quandary_23 Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Hello fellow nano-reefers, good-day... I am very interested in those of you out there who have had exp preferably with starfish of anykind and your success. Detail are a must: tank specs, acclimation, type of starfish, feeding and so fourth Also, anyone who has an educated answer to the question, are these realy for nano reefs? I have done searches here, on reefcentral and advanced aquarist and want some more input please. My experience was a failure, my tank 12 jbj, all parameters perfect and acclimation I have found was improper according to most people, I did 45 min float, 1/2 cup 15 min, 1/2 cup 15 min, 1/2 cup 15 min and release and my starfish was a marble sea star 3-4" and died in 3 days!! I have nothing in my tank that is a predator only live rock, coral, cerith and nass snails, dwarf hermits and a blue knuckle crab. Please all input is very much appreciated.. Thank you. I personally am begining to believe that starfish are best left to larger systems... Link to comment
KrackerG Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 i have a brittle starfish in my 10g. He seems very happy but he's getting kinda' fat so the 20L is where he'll be next week... very easy to take care of...he can tell when my hands are in the tank so i see him making way towards my hand like it's another starfish or something...lil sneaker! Link to comment
quandary_23 Posted February 10, 2004 Author Share Posted February 10, 2004 I have seen brittle stars in various nanos and are doing well, although I here that they will attack smaller fish. So my next question is what do they mean when they say smaller fish, I know they get 12-14" in diameter, so what size fish are they talking about in inches? Yeah, I was thinking of a brittle put don't want it to eat "Nemo" as my wife calls it when I purchase him/her in a couple of months once my tank is firmly established with corals and inverts first. Thanks for your input Link to comment
quandary_23 Posted February 10, 2004 Author Share Posted February 10, 2004 zzz Is everyone sleeping? More comments please. For instance my lfs has 2 jbj cubes setup with mushrooms, ricordea, and polyps with a 10-12" brittle in both with great success. But has anyone had any other success with other types of star fish like linkia, marble, serpent, etc.. So what do you think? Is it possible for these to be in a nano is spot fed or should they be left to larger systems Link to comment
quandary_23 Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 ANYONE ELSE? Link to comment
MillerLite Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I have a red brittle star in my tank. I have had only success with him thus far, 8 months and running. He has gotten to be quite big and fat. He doesnt seem to bother my skunk clown, the only fish I have right now. In fact, I have seen my clown sleep awfully close to him at nights (they like the same hole), and the clown is alive every morning. My suscpicions are however that he ate my percula clown but the clown was sick and probably died sometime in the night. I heard plenty of bad things about the green brittles, ie. catching small fish while they sleep. Keep the tank well fed and I dont think a small red brittle will be a problem. When he gets big, trade him in for a smaller one. He does a great job of cleaning up the bottom of the tank! My 2 Cents. Link to comment
quandary_23 Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Thanks, I was at the lfs and shoul've bought either the red or yellow brittle they had instead of the marble, from what I gather they are indeed alot hardier. How big was your perc. when it dissappeared? Again, from diff resources I see that one should by a captive bred clown between 3/4-1.5" in length. Therefore, then should I wait till he/she grows to say 3" before adding in a brittle? If I do try again with a starfish I am going to do a slow 3-4 hour drip acclimation as suggested from someone because of how delicate these creatures are. Is that the way you acclimated? Link to comment
KrackerG Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 is this thread just being seen in the DC metro area? 'Sup ya'll !! my starfish acclimation: I floted the bag for 20 mins. then added about 1/2 cup of tank water and waited another 20mins. then added another 1/2 cup and so on 'til the bag was almost all full. I then poured out half of the water in the bag into a bucket and repeated the process above. Once the bag was full again, I then felt he was good to go...doing great in my tank...no probs whatsoever... Link to comment
quandary_23 Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Thanks, and yeah I am new to the DC area. Just moved down here for work, live in Fairfax, VA. Link to comment
movingshadow Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 nope, germany in the hizzouse... I had a fromia early on which died for unknown reasons (though I think my hermits and cleaner shrimp played a role in that, long story...) and currently have a small orange/purple linckia star which I have never fed and which has fared very well in my little tank. some specs: 5.5g glass bowfront 70W 10000K BLV/Ushio 18W actinic pc's aquaclear minifuge sps, lps, softies, tridacna, baby yellow tailed damsel..... .... Link to comment
Tempest Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I have a 6 gallon eclipse tank whose inhabitants include a small spotted linkia starfish. He was acclimated via drip for 2 hours and then the bag was floated in the tank for 20 minutes to reacclimate the temp. He's doing great (been in the tank for about 6 months now). I have never fed him directly. Link to comment
quandary_23 Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 That is good news to hear, I think the marble/mosaic are on the same level of sensitivety of the linkia star fish. Great to hear you have success with it Link to comment
