Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
I honestly have no idea, they're not reef safe as they eat coral but you also don't see them in FOWLR tanks. I feel like their main purpose is to be used as a feeder. They may do well in a sump?
Is a Starfish safe for my reef tank?
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I honestly have no idea, they're not reef safe as they eat coral but you also don't see them in FOWLR tanks. I feel like their main purpose is to be used as a feeder. They may do well in a sump?
Serpent and brittle stars are very very cool to watch. They're a lot more interesting that the typical star shaped starfish. But they're pretty different and you have to HAVE to treat them differently.
A serpent star is like a fish. It is active and has to be fed. If you do not feed them, they will get very hungry. Very hungry carnivorous starfish in a closed environment with tasty fish is a recipe for disaster.
A brittle star is like a member of a clean up crew. It is a scavenger. It will eat small bits of detritus and other things it can find. HOWEVER, they can get big. I personally have one 8-10 inches in diameter. Once they get above 5 or 6 inches in diameter they will have trouble feeding themselves on detritus. You'll have to start feeding them like a serpent star. Which is like a fish.
Linckia almost always dies. Their dietary habits are hard to figure out and whatever they eat is almost never present in our tanks.
Sand sifters are great sand sifters, but require a very populated sand bed. They have to be added later.
Chocolate chips aren't reef safe.
Mini brittles are cool and may make their way into your tank with love rock.
Asterina are small stars that most people think are pests. They eat film algae and detritus. The darker ones have been known to go after zoanthids. But that varies from tank to tank. Just keep an eye on them.
Any starfish other than those listed are going to need special care.
A serpent star is like a fish. It is active and has to be fed. If you do not feed them, they will get very hungry. Very hungry carnivorous starfish in a closed environment with tasty fish is a recipe for disaster.
A brittle star is like a member of a clean up crew. It is a scavenger. It will eat small bits of detritus and other things it can find. HOWEVER, they can get big. I personally have one 8-10 inches in diameter. Once they get above 5 or 6 inches in diameter they will have trouble feeding themselves on detritus. You'll have to start feeding them like a serpent star. Which is like a fish.
Linckia almost always dies. Their dietary habits are hard to figure out and whatever they eat is almost never present in our tanks.
Sand sifters are great sand sifters, but require a very populated sand bed. They have to be added later.
Chocolate chips aren't reef safe.
Mini brittles are cool and may make their way into your tank with love rock.
Asterina are small stars that most people think are pests. They eat film algae and detritus. The darker ones have been known to go after zoanthids. But that varies from tank to tank. Just keep an eye on them.
Any starfish other than those listed are going to need special care.
Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
In addition, the Red Knob Stars are not reef safe either. Needless to say they both look pretty neat.
Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
Haha since we're covering all of the starfish in this thread... Feather Stars are (terrible) additions and I would consider them a novelty item.
Maybe somebody can chime in on Basket Starfish... My assumption is that they're difficult to keep as well.
Maybe somebody can chime in on Basket Starfish... My assumption is that they're difficult to keep as well.
Oh yes. One day in my dream gorgonian sea fan tank. I will have a feather star.
Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
For some reason I happen to have faith in your Feather Star success. You must promise to film the infamous (feather dance) for me
Naiad
Valuable Member
Basket Stars need lots of meaty chunks of food. They didn't design that basket for nothing lol. They are also nocturnal at first so unless you want to stay up feed a ton and do a ton of wc. I would avoid.
Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
Thanks for your input on that! I was curious about their requirements as they lack information
Cayenne1
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Basket Stars can get very large on the reef. They filter feed off plankton flowing through their basket arms at night.
One of my favorite dives when I was collecting fish in the Red Sea back in the 70's was a night dive. All kinds of creatures come out especially baskets. If there was any moon light you could see the basket stars along the reef wall with multi-foot wide arms spread out pointing into the current.
