Reef Safe Star

The baby bristles will be fine. There are stars that are called "mini-bristles" and I think that's what you got. I have tons of "mini" stars in my fuge and I love them!!

By the way I think the Serpent is your safest bet. I waited a LONG time, did alot of research until I got my red and white striped serpent star. I would try to feed it from time to time because it's so awesome! (stay away from ANY star that is green)
 
i had my blue linkia deteriorate within a week. i didnt know what happened. I suggest buying a hardy starfish like sand sifter, brittle stars. i bought a chocolate chip starfish. I know they are not reef safe but i tried to put in my reef tank. it never touches my corals and its fun to watch because it moves around a lot. maybe i got lucky with it. blue linkias doesnt move around a lot. i think its nocturnal. you might get lucky but mine wasted away within a week.
 
sand sifters are purported to destroy the life in your sandbed. I got rid of mine because of that. I have tiger striped serpent and he has been great.
 
mine is a great scavenger never messed with anything yet here he is
109384tank12-24-05_star.jpg
 
Hi Willie,

I would go with a Serpent star or a Linka. I just bought a Linka about three months ago and as long as you get one that is healthy and slowly acclimate it, you should be OK. A healthy Linka should be moving around & no dead tissue spots. A un healthy Linka might also have part of it's insides coming out of it's mouth. The Salty Critter is where I bought mine, Dan know's how a healthy Linka should look.

Dave
 
I have several Brittle Star that I keep in my refugium. Including one very big Green Brittle Star. Brittle Stars seem to grow large very quickly. All three of mine have at least doubled in size since they where added to the tank. I would say that my Green Brittle Star is now about 14" across. I feed them Silversides about every two days.

I tried keeping Brittle Stars in my reef tank but my marine beta keeps killing them. I do have 3 Sand Sifting Stars that are doing great in my reef tank.
 
Serpent stars are the only starfish that should be kept in a tank. Brittles can and will eventually get fish. Linkia's will slowly starve to death and shouldn't be kept.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I guess with all the mixed results, I am going to go with the red serpant. I want something with color, so it seems like the obvious choice. It appears the Linka's, sandsifters, etc all have negative aspects to them. The serpants seem like everybody agrees on. Thanks again.
 
I had a green banded serpent star and watched it pull large turbo snails from the glass and eat them. Got rid of the serpent star. I now have 2 large brittle stars and my gobies will not stay on the bottom of the tank. Time to get rid of them as well.

Just my 2 cents...
 
Geeze geeze geeze...
OK, lets clear some things up...

First, Fromia stars and Sand Sifters are NOT the best stars for tanks period... fromias need a WHOLELOTTA live rock to keep them sustained... they normally starve within 8 months or so...
dont get one unless you have a VERY matured very large 100Gallons plus tank with a .. once again, WHOLELOTTA live rock.. aka minimum of 100lbs...

Sand Sifters do indeed destroy your sand bed life... after they have ate it... they die of course, of starvation...

Linckias are A BIG Ol' NO NO!.... THE ONLY linckia that is ok in a tank period ... and still needs a ... WHOLELOTTA live rock and "gallonidge" is a LINCKIA MULTIFLORA.. they tend to have the BEST survival record in captivity, and have know to reproduce asexually... which other linckias have NOT... if they get a scratch on them, its mostly over ..

Serpent Stars are really THE BEST guys to get... they come in all types of colors, and patterns and are fun to watch at night... and durring feedings...

Brittle stars are NO NO's with small fish, they come out at night and like to wave their arms in the water to catch anything that swims into it...

I think those are your only choices for reef stars... that will hold up...

stars to avoid would of course be
#1 CROWN OF THORNS! haha
and all other UN-Reef safe stars

and most Linckias should ONLY be attempted to keep if you are an extreme expert and have an eminencly large tank!
Fromia species should be avoided by most...

Starfish are kinda like seahorses... as far as care goes...
they are difficult to say the least... unless they are TR... which in Starfish, doesnt happen!
 
Other than looks, serpent stars and brittle stars are the same thing, and in fact some that look like one are actually the other. All of them are safe, ie. brittle or serpent, except in some situations where the green brittle stars have been known to hunt for otherwise healthy fish. But that is still anecdotal and rather rare.

Multiflora linkia are great stars, and while they do need a decent sized tank and liverock and a mature stable tank, many (including myself) have kept them and watched them asexually reproduce in tanks as small as 29 gallons. But, that is definately pushing it. The problem with linkia is that no one knows what they eat. Its something suspected to grown on liverock, such as certain sponges and bacteria films, but no one is sure, and therefore the other linkia often starve and rarely live beyond 1 year.
 
I had a brown serpent that I watched eat a snail. I later traded him to a fellow reefer (told him that he ate a snail), and later learned the star ate a royal gramma. This was a SERPENT, and was not large (1" disc).

Just wanted to say no star is perfect.
 
I have a friend that has 3000 total gallons of saltwater and he has a green brittle star that has to be the largest I have ever seen. The legs are about 18". I have a feather star in my refugium that I got in a trade. Only had him for 3 months, but doing well for now. I have serpent stars as well.
 
Shawnts106 is 100% correct. Listen to his wise advice.

Rook, brittles and serpents are not the same thing.
 
Same family but different genus and obviously different species. That's like saying all nudibranches or all snails are the same. They have completely different dietary preferences. A serpent star have many more differences than just missing the spikes on the arms.
 
Everything I've read about the Linkia stars says to stay away from them, unless you don't mind watching your animals slowly waste away. Personally, I don't.
Same with Fromia for the most part, apparently they are easier to keep than Linkia but one still needs a large, mature tank with a lot of live rock.
The problem with stars is that they are so common at pet stores and cheap, so people buy them on impulse and then they die. They are poor shippers and otherwise delicate.

edit: after researching the facts on the pretty linkias and fromias I decided on a serpent star for my 29. I don't regret it. Mine is boring grey with stripes, slightly purple .. but I don't ever see him anyway :)
One day when I find one I think I may add a red serpent star as well, or trade.
 
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The only linkia I could reccomend would be Linckia multiflora, I've had a green and white one going on 3 years now - very hardy compared to other variants however they still need stable salinity and careful , slow acclimation. I drip acclimated him over a 8 hour period to avoid any salinity shock.
 
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