Starfish Recommendation - sea star

[moneymm]

I have a 45 Gallon Bow, Life Reef Berlin Sump.

im 3+ months in, i have 2 occ clowns.

my future list is

Spotted / PJ Cardinalfish
bicolor dottyback
Green Mandarin
Flame angel

and alot of mixed reef in time.

I havea 1.5" sand bed that is rather dirty. 4 turbo snails, 4 spiny star snails, 4 nassarius snails and 4 hermit crabs.


My wife really wants to get a star fish. what are my options? i know i dont want a brittle star, or one of those thin squiggly ones.

what do you recommend?

thanks

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

Not anoy other good options other than the brittle stars or "wiggley" serpent stars for your tank. It's counter intuitive, but the normal looking ones like linka and fromia are very hard to take care of, and even though they are small, they require very large 200-300 gallon tanks to survive due to their eating habits. you might be able to look into a chocolite chip start or red knob star, but if you do that you woun't be able t ohave the soft coral as they can eat them.

 

[m0nkie]

those squiggly ones are probably your best bet.. but if not, you can try a small Fromia starfish. They stay small and hardier than others.

you should wait till your tank is at least 10 months old or a year before adding a film algae eating starfish.

 

[moneymm]

those squiggly ones are probably your best bet.. but if not, you can try a small Fromia starfish. They stay small and hardier than others.

you should wait till your tank is at least 10 months old or a year before adding a film algae eating starfish.

ok thanks, I guess LiveAquaria needs to update their site b/c the minimum tank size on all the sea stars is 30 gallon.

I guess I will wait it out then and look further into these small fromias.

 

[m0nkie]

ok thanks, I guess LiveAquaria needs to update their site b/c the minimum tank size on all the sea stars is 30 gallon.

I guess I will wait it out then and look further into these small fromias.

Fromia/Linkia won't eat prepared food. their size is ok for a 30gal. but they will eat all the film algae then starve to death. Waiting a year helps your tank cycle through all the stages and build up a food source. Even then, your starfish may eat everything and starve. That's why some people recommend at least 100gal

 

[juniorrocketdad]

Chocolate chip star should work, but a 45 is to small for a mandarin unless you have a massive fuge I think the ratio was about a hundred gallons to one mandarin, they are entirely fish but unfortunately they only eat live copepods unless you are very very lucky and get one that can eat frozen food

 

[dahos]

I saw this thread the other day. Not sure if your tank would be too small for these or not? I am by no means a starfish expert so don't go by what I say. I would research these before buying.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2460978

 

[tzylak]

Moneymm, I complement you for doing research BEFORE the purchase.
I got 55g hex with 26g sump and still, my Mandarin starved within several months. I see that sea stars are no less finicky.
Do your research, pick well, allow for the creatures to live a peaceful life.