If you pointed a dive light at them, they would melt like wax back into the reef. So, to photograph I'd switch off my light, adjust my eyes, then drift behind it down current so it would not know I was there. I could then photograph, or more often, just lay behind one in the dark and watch as plankton would flash when striking the arms. I would watch until I ran low on air sometimes a magical, twinkling light show. It all my years of diving around the world, these dive are a favorite memory.
I do not know if there might by smaller basket star species, but it may prove difficult to feed.
The other posters are giving good advice. Whatever you do, don't get a Acanthaster planci (Crown of Thorns) starfish. They are very pretty, even juveniles, but your reef will go bye-bye.
One of my favorite dives when I was collecting fish in the Red Sea back in the 70's was a night dive. All kinds of creatures come out especially baskets. If there was any moon light you could see the basket stars along the reef wall with multi-foot wide arms spread out pointing into the current.
If you pointed a dive light at them, they would melt like wax back into the reef. So, to photograph I'd switch off my light, adjust my eyes, then drift behind it down current so it would not know I was there. I could then photograph, or more often, just lay behind one in the dark and watch as plankton would flash when striking the arms. I would watch until I ran low on air sometimes a magical, twinkling light show. It all my years of diving around the world, these dive are a favorite memory.
I do not know if there might by smaller basket star species, but it may prove difficult to feed.
The other posters are giving good advice. Whatever you do, don't get a Acanthaster planci (Crown of Thorns) starfish. They are very pretty, even juveniles, but your reef will go bye-bye.
Cayenne1
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So turning 18, neat. You're just starting your journey. I'm envious in a number of ways.
I think one cannot fully appreciate the beauty and wonder of this hobby without seeing the reefs in person. I was always fascinated in the sea growing up on the Maine coast. I collected and tried to keep alive creatures from tide pools. I wanted to Scuba dive as well, but this was in the "Sea Hunt" days, 50s/60s, and I was too young and had no money.
It wasn't until my late 20's when the opportunity was there when working in Saudi Arabia as an engineer. My company had gear to loan and I was able to train with a British instructor to get a BSAC (British Sub-Aqua Club) rating. Passion ensued and I eventually got my P.A.D.I. Instructor rating and taught others to dive in Saudi. My company contracted with P.A.D.I. to teach qualified divers as instructors as too many employees just grabbed some tanks and dove with no training. Saudi had no rules back then.
I used diving to collect for a salt water aquarium. It was the only way to get specimens, no shops existed. Had to build your tanks from scratch as well. I pretty much had the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea to myself in the 70's. But, in the Arabian Gulf the closest collection place was an island named Qannah (Jannah) several hours out from the port of Al Jubail by an Arab fishing Dhow. That island was a favorite to go see the turtles lay their eggs and later the little ones hatch. It's an island only a few hundred yards across. It now has a power plant on it I believe. So much for the turtles and the fragile coral reef.
The best diving and collecting though was the Red Sea. I'd load up my truck and drive the 900 miles across Arabia to camp by a fishing village called Rabigh. It's halfway between Jeddah and Yanbu. There's a gigantic refinery there now. So, again so much for the coral reef.
Bottom line, some day if the opportunity presents itself visit the reefs and as a minimum snorkel on them. Take up scuba diving if that becomes feasible as well. There is nothing like being down with all the creatures day and my favorite at night. But, it's expensive and unless you're near the ocean it might prove better just to take a special novice dive at some resort. You can then decide how far to take that hobby.
Good luck. Have patience. It was many years before I got that first dive.
(I know, long diatribe. It's a habit when you get older.)
donnievaz
Well-Known Member
Personally, I wouldn't put anything other than a brittle or serpent star in a new tank. All the others are too sensitive IMO to put in an immature reef that hasn't stabilized itself. I killed an orange fromia not too long ago unfortunately. Many of them have specialized feeding requirements that can only be met in an established reef.
FishLover01
Active Member
Jason2459 is correct. Stay away from chocolate chip starfish. They're definitely not reef safe.
