Mixing starfish.

[kw22]

Hi my name is Caoimhín and I am in Ireland!I love starfish.They are my favourite invert.I would like to keep 3 different species in a 80 gallon FOWLR.Would a chocolate chip,blue linkia and brittle starfish be okay?I would love another but I already think 3 is pushing the limits!!Thanks

 

[Betta132]

A linkia will starve to death in anything short of a 500 gallon tank, at least. Buying one is a death sentence for it. Same goes for fromias.
I don't think a chocolate chip will eat a brittle or vice versa.
Just be certain you don't get a green brittle, it'll eat all of your fish.

 

[Aerosol]

+1 about the green ones. Serpent and brittle stars come in quite a few colors. You could probably keep a handful of them in your tank, and not have two of the same kind.

 

[Calappidae]

Chocolate chip will eat whatever they can catch. If you dont have anything slow or small you should be good. Other stars are indeed threatened by these, I've had feeders eating each other before.

Fromia and linkica are very diet specific consuming a food source only availible in large established aquaria (blue linkica: 300 gal after 1 1/2 year of setup and lotsa live rock would be idealish..)

Any brittle I'd watch as most will grow huge and can threaten small/slow fish.. other than a 1/10,000 chance of this happening, brittles are pretty harmless. Green brittles on the other hand... those are very oppertunistic and should be avoided. All serpents are harmless.

 

[kw22]

Thanks for the help guys.So would a chocolate chip and a red brittle/serpent be okay?And what and how often should I feed them?And my very last question I promise is are sand starfish hard to keep? thanks alot

 

[Noah 123]

The chocolate chip star, as said earlier, is predatory to any other inverts (crabs, urchins, coral, anemones, other sea stars etc.) and when it gets to its maximum length of 12'' will eat other stars.

Sand stars (sand sifting stars) also grow to 12'' long. They require at least a 125 gallon tank with a VERY deep sand bed of about 8'' deep.

Red brittles would probably be the safest bet if you're going with brittle stars. And a cool looking serpent star is the harlequin serpent. Both of these would be good together.

Another sea star you could get is echinaster echinophorus, the red thorny sea star.

 

[kw22]

Thanks for the help everybody!I will try and get one or two brittles/serpents and I like the look of the red thorny starfish

 

[Calappidae]

Red thorny is pretty much a different colored chocolate chip. Same principles apply.

Sand sifting starfish have been argued for a very long time.. the arguement is we should stop collecting them as, like horseshoe crabs, they grow huge, starve when they run out of food in the sandbed, and then decay. I think somebody has had one for a long time but their tank is enormous and heavily stocked.

Serpents are harmless and definitly the way to go, I have 2 in a 125 reef tank (mostly because they're the only starfish my harlequin shrimp ignore but, there really isn't any safer option.)

 

[kw22]

Thanks guys,brittles and serpents seem the way to go

 

[kw22]

Thanks guys,brittle and serpents seem the way to go!

 

[Nina51]

i have a red serpent that i rarely see. i also have a white brittle star and a yellowish colored one. i spot feed them pieces of shrimp or scallop every 2 or 3 days. they're great scavengers!

 

[finsurgeon]

Red thorny as mentioned is NOT the same as a chocolate chip, but the "Red General" star is.
The "red thorny" is a reef safe star that would likely be a bit more hardy than a blue linkia, but would still be expected to dwindle slowly in your tank. The same might be said for a linkia multiflora - also more hardy than the blue, but wouldn't be likely to make it more than 6 months. I strongly agree with the serpents and brittles, including the red, harlequin, and especially the "elegant brittle star" = Ophiomastix variabilis if you can find one- they live on top of the rocks and don't hide at all, and have cool undulating yellow stripes on a black background.

 

[Calappidae]

Red thorny as mentioned is NOT the same as a chocolate chip, but the "Red General" star is.
The "red thorny" is a reef safe star that would likely be a bit more hardy than a blue linkia, but would still be expected to dwindle slowly in your tank. The same might be said for a linkia multiflora - also more hardy than the blue, but wouldn't be likely to make it more than 6 months. I strongly agree with the serpents and brittles, including the red, harlequin, and especially the "elegant brittle star" = Ophiomastix variabilis if you can find one- they live on top of the rocks and don't hide at all, and have cool undulating yellow stripes on a black background.

Protoreaster linckii (Red knobby) is the same as Protoreaster nodosus (chocolate chip) compatibility wise :I

Unless they're refering to Echinaster echinophorus which also goes by the name red thorny.. and assuming this is what you're talking about.. they're not reef safe either. Infact they eat all your coral once they reach a certain age seeming reef safe at first.

Protoreaster linckii

Echinaster echinophorus

 

[sharkboy99999]

Wow what about a green brittle star I've never herd of them eating fish mine has never eaten a fish

 

[Calappidae]

Wow what about a green brittle star I've never herd of them eating fish mine has never eaten a fish

You must keep him well fed!

Green brittle starfish have a reputation of being oppertunistic. Meaning if it's hungry, and there is easy food infront of it.. it's going to take the oppertunity to grab it. Due to green brittle's massive size, and more predatory nature, they are more threatning to slow moving livestock.

 

[finsurgeon]

Echinaster echinophorus is the red thorny mentioned by scientific name above by Noah_123, and it is reef safe, though none of mine have grown, so I guess I don't know what happens if they get big. I've had a few, though none over about 15 months, and none have shown any interest in corals or inverts.
The red General will eat whatever it can catch, and I had one slide over my very cool "impact urchin"- who was too slow to get away and not spiny enough for good defense,and dissolve his shell and devour him in no time.

 

[Calappidae]

Yeah, Echinaster echinophorus is not reef safe as they grow. When they get larger they'll eat your softies and zoas etc, etc.. Alot of people swear by them being harmless when they just simply haven't owned them long enough to experence anything one wouldn't want to experience.

The only reef safe starfish are serpents, brittles (I think), linkia, fromia, and although not echinoderms, crinoids (feather stars).