Star Fish

Dragon52 · May 28, 2019

How many Starfish do you keep in your DT & which ones are they?

James M · May 28, 2019

I have 1 micro brittle star in my 20

Dragon52 · May 28, 2019

Every once in awhile I'll get a few in an order of cheato. but I don't see them in my refugium later on.

mattzang · May 28, 2019

i have a black brittlestar that i've had for a long time now.. almost a year now. i was told it was a good CUC member. it just kinda hangs out in rocks all day and rarely seems to move, i doubt it does a lot on the cleanup front, but it is quite hardy. the rock it's in has a bunch of hitchhiker zoas on it and i took the entire rock out (forgetting the brittlestar was in there) to scrape me some zoas. all of a sudden i see some black legs sticking out.. so i was worried that would kill him, but nope. good to go.

then i added an indian tile star or something like three months ago which is still going strong. if it dies i'm not getting another because watching it fall apart will be too tough, that said i went with the LFS advice that my tank was large enough and mature enough so we'll see how it goes.

LFS owner said they stay small and cruise the tank, but really like to hover at the surface line going after that biofilm stuff, so i try to leave that area uncleaned for him. i've tried to drop him pieces of food/pellets/flakes and he just lets them go so hopefully that means he's getting enough food as is

Tastee · May 29, 2019

I have a sand sifting starfish in my RSR 250, been in the tank 12 months now and going well.

homer1475 · May 29, 2019

Stars are best left in the ocean. None that I have seen live long term in our tanks with the exception of brittle stars, asternias, and serpent stars. We just don't have a good enough understanding of their nutritional requirements to keep them alive long term.

Sand sifters can live long term in a big enough tank that has enough microfauna in it's sanbed to feed it. But even those usually die of starvation once they clean the sandbed of all microfauna.

Dragon52 · May 29, 2019

mattzang said:
i have a black brittlestar that i've had for a long time now.. almost a year now. i was told it was a good CUC member. it just kinda hangs out in rocks all day and rarely seems to move, i doubt it does a lot on the cleanup front, but it is quite hardy. the rock it's in has a bunch of hitchhiker zoas on it and i took the entire rock out (forgetting the brittlestar was in there) to scrape me some zoas. all of a sudden i see some black legs sticking out.. so i was worried that would kill him, but nope. good to go.

then i added an indian tile star or something like three months ago which is still going strong. if it dies i'm not getting another because watching it fall apart will be too tough, that said i went with the LFS advice that my tank was large enough and mature enough so we'll see how it goes.

LFS owner said they stay small and cruise the tank, but really like to hover at the surface line going after that biofilm stuff, so i try to leave that area uncleaned for him. i've tried to drop him pieces of food/pellets/flakes and he just lets them go so hopefully that means he's getting enough food as is

Thanks for showing the pic & the response

Dragon52 · May 29, 2019

Tastee said:
I have a sand sifting starfish in my RSR 250, been in the tank 12 months now and going well.

Nice, I plan on getting a Fancy Red Brittle one day.

Musovski · May 29, 2019

i keep 3 sand sifting stars and 1 brittle star. Its getting quite big

LAReefer4Life · Nov 7, 2019

I have Sand Shifting Starfish and Red Serpent Starfish. Both are extremely hardy and pillars of the community

Here is a video!

Zos4me · Nov 7, 2019

I have a Chocolate chip that was the size of a quarter and is now roughly at large as a baseball.he hangs out ot my sump cuz he knocks everything over.he just turned 3

mattzang · Nov 7, 2019

mattzang said:
i have a black brittlestar that i've had for a long time now.. almost a year now. i was told it was a good CUC member. it just kinda hangs out in rocks all day and rarely seems to move, i doubt it does a lot on the cleanup front, but it is quite hardy. the rock it's in has a bunch of hitchhiker zoas on it and i took the entire rock out (forgetting the brittlestar was in there) to scrape me some zoas. all of a sudden i see some black legs sticking out.. so i was worried that would kill him, but nope. good to go.

then i added an indian tile star or something like three months ago which is still going strong. if it dies i'm not getting another because watching it fall apart will be too tough, that said i went with the LFS advice that my tank was large enough and mature enough so we'll see how it goes.

LFS owner said they stay small and cruise the tank, but really like to hover at the surface line going after that biofilm stuff, so i try to leave that area uncleaned for him. i've tried to drop him pieces of food/pellets/flakes and he just lets them go so hopefully that means he's getting enough food as is

update: internet was right, it died. made it about 6 months or so then just stopped moving and fell apart, sadly.

on the plus side, my black brittlestar is still trucking along. it seems to move rocks every couple of months, definitely not sure it's worth $20 or whatever i paid, but if you want something long term, that's what i'd go with.

Dragon52 · Nov 8, 2019

mattzang said:
update: internet was right, it died. made it about 6 months or so then just stopped moving and fell apart, sadly.

on the plus side, my black brittlestar is still trucking along. it seems to move rocks every couple of months, definitely not sure it's worth $20 or whatever i paid, but if you want something long term, that's what i'd go with.

Sorry to hear that.

JordanS01 · Nov 8, 2019

I have a blue linckia that I've had for almost a whole year and red fromia that's been in there for about 4 months so far

DSC reef · Nov 8, 2019

homer1475 said:
Stars are best left in the ocean. None that I have seen live long term in our tanks with the exception of brittle stars, asternias, and serpent stars. We just don't have a good enough understanding of their nutritional requirements to keep them alive long term.

Sand sifters can live long term in a big enough tank that has enough microfauna in it's sanbed to feed it. But even those usually die of starvation once they clean the sandbed of all microfauna.

Agree 100% most claim success at the year or 2 mark.

vetteguy53081 · Nov 8, 2019

I got this one for only $25 and cant wait for it to grow !!!!

Alright folks. . . I know I had to MAKE SOMEONE L O L - YES ??

DSC reef · Nov 8, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
I got this one for only $25 and cant wait for it to grow !!!!

Alright folks. . . I know I had to MAKE SOMEONE L O L - YES ??

The most successfully kept starfish in a reef aquarium!

Dragon52 · Nov 8, 2019

mattzang said:
update: internet was right, it died. made it about 6 months or so then just stopped moving and fell apart, sadly.

on the plus side, my black brittlestar is still trucking along. it seems to move rocks every couple of months, definitely not sure it's worth $20 or whatever i paid, but if you want something long term, that's what i'd go with.

Thinking about a Fancy Red Brittle & Blue Lankia