what starfish?

[mapleredta]

im wanting to put a starfish into my tank but im unsure which one to get. its going to be a reef tank. (55 gallons)

 

[FutureInterest]

I'll be honest... Starfish creep me out. The only ones I keep in my tank are the asterina starfish, as they are good lil hitchhikers in general.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

not many starfish are well suited for the life in an aquarium. As Jin said, asterinas are certainly one that does well, but most other reef safe ones are touchy. Really not much is even known about their diets.

To suggest a reef safe one, I would say go with the fromia species. But here is the pinch, IDing them is also not easy. Lots of things look like fromia, but are nardoas or other genuses.

Non-reef safe have some that do OK, ie- chocolate chips, proteasters sp., but DO NOT PUT THEM IN A REEF TANK! They will do REALLY well in a reef tank, if you know what I mean.

 

[wbholwell]

I've had good luck keeping a sand-sifting star for awhile, now. But my tank also produces a lot of small snails, which I think he's feeding on.

 

[mapleredta]

thanks everybody

 

[seedless reefer]

Any of your brittle or serpent stars are going to be reclusive.

Sand sifter will bury itself and you will never see it.

I just bought a blue linkia and he's preeeeety cool.

 

[cameron]

I like the fromia as well. Small and doesn't knock over a bunch of corals but still very colorful.

 

[dakota9]

FutureInterest;89100 wrote: I'll be honest... Starfish creep me out.

This from a man who thinks eels are the shiznit!


Go figure!

 

[victor626nj]

i got a sand sifting star fish

 

[cameron]

I love my sifter, but there is some controversy about owning one.

 

[victor626nj]

what is that cameron i would like to know ?

 

[cameron]

This is from WetWebMedia and says it better than I can:

Sand Sifting Stars (Astropecten polycanthus);
They are predatory, and it is a problem, but probably not the way you are thinking of. They won't be munching on sessile invertebrates and crustaceans...won't bother a fish...unlike choc-chip-stars and green brittle stars. What's on the menu for these guys is all of the microfauna and micro-crustaceans in your tank; making your DSB pretty much devoid of life. And it's not a gradual slide either, this will happen within weeks.
Not only that but there are challenges when it comes to the animal itself. As I said above most will decimate the microfauna population and then after that the seastar itself will slowly wane and eventually starve. A single sand-sifting star in all honesty, needs about a 36"x36" surface area with no rockwork w/ a DSB of 8"+ and a large fishless refugium to survive long term. There has been experimentation to get them to take captive fair...I've even participated in this but most of the time these animals only survive 6 months to a year in captivity.
This is another creature that should be placed into the "Best left in the wild", category

I own one and I won't pass judgement onto others for owning one, but thought I would inform.

 

[curator]

The photos of starfish in the genus Fromia look nice; do any of them that are reef-safe remain relatively small?

 

[cameron]

True fromias will likely never get very big staying under 3". Linkias can get very large but are beautiful.

 

[curator]

Cameron,

Thanks for the input; are you able to recommend any specific members of ther genus that are reef-safe, remain small and are avaialable?

Also, are you familiar with these "mini-brittle stars?"

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Again...thanks!

John