star fish for my 2ft tank?

[somebody]

currently have 2 perculas, 1 yellow goby, 1 skunk shrimp + 1 snail.

any recommended star fishes? =) hardy and pretty. hehe.... how much do they usually cost ah?

[veliferium]

wad kind of starfish do u want..

There are many kinds,Linckia,sand-sifters star and brittlestars

[somebody]

wahhaha... its precisely coz i don't know what i want, hence i'm asking for suggestions mah.... =)

so what you think bro? =) any recommendations?

[somebody]

oh yes, not to forget whether they are easy to keep. don't want to kill one. =)

[ervine]

i have a 2.5ft tank and i added in my orange sea star http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di....cfm?pCatId=581. several months ago... pretty cute little fella, just roams around the tank..

Only problem I had with him was not once but twice it climbed over my overflow fence.. of that two times once he managed to get itself sucked into the sump (and survive!)..

I think I bought at $8-15 bucks?? around that region from ML... cannot remember the exact price liao...

[somebody]

woah... bro. you star fish is a "stun-fish" haha.... you must be a stun man yourself. haha....

hmm.... pondering....

[somebody]

bros and sisters out there....

any recommendations?? =)

[iantoh]

hi somebody, for a two feet tank, id suggest any small specimen from the fromia species of sea stars. try searching yahoo or google for fromia. either the fromia monilis or qhardaqana will be good. one is the marbled orange starfish, the other is red with white spots. both are lovely and remain relatively small- up to 3 inches approx- and are detrivores so entirely reefsafe.

id avoid the linkias as even though theyre detrivores too, they grow too large or are sold as too large a specimen for a two feet tank. youd need a larger, perhaps 5 feet tank to keep either the blue or orange linkias. alternatively, you could keep quite a few of the small brittle stars. any brittle star will do- just try to find small ones, and avoid the green caribbean ones as they are likely to prey on dormant or sleeping fish when they get bigger. brittle stars are by far the hardiest and easiet to keep. try pm-ing venezia. her sump has lots of mini brittles, and they are great as a clean up crew.

cheers,

ian

ps: if you happen to find some fromia monilis while youre shopping for stars, if you dont mind, pm me can? as i'm looking to add one to my tank too. hope that helps.

[csloo]

do u have any corals? if you have, then better becareful cause sometime the starfish will go and stop above on ur coral. then the coral will not open and slowly died away. etc : jewelstone,goniopora and many...

[somebody]

serious?!?!? i've got hammer, zoos and mushrooms.... hmm.. =(

[somebody]

so how?

[iantoh]

hi somebody,

i think the issue of a starfish perching above a coral is not such a great concern if both your corals and starfish are healthy and water parameters are good. healthy corals are usually able to ward off such incidents, either by secreting mucus or using its stinging cells. healthy star fishes are also very active and move around all the time. if a starfish lays dormant in a particular area for more than a day, it is clearly in trouble, because it needs to forage inorder to feed. sometimes, a starfish perching on top of a coral is also because of a corals ill health. dying or suffering corals emit alot of mucus, and algae and bacteria will often overgrow such weak corals and in such circumstances, a starfish may perch on them to feed on the bacterias, etc. but even taking into account these possible scenarios, i do not think it will be a problem. starfishes are especially nitrate and nitrite sensitive so their levels must be very low. likewise, stars are intolerant of salinity and ph fluctuations so maintain water stability. also, purchase only the fromia or brittle star species for your two footer, and only buy specimens smaller than 4 inches in diameter. the smaller the better. if you buy a 7 inch blue linkia, just by stretching its arms it will cover almost one third of your tank's length and no matter how it moves, it will most likely infringe on coral space. its just like buying very big cleaner shrimps- their feelers will also cause corals to retract their tentacles so size is impt. these stars also consume detritus and bacteria, so they will need alot for sustenance and continued health. often lfs stock stars in tanks of poor water quality without acclimatising them so look for moving stars.

cheers

[spsp]

hi, ya, a formia star is nice in a 2ft tank.. absolutely stunning red with cream colour pattern.. currently having one in my tank less than a month.. but doing fine. about 5cm across.. bought it at marinelife

[Jaslyn]

I wonder what does star fish feeds on.I got a starfish from reborn,I remember they call it cookie? It was moving all around the tank for like 2 weeks then die....now I dont dare to buy starfish cos dont want to kill anymore