Starfish

[Newbie727272]

Hi everyone,

Are there any starfish that meet the following criteria:

* Suitable for a 30 gallon fish only, with plenty of rock, which has only been running a few months
* Survive well in tanks
* Are modestly sized
* Not a threat to fish or inverts
* Survive happily on all the usual tank detritus
* Are colourful/attractive

I'm only interested in getting something if it's going to be happy. Some of my reading suggests starfish often don't do well, longterm. Do they all requite supplementary feeding or other special care?

 

[Cheese Griller]

Short answer, no. They require a very established tank to thrive, if they even survive at all

 

[bradreef]

Not really. But if you have a very established system, you have maybe a 10% chance of keeping a fromia long term.

 

[Fish Fan]

The Fromia sea stars that are colorful are specialized feeders and don't do well in most home aquaria. They require very large and very mature sandbeds, or they quickly deplete their food, and slowly starve to death.

Not a true sea star, and maybe not too pretty, but many keep brittle stars without much trouble. They are typically considered reef safe, though they tend to hide a lot. Mostly, you see their arms sticking out of the rocks.

 

[Idech]

Not a true sea star, and maybe not too pretty, but many keep brittle stars without much trouble. They are typically considered reef safe, though they tend to hide a lot. Mostly, you see their arms sticking out of the rocks.

I do like my brittle star !

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I've kept brittle and serpent stars for decades (yes, different class than Asteroidea, but I think the common name subsumes them in most contexts). They're hardy, but they should be target fed if they need it; whether they'll need to be target fed depends entirely on your fish/coral feeding habits.

None of the reliably fish-safe ones are very colorful, though there are some serpent stars that lean toward red, and a brittle star that's a dark brick red (not the red serpent Ophioderma squamosissimum -- that one will eat fish).

 

[vetteguy53081]

brittle star and small serpent star

 

[Newbie727272]

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I'll cross a starfish off my list.

 

[Airedale Reef]

I picked up this beaut about 4 months ago....I have a 30g long tank and a 3inch sand bed. I follow some other reefers that had some "long term" success (over a year), and I wanted to try my hand.
I supplement food a few times a week with a small isolation box. As others mentioned, the long term success rate is not promising, but wanted to share my current experience.

Indica Fromia

 

[bluemon]

Asterina lol

 

[jabberwock]

I have had these guys for 2 years, but I only ever see their arms. They were hitchhikers on TBS live rock. I think I have more than 2 now, but... Hard to tell. The picture was from a tank move. Great CUC.

 

[Newbie727272]

I picked up this beaut about 4 months ago....I have a 30g long tank and a 3inch sand bed. I follow some other reefers that had some "long term" success (over a year), and I wanted to try my hand.
I supplement food a few times a week with a small isolation box. As others mentioned, the long term success rate is not promising, but wanted to share my current experience.

Indica Fromia

Beautiful critter but the isolation feeding is a big commitment for me, since I travel a bit.

 

[Crabs+Shrimps-69]

I've kept brittle and serpent stars for decades (yes, different class than Asteroidea, but I think the common name subsumes them in most contexts). They're hardy, but they should be target fed if they need it; whether they'll need to be target fed depends entirely on your fish/coral feeding habits.

None of the reliably fish-safe ones are very colorful, though there are some serpent stars that lean toward red, and a brittle star that's a dark brick red (not the red serpent Ophioderma squamosissimum -- that one will eat fish).

Which sources are telling you certain ones will eat fish and certain ones won't?
I've heard some sources say they will all eat fish and others saying only the green ones will but not others.

 

[Crabs+Shrimps-69]

Why is no one talking about carnivorous stars like chocolate chips?
The op never mentioned it needs to be reef safe, just safe with fish and inverts (unless corals are on that list of inverts).

 

[bluemon]

Why is no one talking about carnivorous stars like chocolate chips?
The op never mentioned it needs to be reef safe, just safe with fish and inverts (unless corals are on that list of inverts).

It could work as OP did say Fish only with rock.

Maybe doesn’t fit the colorful tag but it looks nice in my eyes

 

[Fish Fan]

Why is no one talking about carnivorous stars like chocolate chips?
The op never mentioned it needs to be reef safe, just safe with fish and inverts (unless corals are on that list of inverts).

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".

 

[bluemon]

Maybe you can consider Protoreaster linckii, the red knobby sea star which is the cousin of the chocolate chip.

It’s easier than the linckias and the fromias for sure, but I think it’s still challenging. Also not reef safe, but at least you can feed it readily.

 

[christinna77]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but does anyone have experience with these particular serpent stars? LFS has them listed as Serpent Star - Ophiocoma sp. , and I was told they're pretty easy to take care of even in a newer tank. I can commit to any supplemental feeding if needed (WFH, plenty of time!).

My ultimate dream is a blue Linckia Starfish (I really love anything blue, sadly lots of blue fish and critters are either too big for a 75gal or not reef safe), but I won't be even thinking of getting one until my tank is at least a year old.

 

[bluemon]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but does anyone have experience with these particular serpent stars? LFS has them listed as Serpent Star - Ophiocoma sp. , and I was told they're pretty easy to take care of even in a newer tank. I can commit to any supplemental feeding if needed (WFH, plenty of time!).

My ultimate dream is a blue Linckia Starfish (I really love anything blue, sadly lots of blue fish and critters are either too big for a 75gal or not reef safe), but I won't be even thinking of getting one until my tank is at least a year old.

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

 

[littlefoxx]

It could work as OP did say Fish only with rock.

Maybe doesn’t fit the colorful tag but it looks nice in my eyes

I do like chocolate chip stars! Thought about getting one for my tank but my old niger trigger decimated it and since I have 2 triggers Im afraid one of them will eat it!!