What is a good starfish to have?

[Civicman86]

What is a nice star fish that is reef compatible? I had a orange linkia one that didnt last long (think it could have been water quality though). I really liked the way it looked and like the blue ones. I know chocolate chips are not good to have with corals. So what are some other exotic ones to have in a 29gallon.

 

[2revup]

brittle stars are great, but i have to agree the linkas are the best. However people say that they are hard to keep mine was ewasy he only just passed away it seems as those some supposed reef safe items didnt get along to well (everything else survied)

 

[i have crabs]

marbled sea stars are nice looking and reefsafe

 

[AndyH5512]

Sand sifter stars are great. I have 2 and they do an awesome job in the tank. They never stop working. I couldnt ask for much more.

 

[austinsdad]

Brittles and serpents seem to be more hardy. I never had luck with sand sifters. Plus, they're either under the sand anyway and their color was boring.

 

[Scoot]

I made the mistake of getting a blue linkia.

Even after a 2 hour acclimation, perfect water conditions, no agression towards him, etc., he only lasted 2 or 3 days, at which point he started to "melt". He might have been in bad shape when I got him, but that experience has scared me away from thinking about getting any more linkia's.

 

[hackteck]

ive had a sandsifting star for about 3 months, doing pretty well thou i dont see him offten

 

[FishFrik]

I see my sandsifting star everyday. He only goes about 1/3 inch down the sand for a couple of hours then comes up to the surface to move. He's been in the tank for more than a month

 

[austinsdad]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=2126

See, brittles and serpents can be pretty too.

 

[EELectric]

IMO a sea serpent star would get too big for a 29 gal. HTH

 

[austinsdad]

Good point. I totally forgot about aquarium size, but with good amount of rock that might not be a big problem. Hopefully, there are some smaller variations availbale of either.

 

[melosu58]

Hey Scoot did you expose him to air. If you did then his chances were slim at best. I like the Blue licknia. Here is mine.

 

[lando]

Serpent or blue linka are good choices. A sand sifter is not appropriate for a 29gal tank. they can grow big and will devistate the fauna in a sand bed very quickly.

 

[Hara]

I agree with Lando. A sand sifting star will most likely starve to death after eating all the critters in your sandbed. I see no problem with a brittle or serpent star in a tank that size. Blue Linckia get huge as well.

There are, so far, 16 varieties of sea stars listed in the database linked to in my signature. You might check some of those.

 

[seaham358]

Linkia stars need a large tank to live long term and a 29 is not large enough. No one is sure what they live on so they reccomend large tanks whit lots of LR for them to live long term.
Agree on the SS not a good choice either.
Sarpent IMO is the best choice, some have nice colors and the brittles are nice but some can be fish eaters.. In a small tank this is not a good thing.

 

[Civicman86]

Hmm I will just hold off on the stars. Im not a big fan of the serpent stars. They kind of creep me out lol. I like the linkia ones the best. I guess Ill just have to wait till I set my big tank up.

 

[Scoot]

No, I'd already read that exposing them to air was bad, so he want back in the bag and then into the tank - yeah, some water from the LPS surely got into my tank, but there wasn't anyway to avoid that.

 

[revhtree]

I have had a Blue Linkia for about a year now and from what I understand they are a little more difficult than just your average star. As others have said the serpants will do good, but they are freaky! I have 2 by the way and really they only freak out my wife.

The linkias should NEVER be exposed to air, but my blue Link at times hangs one leg out at the top of the tank for hours. He has done this many times before....

 

[austinsdad]

So, you end up with some lfs water in your tank with dealing with linkias that aren't exposed to air during transfer, huh?

 

[melosu58]

Hopefully through the process of acclimation you`ll have most of the LFS water gone. I took 1/2 the water out and added water from my tank. I did this 4 times and there wasnt much left from the LFS granted there was some. After the quick transfer under water the bag came back out and the water and bag were discarded. This is just the way I do it to keep my water from getting contaminated.