starfish

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pm64971

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Messages
116
Location
Ontario Canada
Hey all,

My girlfriends tank has fininshed cycling and there are two damsels living in it right now. My tank will finish soon. We're going to take the damsels out of her tank and put them in mine. We would like to add a starfish to her tank. I don't know much about starfish. Are they easy to keep? How do you feed them? What kind and how much lighting is required? Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Phil
 
Care of a starfish depends greatly on the type of star you decide to purchase.

Sand sifting stars need a DSB, and will quickly eat all the life found in the sandbed.

Brittle & Serpent stars are great scavengers, but most are primarily nocturnal.

Many stars are not reef safe - is your tank a reef or FO?

Some stars that *are* reef safe, require a large, established (6 month +) tank, with a lot of LR (Linckias, Fromias, etc.).

All stars are super-sensitive to changes in salinity, temp, and pH, and need extreme care in acclimation.

No stars are photosynthetic - lighting is not an issue.

HTH,
 
If you are going with FOWLR, then a Chocolate Chip Star is pretty cool. Mine moved around a lot, helped with algae, and looked cool. but they are probobly not reef safe, but they are pretty easy to care for.

:hat:
 
wookie903 said:
What else can you feed the sand sifter star if he cleans out the DSB?

I've read that some people have success in placing food in the DSB but I think most people have the star fish starve to death in a matter of several months
 
Chocolate chip stars are very reef safe. I have had two in my 55g since I set it up and I have never had a problem with them eating what they are not supposed to.

Howard
 
fishtender said:
Chocolate chip stars are very reef safe. I have had two in my 55g since I set it up and I have never had a problem with them eating what they are not supposed to.

Howard

I have one of these as well, in a reef tank and considered them "Reef Safe" - however - one part of the determinations and qualifications for "Reef Safe" isn't so much 'Will they thrive in a reef?' but also includes, 'Will they knock over delicately placed coral?'

Mine gets a big kick out of knocking over my flowerpot coral. I've actually seen him do it one evening - he just pushes it out of the way to get to some algae or whatever underneath where the flowerpot was sitting. I keep the flowerpot on the DSB now.

Just something else to keep in mind - 'Do I have delicately placed coral in the tank?' If the answer is yes, and you get the chocolate-chip star, get your elbow-length gloves ready. :)

Todd
 
I wanted a choc. chip star, but everything I read said they are NOT reef safe! "They will quickly mount and devour any clam, coral, etc." I , personally would recommend a linkia of some sort.
 
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