Good Star For My Reef?

[Tito2491]

I went to my lfs today and saw a small sand sifter star, I've read that they do a great job of cleaning your substrate , Can I get one for my 20gal reef ?

 

[melosu58]

I`m just afraid that he`ll sift your tank too much and get rid of small life in the sand in that small of a tank. That`s just IMO

 

[Jermz79]

^^ Agree, I've read they need a large tank, 125+ to be best taken care of. I would look more towards Nassarius Snails and Scarlett hermits for sifting your sandbed!

 

[Tito2491]

Thanks for the info , yea I just read "They can eat an incredible amount of food for a small star, and individual stars have been found with as many as 70 brittle stars in their stomach at one time! " This sentance alone kills my idea of getting one , But are there any other small stars that I can put in my reef? How bout a orange star

 

[Brenden]

Agree. I think a serpent would be a better choice.

 

[Hara]

It takes a large tank with a mature sandbed to successfully keep one of these. Your tank is really too small for one.There are brittle stars and serpent stars that will be ok in that size tank.

Here is the main Invert Database...it is searchable for many things, you may find it useful.
http://www.fantasyreef.com/database/index.php?p=getdb&db_id=1

 

[ntswift]

I think I'd go with a brittle star also because I've heard that the orange and blue stars are hard to keep. They are really cool though!

 

[ColdFish]

I tried keeping a blue linkia a while back and it didn't do well at all. Died in about 2 weeks and I still have no idea why. There was nothing wrong with my water. I've since added a sandsifter and he's been doing great for a few months now. He really does a good job. I used to worry that my 50 gallon wasn't going to support him. He never accepts anything that I try to spot feed him so I guess he's doing fine on his own. He was missing part of one arm when I got him (couldn't complain since a guy at the LFS gave him to me) and that has even started to grow back. I still have a crushed coral substrate in that tank, so I'm really glad to have him

 

[jasno999]

I did a brittle star in my 10 gallon tank. I feed him raw shrimp one time a week.