Starfish for reef tank

[melypr1985]

I've never had a serpant star or brittle star attack anything before or heard of it. That's a new one for me. I've seen them eating a fish that was already dead or on their last breath, that's about it though.

 

[Naiad]

I've been out of the hobby since 2011, but my understanding was most stars can be opportunistic feeders just like crabs. Even emerald crabs can go rogue (and I had those guys with shrimp with no problem)

Keep them well fed and they are model citizens. Starve them and don't be surprised when your fish/inverts go missing. Also don't blame the star. Only a dumb animal will sit and starve with a buffet around it. A chunk of krill once a month is all it took to keep my guys from hunting and they had armspans over a foot.

 

[Naiad]

I've never had a serpant star or brittle star attack anything before or heard of it. That's a new one for me. I've seen them eating a fish that was already dead or on their last breath, that's about it though.

I made the mistake of not letting my CUC do the cleaning when. I set up my first salt tank. An old freshwater habit. There was a tiger serpent that I saw ambush and attempt to eat my flasher wrasse. I saved the wrasse. He was still alive but didn't survive the stress. Started feeding the star and he lived ten more years without another attack.

 

[evolved]

Sand sifting star.

Not a good choice either, I'm afraid. Unless in a huge tank (250g+), they're known to deplete the sand bed of life and then waste away.

But the basket stars are pretty easy and really cool

Did you mean to say brittle star? (not basket) Basket stars are very difficult to keep alive and require lots of filter foods. Brittle stars are pretty easy of course.

but my understanding was most stars can be opportunistic feeders just like crabs

Some can be. Green brittles always are; serpents can be too, especially when they get large.

The easy sea stars are brittles and serpents, but there is some risk. You can feed them as mentioned and usually be okay.

If you really want something colorful, look into fromia stars, but if the tank is under 100g the long term odds are not good.

Avoid everything else.

 

[cneidigh]

I have sand sifter star that's been really good hasn't messed with none of the coral iv got. only bad thing is,is your only see it when its moving usually barriers its self in the sand..but its been doing really good for about 4 mo. now

 

[saltysilverado]

Linckia

 

[bigdeb]

What gave you that impression? I'm just curious if you have a link?

I recently bought a sand shifting star fish. It buried itself in the sand and has not come out. Will it eventually come out? How long should I wait before I know it's not going to?

 

[melypr1985]

I recently bought a sand shifting star fish. It buried itself in the sand and has not come out. Will it eventually come out? How long should I wait before I know it's not going to?

Starfish in general will spend most of their day hiding in the rocks where you cant see them. I've never had a sand sifting star because they dont do well in aquariums for the long term. They eat all the fauna in your sand and then starve to death. How did you acclimate it?

 

[ARVERLY]

how about this? http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+528+580&pcatid=580

 

[cameronh]

how about this? http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+528+580&pcatid=580

That is cool!!

 

[underwaterdan]

Wow cool Sea star

 

[Darryl]

Basket feather star

 

[cameronh]

Basket feather star

What in the world?! It's like a fern plant. It's like a moving coral

 

[coral tarracino]

Nice to see Star Fish! you dont' hear much about them!

 

[derekstank]

I have a sand sifting star fish. And a red spiny star fish. Both are very cool to watch. Especially when the sand sifting one disappears and reappears all over the place.

 

[Tahoe61]

Fromia is an apporpriate star for most tanks when allowed to graze in areas of undisturbed film algae/biofilm.

Personally I do not believe Linkia or Sandsifters are appropriate for the most tanks.

Serpents as indicated by the name get large fast. They are cool if you can tolerate them stealing food from corals, and perhaps becoming opportunistic eaters.

 

[MAN-O-WAR]

Are there any star fish that are reef safe? I have a clean up crew and hope to eventually get a clam... Those would be the two things I would guess may not go well with seastars.

The African red star is gorgeous, can be aggressive though!

 

[Chris Aldrich]

Quite a bit of talk re: sand-sifting and (green) brittle stars in this thread, so I just wanted to pass along a word of warning on each of them:

As @evolved mentioned, sand-sifting stars are too good at their job. You're better off avoiding them unless you have a large system and plenty of sandy real estate. Here's why: http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/sand-sifting-starfish-job-too-well-done-astropecten-4399/

Steer clear of green brittle stars (Ophiarachna incrassata). Not only do they grow huge, but they'll actively capture and consume many tank inhabitants. They even utilize an interesting "trap" technique to catch fish. More info: http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/green-brittle-star-little-fishy-beware-ophiarachna-incrassata-5839/

 

[underwaterdan]

Interesting reading. Thanks! I would hope somewhere there's a truly cool reefsafe star fish, but it's not looking promising

 

[Chris Aldrich]

I'm a big fan of serpent stars, but they aren't out and about all the time. I currently have a nice Ophioderma cinereum specimen that's usually in hiding - until food hits the water, that is. Then it's out of the rockwork right quick and foraging for awhile to track down scraps. I hand feed it occasionally to encourage it to come out. It's not anything spectacular to look at (just a muted pink/red), but it's still a neat creature. I think the "aesthetics" of a harlequin serpent (Ophioderma appressum) would be more generally appealing with their alternating black and white bands.