What starfish is right for me?

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classklown90

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
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Audubon, NJ
With the acquistion of my new 30 gallon tank I EVENTUALLY plan on aadding a starfish, mostly to satisfy my gf :rolleyes: but I am intrested as well. I am not looking for a serpent or brittle star as I find them unattractive but rather a "tradtional" starfish shape. What kind is right for me? I have a 34 gallon long tank with(bythe time I get the star) at least 40 lbs of liverock. I heard the orange ones were good and that they stay very small when compared to others
 
I don't think you want Asterina Stars. Also make sure you don't also put a Harlequin Shrimp in your tank as they feast on starfish. They immobilize the starfish and eat away the starfish leg by leg.
 
Depends on what you want to do with the tank, some stars are reef safe while others are not. What kind of Orange star are you talking about? Orange knobby stars get huge and will eat anything, I have learned that the hard way. I was told it was reef safe. Chocolate chip stars are cool, but are not reef safe. So really it boils down to what you want to keep in the tank.
 
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its a reef tank and i dont plan o harlequin as starfish are all they eat. by orange star i simply mean well an "orange starfish" thats the name on liveaquaria and they only grow 3" and are reef safe
 
These are the ones I have had. Make sure you do not expose them to air and they need a mature tank of at least a yr old. Newer tanks tend to be unstable and that`s why they need a mature tank.

My current star
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Past stars

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besides an aged tank, do they require any special care? lol that orange one is funny. how big did the orange and that purple one get. i only have a 34 long so size is an issue
 
Probably the legs got about 3 inches long. All of them lived at least two years and the blue linknia lived over 4 yrs.
 
I know you said you don't like the brittle starfish, and I think you're right that they're not the prettiest things in the tank. But, I have one, and I have to sat that it's pretty cool.

First of all, it's pretty active, and it moves relatively quickly; so it's fun to watch. Second of all, it lives in a hole in my live rock, and whenever I feed the fish, the rock sprouts starfish arms, which wave around frantically until the feedng is over; so, it humors me.

All of that to say: Maybe reconsider the unlovely brittle starfish. Mine has been well worth having.
 
I know you said you don't like the brittle starfish, and I think you're right that they're not the prettiest things in the tank. But, I have one, and I have to sat that it's pretty cool.

First of all, it's pretty active, and it moves relatively quickly; so it's fun to watch. Second of all, it lives in a hole in my live rock, and whenever I feed the fish, the rock sprouts starfish arms, which wave around frantically until the feedng is over; so, it humors me.

All of that to say: Maybe reconsider the unlovely brittle starfish. Mine has been well worth having.
that's when i reach in with a piece of food and hand it to the frantically waving legs.
 
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