Carey's LAST Build- 125g Reef

[Purevil21]

Typical LFS, wanting to close a sale. Very cool, yes. Reef safe, no.

 

[hackteck]

so many of the cooler fish and inverts arent reef safe i noticed

 

[Purevil21]

Tell me about it, my favorite fish is an undulated trigger, awesome colors. Not reef safe, and imo not worth setting up a second fowlr to keep. They destroy everything. Why can we not have our cake and eat it too in this hobby?

 

[carey]

Ok so I just got off the phone with the guy who sold it to me. He said, yes, the red knob isnt reef safe but I bought a thorny red star, an echinaster.

heres the link for the starfish

FishDB - Red Thorny Starfish

I may be safe here....maybe...

 

[Purevil21]

http://www.reefs2go.com/product/INV_STAR_REDKNOBBY/Red-Knobby-Starfish.html

IMO, that is your sea star. Comparing your picture to that, they are identical.

 

[Purevil21]

You could just keep and monitor it. If you do catch it in the act, remove it. It may end up being ok.

 

[hackteck]

Reefs2go.com Red Knobby Starfish

IMO, that is your sea star. Comparing your picture to that, they are identical.

that looks spot on

 

[carey]

Hmm they are both separate starfish and yet look identical. The guy said if it did do anything he'd be happy to accept it back, he was very certain about it. Even took the time to look up what the real name was on his order form.

I'm gonna keep reading up on these 2 guys and see what i find. The Thorny is def reef safe and for beginners and is priced close to the $20 that I paid for it while the knobby is really cheap. The guy said he doesn't even carry them because they aren't reef safe.

 

[Flake]

for what it's worth other than the link you provided I only found one other that labeled the thorny start asteriidae.

Asteroidea (Sea Stars)

otherwise all I got is a mixture of thorny and knobby. Still not convinced of reef safety.

 

[carey]

Here's the pictures that I'm finding....

http://reefscavengers.com/thornystar.html

 

[Sarcothelia]

Looks like the Asteroides, not the Echinaster. I think it's not reef safe.

 

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

if its a thorny i don't see many thorns on yours

 

[Purevil21]

My issue is, if he is right, no harm done. But do you wait until the star munches on an expensive coral to take it back for your $20? Then you eat the cost of your inverts.

 

[carey]

Good point. What if I just move it into my biocube? No corals in there....

 

[Purevil21]

Then what do you do with it? The only way to know for sure is to wait for it to do some damage.

 

[Purevil21]

Imo I would play it safe and return it.

 

[carey]

I'm gonna get a better picture of it, cause you guys got me concerned now. I just don't see the guy lying to me on the phone, especially if he offered to take it back already. I mean if the store doesnt sell knobby's then how do I have one? LOL

 

[Flake]

We wind up with weird/mislabeled stuff every once in a while when an order screws up on the distributor's end. Happens all the time.

 

[Purevil21]

Livestock is incorrectly sent from wholesalers all the time. Especially with two species that look so similar. Your LFS may have ordered a thorny star, but IMO that is not what he received and sold you.

 

[carey]

Yep, that's why i have some concern. lol

When a star goes after a coral what does it do? Like could i catch it in the act so to speak? I know maybe I should just drive the hour back and return it but I think this one I may ride out and see.

It very possibly could be a knobby but theres an equal if not better chance of it being a thorny based on the circumstances.

Am I being mean to my corals? I feel like a horrible reef keeper now...lol