Seastars

[moocow]

I know most people recommend against sea stars in reef tanks.
But isn't there any kind of sea star that won't sterilize the substrate?

For instance brittle stars.
These guys eat more dirt and left overs that organisms right?

is there an "Okay" species of sea star for reef tanks?

 

[Pea-brain]

serpent star, but not green ones. Those are the only ones I'd recommend besides asterina starfish which hitch hike and reproduce in the tank (some eat corals, but out of tons of species only a few do. Most of them eat algae and detritus) and also mini serpent stars which reproduce in the tank.

Dan

 

[amutti]

There are a few true stars that will "survive" in a tank for a couple of years. There are even fewer that will thrive in a tank. Most of them take work to keep alive (you must place food under Burgundy and Marbles weekly to insure long life). Your tank is too small for any of them. The salinity shifts due to evaporation might be too much.

Serpent stars and brittle stars thrive. A harlequin would be best for a small tank.

 

[moocow]

oh, yeah most certainly would not go into the 12 gallon.
I converting my 58 to a reef, so I'm trying to get stocking ideas to plan for equipment and other things.

I see lots of brittle stars at the LFS, they LOOK okay.

But as I understand sea stars don't really show too many signs of starvation or other things.
I only plan to keep 1 in the new 58 reef. And that's only if I'm sure he won't slowly starve.

What is placing food under burgundy and marbles??
And you think serpents and brittle would be fine then?
I have never even heard of a harlequin.

 

[Packersfan21]

for bergundy stars place dried seaweed next to it. For brittle stars feed them frozen shrimp every other day.

 

[moocow]

frozen shrimp...like from the grocery deli?
Is there a specific size??

 

[Diana Caye]

Are there any good books out there about caring for starfish, colorful shrimp and other non-coral invrertebrates?

 

[o0xerog0o]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11699745#post11699745 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pea-brain
serpent star, but not green ones. Those are the only ones I'd recommend besides asterina starfish which hitch hike and reproduce in the tank (some eat corals, but out of tons of species only a few do. Most of them eat algae and detritus) and also mini serpent stars which reproduce in the tank.

Dan

I've got one of each, the asterina and the serpent and both are doing well in my 5 gallon. At least I hope the serpent is doing ok, haven't seen him since I set up the tank lol. The asterina has been making appearances every now and again, and he loves to eat the algae towards the top of the water line.
I hope to upgrade to a larger tank before the serpent gets too large. He won't last forever in a 5-gal.

 

[Pea-brain]

They do require a bit of rrom to graze. Have you tried supplemental feeding?

Dan

 

[o0xerog0o]

No, I haven't... I put a pinch of fish flakes in the tank daily and I can see his arms wave around to grab a couple pieces every now and then, but that's the only diet he's had so far.

 

[Packersfan21]

yea the grocery store kind. Just cut a piece of shrimp up, drop it the tank, and the sea star will go after it.

 

[moocow]

wow, haha.
Gives me good reason to have some for dinner now. lol

 

[hyrumbradshaw]

what about a bat starfish? anyone know anything about them?

 

[amutti]

Packersfan21, you feed your serpent every other day????? I have a tiger stripe that is HUGE (12+ inches arm tip to arm tip, 2" central disk) and I feed him a salad shrimp once a week, maybe even a little less often. When I bought him he might have been 6" with a 1" disk; so he's not starving. . . .

 

[Packersfan21]

LOL I try to feed him every other day but he's kind of shy and the crabs sometime end up getting the shrimp instead.

 

[moocow]

...hmm that's an interesting point.

What do you guys feed your inverts?
Crabs,shrimp,...snails?

I've always done the good old wafers, and dirt clean-up regimen.

 

[Packersfan21]

i feed them the frozen shrimp and dried seaweed.

 

[moocow]

where do you get your food from?

 

[JCR's Reef]

moocow- You can go to your LFS and get mysis shrimp,krill, and other's. Or you can go to your grocery store and get cocktail shrimp or such. I used to thaw my food out in a cup filled with saltwater from the tank, then mix with a vitamin supplement(selcon), then dump into the tank( or use a pipette to direct feed). Crabs and everything would scurry for it. I usually did this a couple of times a week. Shut my filters off for about 15-20min. during feeding but left my powerheads running. Hope this helps.

 

[JCR's Reef]

Sorry but if you dont have corals I would shut your powerheads off so the food stays on the bottom. I left mine on so the corals could feed also.