Reef Safe Star

[Willie_6]

I made the mistake of getting a chocolate chip star a while back. I later learned that they are not reef safe. At the time my tank was a FOWLR. I am in the process of transitioning to a reef tank. I have seen tanks with Serpant Stars. Here are my questions:

1. Are they reef safe?

2. I have read the green ones aggressive-Is this true? Is it only the green ones?

3. Can they live in captivity? When I had my CC, people told me and even refrenced me to a Dr. Ron article discussing stars not being for fish tanks. Is this true? There seem to be a lot of people that have them.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Reef'in Colorado]

I have several differently colored serpent and brittle stars in my reef tanks. I have had no problems with any of them. I have heard stories of larger stars hunting fish, but have never experienced it personally.

 

[techigirl78]

My large serpents have made me nervous around my smalled fish and have been put in a tank with only bigger fish. I've had them over two years. There have been many stories about the green bristle sea serpents, so I'd definitely stay clear of them.

 

[outta names]

I have had a serpent for 1 year with no problems that I am aware of.

 

[Willie_6]

Hmmmm...Interesting-it sounds kind of mixed so far.

 

[reefgeek84]

Why not get a oragne or blue linka? or just a red star? They are great and leave everything that you want alone.

 

[Willie_6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6513759#post6513759 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefgeek84
Why not get a oragne or blue linka? or just a red star? They are great and leave everything that you want alone.

Sounds good to me. Are they reef safe? Will they survive captivity? Aggressive?

 

[andynyc]

Blue, Red and Orange Linkia starfish are perfectly reef safe. They won't touch any fish or any coral in your tank. They are a bit on the hard side to keep, however. I'm not sure what their diet is off the top of my head but I believe they're algae grazers. A friend of mine had one in his tank and I saw it eating lettuce he put out for his tangs, although I'm not sure if that would suffice as a diet. They get rather large for a starfish (about a foot in length). They aren't necessarily aggressive, per se. That is, like all starfish, they are predators and will take a chance to eat a dead or dying fish in your tank. I have never heard of any Linkia going after a healthy fish, unlike the Green Brittle Star which is notorious for being a fish eater (steer clear of them).

 

[llamart]

I have had this serpant star for almost five years. Nothing short of being a perfect citizen. Complete scavenger. Just eats leftovers on the reef floor and does not disturb anything. While the lights are on you can see his arms sticking out of a cave but he only fully comes out at night.

 

[Lev F.]

I love my serpent. Best scavenger i have IMO.

 

[soulja221]

any smaller reef safe stars? Linkia starfish will more than likely outgrow my tank before i upgrade but i'd love to have a grazer to scavenge the nooks and crannies between my rock.

 

[llamart]

Tonga Stars stay pretty small...Around 3"

 

[Willie_6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6513883#post6513883 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by andynyc
Blue, Red and Orange Linkia starfish are perfectly reef safe. They won't touch any fish or any coral in your tank. They are a bit on the hard side to keep, however. .

Anyone know more about these guy's? Are the hard to keep?

 

[jgoodrich71]

Linkia stars are very difficult to keep. The problem lies in getting a healthy one. Even one that looks healthy, will begin to deteriorate within weeks. It is best not to get them. But yes, they are reef safe.

Serpent stars are reef safe. Even the big ones. Brittle stars on the other hand are predatory. The smaller ones will be fine with all but small fish, but some of the larger brittles will try to catch and eat small fish.

 

[Willie_6]

Hmmm..so serpents are the way to go. Do they only come in green, grey and brown?

 

[jgoodrich71]

There are really bright red ones that come out of the Atlantic. They get really really big (but are still safe).

 

[Willie_6]

Too big for a 75 gal?

 

[jgoodrich71]

I had 2 in a 240 I maintained. Legs and all probably 24" in diameter, but you still could only see them at feeding time.

The central disk was probably about 3" in diameter. It took several years to get this big.

It should be fine in a 75. The don't need much room.
(They spend thier live curled up in rocks)

 

[reefgeek84]

These guys are good, they stay small and live quite a while in a tank.

Red Sea Star (Fromia milleporella)

Sand Sifting Sea Star (Astropecten polycanthus)

http://www.liveaquaria.com/

Is a great place to find good information on things you would like to buy, you might try there and then once you have decided on something come here and ask if it is everything it is cracked up to be.... Hope this helps

 

[soulja221]

its so funny that we're talking about stars..i picked up a frag tonight and on it i found 2 baby (like the size of half my thumbnail) bristle stars... hesitant to put them in my tank but hell, what should i do with them?