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02/21/2008, 09:57 AM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Middletown, New York
Posts: 211
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Reef Safe Starfish
As the title suggests...I'm looking for a reef safe star fish if there is such a thing. I don't know alot about starfish so I thought I would ask here.
My wife would love to have a starfish. My concern would with it killing other tank inhabitants. My current tank is quite young at the moment but would like to plan for one if possible. I have also heard that they can knock over rocks and stuff. Any suggestions? |
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02/21/2008, 10:15 AM
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#2 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Posts: 158
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Brittle stars and Serpent stars are reef safe, they're just scavengers, but if they aren't getting enough food they will go after stuff in the tank so occasionaly feed them. There are a couple of species of brittle and serpents though that are not reef safe, sorry don't know which ones they are. But I have a red serpent and it does just fine. Once a week I feed it a little piece of cut shrimp or squid, depending what I have that week.
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02/21/2008, 10:16 AM
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#3 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 1,739
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You could get a sea serpent now. Just stay away from the green brittle star - fish eater.
Linckia starfish are reef safe, but have low survival rates and should only be attempted in established tanks (1 yr older) with lots of live rock. |
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02/21/2008, 10:18 AM
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#4 |
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Premium Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,096
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YES, there are 2 reef safe starfish that I have checked out.
A tile starfish...but they can get to be about 3 inches a Fromia starfish, this one only gets to be about the size of a quarter, maybe a little bigget. The fromia is the one I have ordered, becaust I only have a BioCube
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On a scuba dive in the Cayman Islands, I kept thinking.........Why is that Fish getting bigger.........Then it hit me Current Tank Info: 7 years saltwater.. Setting up a 120 gal reef. Office BioCube 14...1 perc clown, 1 royal gramma, 1 six line wrasse, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, green stripe, brown shrooms, coco worm, purple leather, Misc CUC |
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02/21/2008, 11:15 AM
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#5 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Middletown, New York
Posts: 211
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Newfish3,
thanks for the info! Do you know how hardy the fromia are? My LFS never has starfish when i go, so I'll probably be getting online (maybe liveaquaria). |
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02/21/2008, 11:26 AM
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#6 |
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Moved On
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Eastern, Pa - USA
Posts: 258
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the fromia stars are much more sensitive than the others. about the toughest to keep alive IMO, but the sharpest looking.
i just picked up ths one as a matter of fact: some say the turned up legs mean it will not survive...we'll see. 8 days and counting.. 
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02/21/2008, 11:35 AM
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#7 |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,096
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Hammerdude33,
I was told that the fromia was hardier then the tile star......now I dont know.............confused
__________________
On a scuba dive in the Cayman Islands, I kept thinking.........Why is that Fish getting bigger.........Then it hit me Current Tank Info: 7 years saltwater.. Setting up a 120 gal reef. Office BioCube 14...1 perc clown, 1 royal gramma, 1 six line wrasse, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, green stripe, brown shrooms, coco worm, purple leather, Misc CUC |
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02/21/2008, 11:47 AM
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#8 |
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Moved On
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Eastern, Pa - USA
Posts: 258
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what is a tile star? do you mean a fromia tile star? it's the same family. same care level...
here is my "fromia tile starfish"..... 
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02/21/2008, 11:50 AM
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#9 |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,096
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????? Dont know. My LFS just called a fromia starfish. It was orangish color, but only gets about the size of a quarter.
__________________
On a scuba dive in the Cayman Islands, I kept thinking.........Why is that Fish getting bigger.........Then it hit me Current Tank Info: 7 years saltwater.. Setting up a 120 gal reef. Office BioCube 14...1 perc clown, 1 royal gramma, 1 six line wrasse, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, green stripe, brown shrooms, coco worm, purple leather, Misc CUC |
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02/21/2008, 11:53 AM
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#10 |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Ft. Lauderdale
Posts: 10,598
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Yep, "tile star" is just a common name for one of the many species of Fromia. All of them have poor survival rates, mostly because people assume that being small means they will do fine in small tanks. Like the larger Linckia, they still seem to do best in mature tanks with 100+ lbs of LR.
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Some say the sun rises in the East. Some say it rises in the West. The truth must be somewhere in the middle. Current Tank Info: tore them down to move and haven't had the time or money to set them back up |
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02/21/2008, 11:53 AM
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#11 |
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It's what it's
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: 41° 2' 45" N 85° 8' 43" W
Posts: 7,579
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I have thousands of reef safe asterina stars. Want some?
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Freed Current Tank Info: 180gal(1120 watts of MH/VHO light), 60gal "sump", Deltec 601 calcium reactor, Euro Reef CS8-3+ skimmer, 20 gallon QT |
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02/21/2008, 11:55 AM
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#12 |
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Moved On
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Eastern, Pa - USA
Posts: 258
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fromia- is a genus. there are many in that family. i have seen orange fromia stars that are small. these two above are about the diameter of a coke can.
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02/21/2008, 12:45 PM
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#13 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Middletown, New York
Posts: 211
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THANKS ALL
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