I want a starfish!

[jbc123]

Looking for suggestions on a safe starfish for a 24g aquapod. I'd like something that is fairly self-sufficient and can survive on algae, pods, detritus, leftover food etc. I don't mind doing a little extra feeding if necessary, but would prefer to avoid having to do a lot of raw seafood.

Just something neat that can handle not having a ton of space and won't eat my snails, crabs or fish.

 

[philter4]

Almost any of the colorful serpent stars are good choices. They are easy to feed and do well in tanks are fairly safe for almost any coral and only a few will eat fish that is alive and healthy. The only one I can think of that is not really safe is the green serpent star, some say (I've never kept one) that they will eat fish at night.

Of the other stars available, and there are a lot, you need to be sure you can feed it. For instance it is very hard to feed linkia stars, not sure what they eat, but it is probably the micro fauna or algae film on the live rocks and if you don't have enough rock it starves. Just research the star you are looking at before you buy it, and get good info, not that a person in your LFS would lie to you, but many just think stars are all scavengers that will eat any leftover food.

 

[greenbean36191]

Brittle and serpent stars are the only viable options in such a small tank. They will need occasional feeding of meaty food though. Linckia and Fromia will starve and other true sea stars will eat inverts.

 

[jbc123]

I was looking at a banded serpent star but some seem to claim they will eat livestock.

 

[jbc123]

What are some good smaller brittle and serpent stars? Not those mini ones that are like half an inch.. something that is maybe 3-4 inches.

Banded serpents seem to get pretty large, and the ones my LFS has are 6-8 inches or so with more to go.

 

[Tennyson]

Serpant stars WILL NOT eat fish, unless they're dead.
Brittle Stars are the ones that will eat them alive and health (and dead/dying)

If you are getting a serpant star, make sure it's not a brittle star.

But serpants will never eat a fish, im 100% sure. My firefish, diamond watchman goby, royal gramma and jawfish have slept in the same hole as them, and both of mine have never layed an arm on them.
there are some very rare cases imo where this has happened, but you shouldn't have to worry about it.

I don't think there are any of that size-3-4 inches. You might be able to find one, but they will always grow big.

 

[greenbean36191]

There is no difference between brittle and serpent stars. These are artificial designations that don't exists outside of the hobby. They don't reflect any real morphological or behavioral groups. Members of either group are capable of catching or eating live prey, including fish, although that almost never happens except with O. incrassata.

 

[EllieSuz]

My Brittle Star appears when I target feed corals and I give it a healthy portion of whatever is on the menu at the time. He has never bothered any of the other inhabitants.

 

[jbc123]

My main concern is something small, it's only a 24g pod and a 10 inch star would take up half the bottom. Not that he could due to live rock.. and something that big moving about when I add corals can't be good.

 

[BuddhaKiss]

I've had a brittle star for over a year now and it hasn't eaten any fish (only the ones that died). My Mandarin even routinely sleeps next to it.
He's about 8 inches end to end but that's a guesstimate as I hardly ever see it. It's usually under a rock and will stick its arms out when I feed the tank. It also stirs the sand around him as it searches for food. IMO, completely reef safe

EDIT: Brittle stars rarely ever have their arms completely outstretched, so a 10 inch specimen is still viable in your aquapod

 

[greenbean36191]

Agreed. Even large brittle/serpent stars are suitable for a fairly small tank. You'll rarely ever find them fully outstretched and they actually prefer tight spaces. The best way to collect these guys in the wild is to go out and collect old sea shells that have been laying in the seagrass for a while. You can get 2 or 3 10'' stars from one 10'' conch shell. These guys won't bother your corals.

 

[jbc123]

How old of a tank should I have before adding one? Some seem to suggest you need a very mature tank to keep a star alive.

 

[rssjsb]

I think that's true for linckias or other similar stars that live off the reef, but, as stated above, you don't have a big enough tank for them anyway.

Brittle/serpent stars have to be fed, so it shouldn't matter how old the tank is (assuming that it's cycled and stable).

I've got a huge brittle star in my 20L (he hitched in on some live rock). All I usually see is his legs, but they're about 9" long. When he stretches out, his legs cover a huge expanse of my 30"-long tank. Never hurt a thing.

 

[finsurgeon]

The best sea star I've ever kept is Ophiomastix variabilis, the "Elegant Brittle Star". It's cool to look at, harmless, and not timid like other serpents and brittles. It's dark black with pulsating yellow blotches when it moves, and it lives in the middle to top of the tank, draped over the top of the rockwork, not down in the cracks. It does not need to be fed, though will happily take a half piece of krill from your hand. I've got 3, one for about 3 years, one for 2 years, and I just found another at a LFS recently and have had it for 2-3 months. I would agree that any serpent or brittle will fit in your system, but avoid the green fish-eater (incrassata) The orange/bright red serpents are striking, though not as often out, and the green and white "harlequin" stars are cool and small though very shy. You could have a number of the harlequins - they are inexpensive when you can find them.

Check out my favorites:
http://www.poppe-images.com/images/...=brittle stars&species=Ophiomastix variabilis

http://www.vibrantsea.net/brittle16_bunaken1.htm

http://reefscavengers.com/harlequinserpent.html

 

[hebygb]

I think the rule of thumb for reef safe is: If it has what looks like webbed legs (i.e., chocolate chip star) - it is NOT reef safe. This means that serpants/brittles are ... for the most part, reefsafe.

I have a green Serpant Star that has been in my 65 for 2 years... I feed him once a week or so pea sized chunks of thawed frozen shrimp. The moment that a frozen cube of mysis shrimp hits the water he comes running to the front of the tank like a trained puppy. He eats right from my hand.

Now the sad part... My serpant does eat the sick/dying/dead in my tank... and that is why we need them in our tanks. My green Mandarin became a meal for him.

 

[greenbean36191]

O. incrassata, the common green brittle star, is well documented in both the hobby and scientific literature to not just feed on unhealthy or dead fish, but trap and kill healthy animals as well. They find a cave or overhang where fish are likely to seek shelter and they stand up on their legs and wait for fish to swim underneath. When one does, the star drops down and nets the fish and eats it.