Starfish

[christinna77]

These are pretty easy. They’ll just come out during feedings and try to grab a piece that falls down to the sand. Since the tank is new, wouldn’t hurt to hand it a piece of meat every once in a while.

As for something blue, maybe a damsel? Bright blue is indeed hard to come by even in bigger tanks, doesn’t help that our lights are blue.

Also, linkia wouldn’t survive in a one year old tank.

I wouldn’t consider it unless your tank is at least a few decades old and at least a 1000 gallons big for the microfauna and biofilm to be available year round

Thank you, I'll grab one on the weekend then! I've been really enjoying feeding my shrimp, so this should be fun too.

And I guess I'll be back in 2035 then, lol. Or perhaps someone will find a better way to keep them alive. Biota captive bred linckia would be awesome.

I've got springeri damsel on my potential stock list, heard it's one of the nicer ones, as I'm trying to not have any aggression in my tank, so we'll see! I also really love my blue assessor :)

 

[Newbie727272]

Because the OP asked for colorful/attractive stars

You're right, on one hand the OP did say it's a fish only tank, but on the other hand they ask for "invert safe".

Thanks, I have no corals but I do have snails etc which I'd prefer not to be hunted.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Which sources are telling you certain ones will eat fish and certain ones won't?

Personal experience with the three fish-eating species.

If I am giving second hand info, I try to remember to indicate or imply that the info is second hand ("I've read..."; "people say..."; "it is claimed that..."); I hate internet misinformation and try not to assist its spread.

I didn't make any claims about which ones won't eat fish, as far as I recall. I wouldn't put it past any serpent or brittle star (or carnivorous animal in general) to take advantage of an opportunity, though I've not had any instances where I can say with confidence that I've had apparent losses from the smaller browner species.

I've heard some sources say they will all eat fish and others saying only the green ones will but not others.

Well, it only takes one credible report of fish-eating to establish that a species will in fact eat fish. To establish that a certain species will not eat fish would take a considerable number of non-fish-eating data points, or some sort of physiological facts to the effect that a species simply cannot physically eat fish. Reports like "I've had this species for years and it hasn't eaten any of my fish" doesn't go very far in ruling out possible behavior in other situations/tanks/livestock combinations/time periods.

 

[Crabs+Shrimps-69]

Personal experience with the three fish-eating species.

If I am giving second hand info, I try to remember to indicate or imply that the info is second hand ("I've read..."; "people say..."; "it is claimed that..."); I hate internet misinformation and try not to assist its spread.

I didn't make any claims about which ones won't eat fish, as far as I recall. I wouldn't put it past any serpent or brittle star (or carnivorous animal in general) to take advantage of an opportunity, though I've not had any instances where I can say with confidence that I've had apparent losses from the smaller browner species.



Well, it only takes one credible report of fish-eating to establish that a species will in fact eat fish. To establish that a certain species will not eat fish would take a considerable number of non-fish-eating data points, or some sort of physiological facts to the effect that a species simply cannot physically eat fish. Reports like "I've had this species for years and it hasn't eaten any of my fish" doesn't go very far in ruling out possible behavior in other situations/tanks/livestock combinations/time periods.

You said in your original post you claimed 3 species are fish eaters, but I could only find 1 species mentioned in that post.

I also typically try to suggest info is second hand by writing some your examples, but I don't typically do that if I'm confident the information is true and I've heard it from numerous sources.

I agree with what you said about how it's possible any serpent/brittle star might eat a fish, and how multiple experiences are needed to estimate the chances of it going after fish, but that also means certain species won't have a higher chance at going after fish based of only your experience.

With what I said about green serpent stars going after fish, multiple sources have mentioned the green ones are predatory and will go after fish, and they are the/one of the largest serpent stars, which can grow up to 50cm (I believe that is arm to arm, but I could be wrong)!

Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't any outliers, as I remember seeing a post here with someone who kept one in a reef tank with clownfish and the clownfish were fine (can't find it, probably not looking hard enough).

 

[goosemans]

African red knob star is what you’re looking for

 

[Malum Argenteum]

You said in your original post you claimed 3 species are fish eaters, but I could only find 1 species mentioned in that post.

I mentioned one species in order to specify an exception.

The three that are sometimes cautioned against, and which I have first hand experience with eating fish are: Ophioderma squamosissimum, Ophiarachna incrassata, and one that I'm having trouble digging up a probable name for -- looks a lot like this one.