Which starfish for a 75 gallon?

[Chargers]

Tell me about starfish. Do I have to manually put food under them for them to eat? Do they need a mature tank? Which one would be suitable with gobies, shrimp, and in a 75 gallon reef?

 

[Nina51]

pretty much any starfish will eventually starve to death. i assume your tank is pretty new? you'd be better off looking at brittle stars.

 

[Calappidae]

A. Most starfish are not reefsafe and can harm fish and inverts (Chocolate chip,knobby, etc)
B. Most starfish are highly sensitive and get large (For the most part all of them..)
C. Some starfish require a very specific diet and are prone to parasites (Fromia, linkcia)
D. Some starfish, perticularly crinoids are better left for advanced NPS systems. (Feather stars, basket stars, etc)
E. Some get large and eventually starve after awhile. (Sandsifters, etc..)


Despite what you'd expect.. a serpent starfish despite it's much better mobility is safer than the other stars in reef tank around other fish and inverts. Some brittles can be a huge threat (green in perticular). Linkica wouldn't fit.. and fromia needs a very established tank, otherwise those are very harmless.

You would have to target feed all stars other than linkcias and fromias for best and safer results.

 

[snorvich]

Good information Joe and Nina

 

[Chargers]

interesting, I guess I'll rethink about getting a starfish when the tanks closer to a year old

 

[Nina51]

i adore my brittle stars. after i got over the initial "ewww, it looks like a giant spider!!", i have learned to love them. they will eat from my hand and are great scavengers.

 

[snorvich]

i adore my brittle stars. after i got over the initial "ewww, it looks like a giant spider!!", i have learned to love them. they will eat from my hand and are great scavengers.

Also, they move very quickly when a potential meal is at hand (sorry Nina, that was irresistible)

 

[Nina51]

LOL, oh yeah they move fast! the one in my 14g has gotten so big, when he stretches out he can touch both sides of the tank. when i'm doing maintenance, just as soon as i start siphoning, he comes out to see if i have any food for him. one of these days, i'm gonna pull out a bloody stump where a hand used to be.