Feather Starfish

[icehot1000]

I got a red feather starfish yesterday. The shopkeeper told us that it feeds on liquid food. Please advice what other kinds of food does it feeds on besides that. Also is it easy to keep such an animal in captivity? Does it pose any dangers to other tank inhabitants? Please advise?

[bum]

feather stars aka crinoids,

IMO, very difficult to keep alive as you

cannot meet its feeding needs.

check out this link

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/crinoids.htm

[Morgan]

Nothing much you can do to keep it alive....

It will slowly fall apart in your tank and then die.

[FuEl]

It feeds only on certain types of zooplankton. It has a very fussy feeding mechanism. The mucus it produces from its cilia can only trap zooplankton that possess certain chemical cues.

If you live near the coast it would be best to set it free.

Let's just hope that as fellow members learn to avoid certain livestock, farms and LFS will stop bringing them in. Totally a waste of lives.

[Achilles Tang]

Sorry man... featherstars are better left in the sea.

Don't buy them because they are very specialized feeders and acclimatize poorly. They also do not like to be harassed by fishes.

I guarantee you it will die shortly and disintegrate in your tank. Remove the pieces asap or it may even stain your sandbed red!