Orange Kobby

[Falcon]

First, I would like to thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I'm new to the hobby (9 months) and your writings have been tremendously helpful.

About 6 weeks ago I added an orange knobby starfish to my 75 gallon reef. So far, he has eaten two turbos and an abalone. I do not know if the critters were alive or dead when he began his meal. Each discovery came in the morning.
If he only eats the critter after it dies, no problem. If he is going after live critters, I plan to return him to the place of purchase.

My question: Could he be attacking live critters and if so, what would you recommend as a replacement?

Thanks.

[rshimek]

Hi Falcon,

You asked, "Could he be attacking live critters and if so, what would you recommend as a replacement?"

Starfish generally are not carrion eaters. Odds are that the star attacked, captured, and ate the snails.

If you wish to have a larger star, I would recommend a blue Linckia. They are not predatory.

There are some problems with Linckia, however. The basic problem is that they are very sensitive to rapid changes in salinity, so they have to be acclimated very slowly and carefully. There have been a few discussions about this and you might wish to search the Reef Central archives about this star (it probably would be best to search using the incorrect spelling of "Linkia."