Starfish in nano

[brian29]

Hi, I was interested in getting a starfish and wanted to know what some people recomended as far as a reef safe starfish that would do well in a nano (29g). My tanks has been running for about 8 months. All prameters are in check. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[fwcarmody]

I purchased a Sand Sifting Sea Star from LiveAquaria. Its about 3" across. Does a totally great job in keeping my sand looking sharp and free of debris. It gets around the tank pretty well, too (20g). Totally fine with the anemonae, xenia, zoas, clowns, shrimp, hermits and emerald crab. DID not do well with a hide-away red crab who chewed him up a bit the first few days. I finally found and disposed of the offending crab. I have read that the sand sifting star can become too efficient and depleat the tank of vital bacteria, but so far, so good.

 

[Jordan55]

A sand sifting star will outgrow a 29 gallon. Mine seemed to start to decline in my 55 and that was with a 4 inch sand bed.

A serpeant star is reef safe and does a good job of cleaning up any un eaten food. Only problem is you rarely see him durring hte day. But I had one and worth the 12$.

 

[hammerswinger]

i have had a sand sifting star in my 36 corner for almost 3 years. doubled in size. just make sure you have enough sand area for him to cover and he should be fine. i also have alot of sand fauna in my tank. i have a 1" sand bad

 

[GobyJohnKenobi]

I'd only recommend a small Brittle Star.

Mine hangs out in the surface skimmer basket of my Prizm with its legs waving just under the surface of the water.

To be honest, not really all that interesting.
Good looking brittle though; chocolate brown with thin cream-colored bands.

 

[MrMexReefer]

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/eclipsedoctor/random020.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

i have a red bali star in mine... everyone said it would die in a month... here it is.. six months later, still kickin. It lost a limb when i did a 30% water change tho.. i forgot how sensitive they are. They are SOOO COOL, and it only cost me $7 at the LFS!

heres a better pic of him:
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/eclipsedoctor/RedBali001.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

I am interested in seastars in nano tanks as well. From what I have gathered, brittles and micro-stars are your only safe bet, but both are kinda boring.

 

[anarchtech]

I have a white sifting starfish in my 14 gallon. He's awesome to watch. You can't plan on showing him off to friends because you never know when he is going to be out. A friend came over yesterday morning and we watched him bury himself. Watching him walk is really neat, all those tiny feet he just glides. I suppose I'm easily amused.
The guy at the LFS I get my fish from swears this little fella is the stuff for cleaning my gravel an will be fine. He hasn't led me astray yet.

 

[anarchtech]

That Bali Star is awesome. I saw one yesterday and he was $29.95. beautiful.

 

[Agu]

I've had a red banded serpent star in a ten gallon for over three years without problems.

I target feed him every couple of weeks after lights out. Otherwise I suspect there wouldn't be enough food in my tank for it to scavenge.

 

[MrMexReefer]

anartech, you saw them for $30?? WOW.. thats like a 400% markup! haha well, i guess it depends where the LFS gets their stuff from. I live in chicago, and the one i go to alwys has them for $7. I wanted to get another, but since it generally scavenges, i dont know if there would be enough food for 2 to survive.
oh, i also heard that sand sifting stars basically eat all the good stuff in your live sand... but, i dunno.

 

[anarchtech]

I think prices are high around here. All the LFS have about the same price on everything, you catch a sale every now and again but yeah pretty high.

 

[jemram]

I added this guy on Saturday and he seems to be doing very well.

 

[MrMexReefer]

that is AWESOME... what kind of star is that jemram?