any star suitable?

[mr. bojangsjang]

I am soon going to have a 55-75 gallon seagrass tank, I would love a sea star for it. The tank wont have more than 20 LBS of LR as it is not needed in a planted tank. Aside from serpents or brittles, is there any star that will just eat the scraps left over? I looked at sand sifting stars but decided to avoid them because I read that with a DSB they can eat all the little creatures and then eventually die when there is no more, is that true? I love serpents and brittles but I read all the do is hide under LR all day and you never see them

 

[Nikon_Guy]

While the serpent that I have does indeed hide under the rock all day, I do see its arms out and about when feeding. On the other hand, the plain brittle star I have is out and about all of the time.

For a more traditional looking star, you may want to take a look at Linkia multifora. They are quite hardy and will even clone themselves. I would stay away from regular Linkia ie blue Linkia as they are not nearly as resilient as the multifora.

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

Thanks! Will the multi eat frozen foods and be target fed?

 

[Monkeyfish]

If you are going to target feed the stars then you could get several such as the protoreastor linkii (red knob) and protoreastor nodosus (chocolate chip). Both are tough as nails, out and about all day and eat a varied diet. Some researchers have indicated that they need sponge in their diet for proper nutrition so I feed mine angel food preparations that contain sponge, silversides, mahi mahi, clam, mysis shrimp and krill in addition to what they graze off of the live rock. Neither of these species are reef safe as they may consume corals and anemones.

 

[ophiuroid]

IMO you will not have enough LR for a Linckia...even multiflora. If not a decent amount..say at least 50lbs to be marginally "safe," then Linkia multiflora is not suitable. Linckia are associated with hard rock...not with seagrasses...nor will they scavenge.

Things like Oreaster reticulatus (the Bahama star) are typically associated with seagrass beds. Chocolate chip stars, generals, red Africans, are also better suited to being spot fed...but as mentioned are not reef safe.