Does anyone here keep colorfull starfish?

[Pinkskunk]

I want to add varieties to my tank as i am tired of just fish and corals. A colorfull starfish would be my wish but i was wondering if anyone has kept a starfish for a long period of time in their reef.

Shrimps will harass and steal food from my lps when i feed them so shrimp is out off the list.

 

[wilfx]

I have a red starfish. Can't remember the name right now. Doesn't seem to bother anything.

 

[Pinkskunk]

how long have you had it?

 

[molsen187]

if you end up getting a starfish make sure you do research first. some of them are not reef safe and will eat corals. also a lot of star fish can die in our systems due to lack of food. not saying you can't get one just do the research first. linkias(sp) are good but they get big and you'd prolly have to spot feed them.

 

[wilfx]

4 or 5 months

how long have you had it?

 

[cstmpprl]

I have a red starfish. Can't remember the name right now. Doesn't seem to bother anything.

It's the cutest little thing, Was thinking about doing a midnight raid for the seahorse tank. LOL

 

[snowmaker]

I have a red one as well. Bought from -B almost a year ago. He said it eats slime that grows on glass and rock, and that is exactly what it appears to do.

 

[Behrmon]

I've kept both Red Spotted & Blue, IMO they want a mature tank. I sold the Blue when down sizing and lost the Red Spotted due to what I feel was not enough yummies in the "new" tank. I'd also echo the research, the "coolest" looking are usually not reef safe.

 

[pillowfish]

I've kept a blue linkia for almost 2+ years, IME/IMO they definitely need a mature system to go into. They do not appear to be as hardy as a red fromia as some people have said in the past. However, I have tried a red fromia once and it melted away. This may have been due to an unhealthy one, stressed or not enough nutrients in the tank. Make sure you look the starfish over carefully for any "white" spots that is a sign of necrosis of the tissue/infection. Good Luck and post pics when/if you get one. They are cool little buggers.


Kev, I loved that red one, sorry to hear he did not make the tank move.

 

[kevinpratt823]

linkia

I had a red Linkia, (larger than Fromia). After about 6 mos, two legs were gone, then I found them crawling around the tank by themselves for a few weeks. Eventially, both legs died, then the main body. Maybe it was splitting to reproduce???????

 

[sw300galma]

Skiptions had some bright red serpants and I mean BRIGHT. There was only one left after my friend bought one

 

[jdenker]

I have had a bright blue linkia for over two years, no effort to have, eats mostly algea on rocks and glass and very pretty. Only thing it does that always makes me nervous is that each time I put in a new colony of anything, it manages to scurry over and camp out all over it for a few days, then wanders off. Most of the time no damage is done. I also have a large serpent star that is not pretty - actually scary looking, but amazing to watch how fast the thing can crawl around. Also a low maintenace critter that eats any excess food (brine, mysis, frozen clam, squid,...) that drits by its cave

 

[wbrodeur]

I have two pink paddle starfish that are pretty cool from B. Very long legs...kindof creepy cuz it looks like long worms, but they are definitely entertaining to watch, especially during feeding time. Great scavengers! I'd say they get the most attention from passerbyers

 

[emabie]

I have had serpant stars for several years, they are really fun to watch but not everyone thinks they are pretty.

Funny to see this thread this AM as I just bought a Blue Star last night for my tank.

 

[joefitz]

I've had a blue linkia for about a year and a small, four legged red fromia (both from B). The fromia died about a month and a half ago; not sure what happened but could have been a number of things. Lasted nearly a year, think it may have been a temp spike but not sure.

The blue linkia gets a lot of comments and I still love looking at it. It appears to eat (among other things) the tiny white stars that seem to balloon in population from time to time in many people's tanks.

I also have a serpent star (grey) which is cool, but if I could, I'd get one of the colored variety. Serpents will eat anything and very cool looking so probably some of the easiest starfish to keep.

How big is your tank? I don't think we know a ton about linkia and what they eat so might not be a great fit for a small tank (I have a 330).