Best reef safe starfish?

[kazikage42]

Thinking about adding a starfish. Which one would be the most beneficial?

 

[revsgirl]

bump

 

[AlexG]

From a beneficial standpoint I would say that sand stars are a great addition that will help to keep the sand turned over. Brittle stars can also be a benefit but make sure you know the species you are buying as some of them are aggressive to the point where they will eat fish and other inverts (Green brittle stars fall into this aggressive category). Another reef safe star I would also suggest looking at is linkia stars orange or purple were my favorites and seemed to hold up well. The tank should be at least a few months old before sand stars or linkias are added. Brittle stars generally take food very easily and can be considered part of the cleanup crew. With starfish acclimation is critical and I prefer a long acclimation period 12-24 hours and no or little exposure to air. The starfish should be placed on high rock work or the glass near the top of the tank so they can adjust to pressure changes in the water column on their own terms.

 

[Roboson]

Black brittle star is the best in my opinion. If you get a small one it will feed itself, but once it gets better it should be fed occasionally with sinking pellets.

Sand sifting stars are good if you have a large deep sandbed that's been aged for a couple months. They eat a lot of microfauna in the sand, so if it's not large enough, it will eat all of the tiny stuff and then starve.

Also banded serpent stars are suuuper cool, and as long as you avoid green ones, you'll be great.

 

[chubble]

would a medium to large red brittle seastar kill a small geometric pygmy hawk?