NicoleIsStoked
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hmm. Crud.
If the starfish has bumps like chocolate chip star or African red they will eat anything slow enough to catch!!! As a general rule ( always are exceptions to the rule for both smooth stars eatting corals and bumpy ones not eating coral)
Sand sifter starfish have a very poor survival rate in home aquariums, due to them having a specialized diet. Most tanks don't have enough food in the sand bed to sustain them long term. Most of them slowly starve.
Serpent starfish and brittle starfish (except for the green brittle, which is a known fish eater) should be fine.
Just weighing in here. People have mentioned linckia (beautiful but delicate), brittle/serpent (really freaking cool and easy to feed), chocolate chip (predators but I know little about them), sand sifters (unfortunate habit of starving and hiding under the sand to die), but no one has mentioned fromia stars!
These guys are gorgeous and not as delicate as the linckia. Not as hardy as brittles but still good. I had a marbled fromia for almost a year before it stupidly crawled into a bubble coral and was stung to death.
I can't recommend sand sifters at all, and linckia are not really the best "first sea star" to buy. The chocolate chip and similar are good for FO or FOWLR, but not reef. Serpent and brittles are great and I love them. Except for the green brittle, I'd say odds of attacking anything mobile are low.
But please dont discount the fromia. They really are beautiful and if you have enough rock, a 50 *should* be big enough to accommodate one.
Agreed. They happen to be my favorite, besides the totally amazing "feather starfish". Another that's IMPOSSIBLE to keep.