Reef safe stars?
 

which stars are reefsafe? serpents? thanks

i think they are reef safe,

i have a red star that is also reef safe

i was told my my LFS that there is a way to tell but i dont know if it is correct

maybe some here can tell me if hes correct

he basically told me that if u look at the starfish and if the top of the starfish is smooth, its reef safe.
if the top is not smooth or has knobs it is not reef safe

ex [url=http://www.centralpets.com/critter_images/fish/saltwater_inverts/SWI_0001865_20031012164645.jpg]Chocolate Chip [/URL]
they arent reef safe because of the pointy knobs

Orbit

[i]Linckia[/i] and [i]Fromia[/i] are both reef safe, but have dismal survival in the hobby and almost never make it in tanks with less than 100lbs of LR.

Brittle and serpent stars are generally safe as long as they're occasionally fed. Some species will hunt fish if they get really hungry and [i]Ophiarachna incrassata[/i] may go for fish even if it's not starved.

ok yeah im looking for a star for my 24g. i heard that brittle stars eat fish, is that true for serpant stars? i feed every other day

I have had a serpent for 3 years and haven't had any problems. Mine just doesn't come out during the day at all. not much to look at.

I have a red serpent in my 34 and have no problems with it, I do feed it a piece of raw shrimp every few days or so.

well as long as it doesnt eat fish or coral i wouldnt mind it, i do have moonlights

I also have a serpent. I just had a nightmare scenario today with him. I came home and found him sucked up partially into the intake on a power sweeper I place too low to the sand.

I hope the starfish is gonna be ok. He seems to have a circular indentation on top of him, but other than that he seem fine.

Never ever had a problem in my life with the serpent starfish before today.

sorry but i dont mean to hijack this thread, how exactly do u feed your starfish?

i have my red star in my tank for about a month now and i dont think i feed it correctly, i tired putting some brime shrimp under him but by the time i can pick him up and put the food under him the food is blown away.when feed i pullthe maxijet but leave my aquaclear on

but yet the star is still very active, i just dont know wut its eating. do they search for food around the tank or something?

so know i know they're reef safe, does anyone have any pictures or recommendations for one?

Check out liveaquaria.com they will have pictures and detailed information about minimum tank size, care level, feeding, and so forth. It is a great site to use while researching what you might want to add to your tank next.

Good luck.

Brittle and serpent stars are the same thing. The distinction between the two made by the hobby has no real significance taxonomically or behaviorally. Most could probably catch and eat fish if it came to that, but for most species it's very rare or unreported at all. The only one in the hobby that eats fish on more than just a very rare occasion is [i]O. incrassata[/i].

[quote]sorry but i dont mean to hijack this thread, how exactly do u feed your starfish?

i have my red star in my tank for about a month now and i dont think i feed it correctly, i tired putting some brime shrimp under him but by the time i can pick him up and put the food under him the food is blown away.when feed i pullthe maxijet but leave my aquaclear on

but yet the star is still very active, i just dont know wut its eating. do they search for food around the tank or something?[/quote]
With the true starfish that are reef safe ([i]Fromia[/i] and [i]Linckia[/i]) there is no way to feed them. They usually don't take to target feeding. Their diet isn't known anyway, but it's believed they graze on microscopic organic films that grow on the LR. That's why they have such poor survival rates in small or newly established tanks without enough grungy LR for them to graze.

With brittle or serpent stars you just put some meaty food near them and they'll grab it.