysids, bristleworms, spaghetti worms, Asterinas, micro- and mini-Brittlestars, etc.  The list is long and full of interesting critters!

 

I think I ran my first tank (37 gallons) for at least a year or two before I added a fish -- it was just corals and pods everywhere!!  Very cool.  I actually kinda regretted adding the fish the very next day after adding it.  (He ate all the pods and then jumped out 30 days later, so I really regretted it in the end.)

[kate123]

On 3/2/2020 at 3:27 PM, mcarroll said:

If starfish are particularly interesting, you really should consider some Asterinas. 

 

They get on the glass all the time, which makes then EXCELLENT subjects for investigation with a magnifying glass, jeweler's loupe, or even one of those digital microscopes that come on a suction cup stand.  (Which are uselessly shaky for anything else besides tank viewing....opt for the metal stand.)

 

Also consider just having a tank of micro-inverts:  copepods, amphipods, mysids, bristleworms, spaghetti worms, Asterinas, micro- and mini-Brittlestars, etc.  The list is long and full of interesting critters!

 

I think I ran my first tank (37 gallons) for at least a year or two before I added a fish -- it was just corals and pods everywhere!!  Very cool.  I actually kinda regretted adding the fish the very next day after adding it.  (He ate all the pods and then jumped out 30 days later, so I really regretted it in the end.)

wow thank you for this really good answer ! and yes i find all the little bottom dwellers very fascinating and will definitely look into these thank you 

[christian321uy]

asterinas. blood shrimp 

[Mrod1!]

I love sexy shrimp as they are small, colorful and fun to watch as they dance around.  Since low bioload and peaceful together you could get several. Mine host a mini maxi carpet anemone which stays small but have heard others say they sometimes will host certain lps?