MillerLite Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I havent found the brittles to be too sensitive to changes in water conditions. I dont believe I did anything special. Just floated the star in the bag in the tank for 15 min or so, and then added several mL's of tank water at a time to the tank, usually 3-4 times over 15-20 min or so, and then placed it into the tank. I wouldnt be too hard on yourself, maybe the starfish had problems before you picked it up at the LFS. I once saw a starfish up at the tanks in a LFS losing its skin....GROSS. BTW, the percula was about 1.5 in or so. I had been trying to treat him for brookynella. I found that its a PITA to treat. Recommend dipping your fish before adding if you dont plan on a quarantine. Link to comment
KrackerG Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 first off, welcome to the DC area, Quandary!! Unless you like sitting in a parking lot, stay away from Springfield... the 395/495/95 mixing bowl and the Wilson Bridge are both under heavy construction...projects due to be complete in 10+ years! I know Wally's Aquarium is prob right around the corner from ya, but you should also check out Marine Scene in Reston, VA or Roozen's in Ft. Washington, MD or the Reef Tank in Burke, VA...not sure their hours. Back to the topic, I've had my brittle (serpent) starfish for only about 2 months but he is very heathly looking and strong i don't see anything going wrong unless something drastic happens to my water conditions. Sometimes, when my hand is digging around in there, he "stalks" me....maybe thinking I'm food??? ...or a mate?!?!? He pulls himself around pretty quickly... his body looks like "knuckles"...maybe that's why he likes my hand! Link to comment
TheEvilbbug Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I went to the LFS saw the pretty little red linkia starfish, threw down my dead presedents, brought it home, ripped open the bag and played frizbee with it untill it made it in the tank. (the cat almost got it on one bad toss) ;P seriously, I just boght and dropped, it's doing great. oh, well it just fell off a rock. crap,,,, hold on,,,, Link to comment
quandary_23 Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 krackerG, we were just discussing the project going on over at 95/395/495 I am so glad I only have to travel north on the fairfax pkwy to reston from fairlakes for work everymorning, my commute is only 15-20 min both ways The marine scene is nice, bot my hermits and snails there, they have a good deal on shrooms right now 20 per rock! Nice size pieces and different colors, but I am not ready yet to add them cause wating till end of month, pay the bills ya know. I think first off I am going to buy the 11 for 99 ricordea deal from http://www.roesmarineworld.com/newrareunus...ualnewpolyp.htm I love that stuff, my wife is a polyp fan soo that too and zoos galore... I think I will get a yellow brittle when the time comes, I got my marble from roozens and they had some nice red and yellow ones there too, should've got one of those instead. I don't know if they guarantee their livestock though. Takes me 45 min to get there. Havn't been done to the reef tank yet, how does it compare to roozens? By the way, roozens has some nice leopards in if you are into that. Link to comment
KrackerG Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 IMO, The Reef Tank is not all that. If you've already been to the other 2 places, then your shopping at the right stores. FYI, there is a link in the Vendor's section here for Virginia/Maryland People and on the last page, there is a local fish supplier list for the area... Link to comment
FrankHKP7 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I had a sand sifting starfish in my 10 gal... acclimated over about an hour... within a few days there was no life in my sand bed (pods, etc.) but my sand was perfectly clean. Anyway, I took it back to my LFS after a month because I didn't want it to die from lack of food. It's been gone for a month and my sand bed is crawling with life again. Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 I plan on getting a sand sifting star for my 11g..i have 3 in my 55 and they are great! plus if your worried about them staving there are lil pellet things you can get that sink to the bottom which the stars will eat....either that or something like clam bits stuck in the sand every few weeks will work Link to comment
KrackerG Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 ...here is my Serpent? Starfish...BTW, anyone know exactly what type of starfish this is? I wasn't told at the time I bought it but I remember the guy saying it was a serpent starfish he is very active at some times yet seems happy chillin' back in the rocks....in a cave Link to comment
SDMike Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Originally posted by KrackerG ...here is my Serpent? Starfish...BTW, anyone know exactly what type of starfish this is? I wasn't told at the time I bought it but I remember the guy saying it was a serpent starfish he is very active at some times yet seems happy chillin' back in the rocks....in a cave There used to be a place in Roslyn (?it has been 7 years+ since I've been there, so I may be off in my memory...) off 95 that I used to go to. Seemed to have very good prices on stuff. Anyone in the DC area know what place I'm talking about? Mike in San Diego (grew up in Woodbridge/Dumfries) Link to comment
MillerLite Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 Hey Kracker, I think it is called a banded serpent star. Link to comment
PeejFish Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 hey guys i live in the DC metro area where is the best fish store to go? Link to comment
sdbeazley Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 I found a small one inch long starfish like the kind in KrackerG`s tank in my crushed coral but it only has three legs :*( . Link to comment
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