finally found a reef safe and hardy starfish

[joyce322]

I agree with whiteshark- I would not buy a starfish if I do not know what it eats- It may be slowly starving to death (which is common) - you just are not noticing it. They are beautiful though.

 

[d2mini]

The serpents are scavengers, they eat anything they can find. Mind come running out of the rocks when I feed the tank.
These "common" starfish seem to feed on bio/algae films.
For me they are on the walls of the tank most of the time, and sometimes they climb to the top and stretch a leg or two out just under the surface of the water, like they are skimming proteins off the top of the water.
If they are starving, it's taking them years to do it.

 

[whiteshark]

The serpents are scavengers, they eat anything they can find. Mind come running out of the rocks when I feed the tank.
These "common" starfish seem to feed on bio/algae films.
For me they are on the walls of the tank most of the time, and sometimes they climb to the top and stretch a leg or two out just under the surface of the water, like they are skimming proteins off the top of the water.
If they are starving, it's taking them years to do it.

I'm not saying that they are starving by any means. I would love to add one to my tank. I just feel hesitant not knowing for sure. If I got one and it did die I'd feel like it was my fault for not knowing enough about it.

 

[ryan1985]

I'm not saying that they are starving by any means. I would love to add one to my tank. I just feel hesitant not knowing for sure. If I got one and it did die I'd feel like it was my fault for not knowing enough about it.

you're a responsible reefer, gotta respect that. for every person with your rationale, there are 25 others in line at petco about to put 9 tangs into a nano. that said, i have 3 fairly large common stars in a 76g setup with no signs of them starving after 6 months, so pending the size of your setup, and if it's well established, i'd say it would be pretty low risk to add one. just my 2 cents.

 

[acabgd]

Any chance of a Latin/scientific name for this Common Seastar for us from across the Pond? I'd like to see if my LFS could order one, but I doubt he'll get far asking for a "Common Seastar".

 

[tapio]

I talked to Ron Shimek and he said basically all starfish except Asterina sp. are likely to starve in a typical reef tank. The species in this thread is likely a species of Echinaster, Ron's guess is Echinaster spinulosus. They are all purpose scavengers and like all starfish need a lot of food something our typical tanks/sandbeds can't provide. For example, there are virtually no crustaceans, worms or small clams in our sand beds that they need to feed on. As with many echinoderms they can take a long time to die.

Ron Shimek is a Ph.D. marine invertebrate zoologist and ecologist and has written a lot of articles both in this hobby and outside. I trust him.

 

[acabgd]

Thanks for the info from Ron, who I think everyone in this hobby should know about.

 

[formsix]

I wonder too, if d2mini, myself, and some others have had better success with some of these starfish because we started our tanks with completely live rocks and sand. It makes sense to me that the stars would do better for longer if they were kept with the same rocks and sand that has their natural diet already in it... and maybe whatever it is they eat manages to keep reproducing from that initial rock and sand. And d2mini's tank is wayyy bigger than mine, and he gets a new infusion of rock and sand from TBS every so often -- I do have to think that plays a big part in keeping some of these critters healthy.

Also, my serpent and brittle have grown considerably in my tank and are in no danger of starving. However, I'm not sure how well they would be doing if they only scavenged. I target feed them chunks of meaty foods about once a week -- they wrap around my baster and grab food right out of it!!

 

[tapio]

Also, my serpent and brittle have grown considerably in my tank and are in no danger of starving. However, I'm not sure how well they would be doing if they only scavenged. I target feed them chunks of meaty foods about once a week -- they wrap around my baster and grab food right out of it!!

I have also had brittle and serpent stars for years and although I don't feed my tanks much at all they seem to be able to find enough to eat. I have even had them without any substantial sand beds no problem. I think Ron was mainly talking about the echinaster and Linckia type stars.
Also as a side note, I asked him about cucumbers and he thought the mopping cucumbers should in most tanks be able to survive, because they can feed on bacterial particulate and detritus especially if they are small.

 

[dg3147]

Anyone keep one of those guys with clams in their tank?
(btw, the KP website calls them: Echinaster sentus)

 

[liverock]

I have a common starfish (from tampa bay saltwater), and I gotta say that it's made it 7 months, but is a little skinnier than it used to be. I have a flame scallop and sponges so I feed a little phyto, foods like reef chili, Rod's, and of course mysis and other meaty stuff to the fish. Anyway, my starfish sometimes seems to filter feed after I feed Rod's and reef chili -- it will raise an arm like it's trying to catch particulates. It also loves moving along my front glass AFTER I've cleaned it. So maybe some type of biofilm remains or it likes the stuff that first starts accumulating?

I think it's done better than many other starfish stories I've heard of, and keeping my tank a little dirtier probably helps. I do think it's eating something in the tank, but I honestly don't know what, and I don't think it's getting quite enough of it. I'd say it's maintaining, but not thriving -- unlike my serpents and brittles which are happy to eat chunks of anything I send their way and are as happy and active as when I first got them, and have grown in size.

Tuck a little raw shrimp under an arm and see what happens!

 

[dg3147]

Tuck a little raw shrimp under an arm and see what happens!

Anyone have it live successfully with a clam in the tank? Might be ill advised, but curious if there has been anecdotal success here.

 

[d2mini]

Yes, i stated in my earlier post that none of them bother my clam.

 

[tapio]

I am not aware of any stars bothering clams

 

[liquidPentium]

Tank looks great! D2Mini, I love the pic of the serpent!

 

[formsix]

I have also had brittle and serpent stars for years and although I don't feed my tanks much at all they seem to be able to find enough to eat. I have even had them without any substantial sand beds no problem. I think Ron was mainly talking about the echinaster and Linckia type stars.
Also as a side note, I asked him about cucumbers and he thought the mopping cucumbers should in most tanks be able to survive, because they can feed on bacterial particulate and detritus especially if they are small.

Yeah, I figured the issue was mainly with the echinstar and linkia types. I do have several cucumbers in my tank that all seem to be thriving -- not the mopping cucumbers from the indo pacific, but 2 tiger tails and 1 filter-feeding cuke from the Florida gulf. I think all of them get enough to eat, and it does seem like the tiger tails feed on detritus or else really small critters in the sand. They move very slowly across the tank, and sometimes hang out on the sand or the very bottom of the same rock for a week or so at a time before moving on. The common starfish, on contrast, sometimes hangs out in one spot, but other times seriously cruises all over the tank. It could just be that it feeds in spurts rather than slowly and methodically like the tiger tails, but it does occasionally concern me that it's not finding enough food. It would be awesome if we could nail down exactly what they eat and watch them thrive in captivity -- and hopefully yours will do just that!

 

[m.adamschwartz]

I've always had great luck with serpent stars but any of the others have always slowly withered away on me.

 

[Nina51]

reading the description, it says it's probably not a good idea to add this star fish in a tank with a clam. as much as i'd like to try a couple, i'm not taking any chances. the clam i have is 2+ years old.

bummer!

 

[mluntz]

Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone else used these guys? Their prices are rediculously cheaper than Liveaquaria!

 

[BlueFyre]

I have had a lot of orders with K&P aquatics and I could not be happier. Their stuff is always top notch and you usually end up with freebies. I highly recommend them.