Starfish for tank

docjason2

New member
I have been toying with the idea of trying to adding a starfish to my 65 reef, but have heard that they are hard to acclimate and keep growing strong. Is there any info that you guys may have on which species would be the best and anything I have to look out for in keeping them happy in a reef tank?
 
i have always had brittle stars and serpent stars in all my reef tanks. beyond that i leave the other starfish alone. i have yet too have a problem with these 2 stars and they have been a great addition on helping me keep my tanks clean.

there are alot of starfish out there but most of them are not reef safe. so make sure you research them before buying.
 
Make sure you don't make the same mistake I did back in the day and bring home a chocolate chip starfish. They are easy to keep and it was great for a while, until one day it destroyed a ton of zoas and even a frogspawn. Needless to say I gave him to the LFS.
 
I have been toying with the idea of trying to adding a starfish to my 65 reef, but have heard that they are hard to acclimate and keep growing strong. Is there any info that you guys may have on which species would be the best and anything I have to look out for in keeping them happy in a reef tank?

How big is your tank? Can you tell us about your setup? Stars do best in large established reef tanks. I use an airline drip into a tupperware container placed in my sump for temp stability during a long acclimation. I used this method when acclimating my fromia millepora and my orange linckia, about 1 drop/second for 8-9 hours. I verified ph and salinity before transferring them to the dt.

Are you planning on purchasing online or lfs? If from lfs, make sure the star doesn't have any wounds or 'rough looking' patches, as they won't heal in a hobbyist tank. Also make sure the star has been at the lfs for a few weeks before bringing it home, this ensures the lfs acclimated it properly. Check the star over carefully for parasites--no one has figured out how to rid a star of parasites yet.
 
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