starfish

[faulkincanyon]

what is a good starfish as far as hardy...and a good tankmate to coral and fish...the LFS had some serpent stars, bristle stars, and sand sifting. Which does the best out of these?

 

[virginiadiver69]

The serpent and brittle stars are always popular, hardy and reef safe. The opinions on the sand sifters are mixed. They(sand sifters) seem to do best in large, well established tanks with a deep sand bed.

 

[papagimp]

Agreed. Get a serpant preferably, although a serpant or brittle stand a good chance of hiding most the time. I rarely see my green brittle, other than a leg or two every blue moon or so.

Fromia's can be good reef safe and hardy, but that'll depend on weather or not they are gettting sufficient foods in the tank. And that will be hit or miss.

I'd avoid all green brittles until you can learn to spot the "not so reef safe meanies".

And definatly avoid the sand sifters. They will do better but probably not optimal even in a larger tank with deep sand bed. They eat alot and will starve without micro fauna in the sandbed....which they'll clear out quicly.

 

[JPagliai]

I like serpant stars myself. Brittles can be hit or miss and I think they look creepy. Sand sifters are great too and they do a great job at keeping things cleaned up. However, if you don't have the right setup, they can sift the sand out from under your rock creating an avalanche. I knew I was adding a sand sifter star to my tank when I set it up, so I embedded sections of PVC in the sand bed to create a platform for my liverock. That way, sand sifters can sift away and the liverock stays put.

 

[parothead22]

Brittles can get rather large and can become an issue with small fish, especially at night! Serpent are the way to go...also Linkia, Fromia and sand sifting stars are not adviseable due to short term success rate from past experiences!