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Cultivated Reef

Offical Starfish (Fromia) Thread


bobioden

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No, this is the worst bet. Them and linkias are pretty much impossible to keep in all but the largest tanks. They starve. Very slowly, sometimes, but they starve. The only long-term success stories you'll see are from people keeping them in multi-hundred-gallon tanks, and I think there was a guy at one point who kept a blue one for years by feeding it asterinas? But he had to keep culturing and adding new asterinas so it didn't die. 

Having one of these (or any other animal with a similar "we're not sure, we think it eats the stuff that grows on rock" diet) for a few months isn't an indicator of success. They can take easily up to a year to deplete the available food and starve. Show me a technique that keeps one alive for two years, and I'll start to believe they're keepable. 

 

Ask your girlfriend if she likes brittle or serpent starfish, they're very easy to keep. Just give 'em meaty foods. If not, get some asterinas from someone who has asterinas that don't touch their coral. Some asterina species eat coral, but some don't unless completely starving. They have nice shapes, and will multiply in your tank. If she doesn't like those, explain that the other options will either eat all your coral, slowly die, or both, and I'd imagine that would be a decent explanation of why you don't have a starfish.

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TerraIncognita
40 minutes ago, Tired said:

No, this is the worst bet. Them and linkias are pretty much impossible to keep in all but the largest tanks. They starve. Very slowly, sometimes, but they starve. The only long-term success stories you'll see are from people keeping them in multi-hundred-gallon tanks, and I think there was a guy at one point who kept a blue one for years by feeding it asterinas? But he had to keep culturing and adding new asterinas so it didn't die. 

Having one of these (or any other animal with a similar "we're not sure, we think it eats the stuff that grows on rock" diet) for a few months isn't an indicator of success. They can take easily up to a year to deplete the available food and starve. Show me a technique that keeps one alive for two years, and I'll start to believe they're keepable. 

 

Ask your girlfriend if she likes brittle or serpent starfish, they're very easy to keep. Just give 'em meaty foods. If not, get some asterinas from someone who has asterinas that don't touch their coral. Some asterina species eat coral, but some don't unless completely starving. They have nice shapes, and will multiply in your tank. If she doesn't like those, explain that the other options will either eat all your coral, slowly die, or both, and I'd imagine that would be a decent explanation of why you don't have a starfish.

Tired.

 

I appreciate your eagerness to help. It's great.

 

But I'm really looking for anyone who's kept or tried to keep.

 

I'm asking for more info. Few forums people have successfully kept them for at least a year.

 

Have you tried to keep one?

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He already told you, multi-hundred gallon tank.  There really isn't any other option.  You'll just be adding yourself to the list of many who don't heed the advice given here and starve another star to death.

 

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Frag Factory

I agree with the guys above, they are not suitable for anything but large aquariums.

 

If you want to go and get one and watch it fall to bits, do it. 99.9999% of them don't fare well in home aquariums. They are similar to other species like copperband butterflies, best left in the sea.

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TerraIncognita

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-is-a-good-hardy-reef-safe-starfish-that-doesn’t-eat-fish.745590/page-2#post-7799642

 

someone kept a Nardoa here for 3 years.

 

It's doable. He fed them asternia's.

 

So there's a way to do it Tired also said they eat Asternia's.

 

Nothing impossible guys, don't be so volatile lol.

 

I'm seeing if anyone HAS kept them, and what they did for success. I know there's 1,000,000 people who say don't. I get it.

 

Seems i can get 20 for $20 in los angeles.

 

Could try to start an asternia out-break pre coral addition, then add a fromia to keep it in check.

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What are you going to do when it eats all the asterinas in the tank, though? Do you plan to culture asterinas separately? Because that might actually work, but I imagine it'd take a lot of space to grow enough of them. There's also the question of if the asterinas are a nutritionally complete diet. 

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TerraIncognita
42 minutes ago, Tired said:

What are you going to do when it eats all the asterinas in the tank, though? Do you plan to culture asterinas separately? Because that might actually work, but I imagine it'd take a lot of space to grow enough of them. There's also the question of if the asterinas are a nutritionally complete diet. 

I have absolutely no idea.

 

thats why I do t have a for us starfish in my tank, and am here asking around.

 

seems at least 2 human beings have done it successfully. So what did they do? Lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

If 1 in 1000 people survive jumping off a bridge, should you?

 

Generally the consensus across the hobby is they are master level pets, requiring very very specific and hard to attain setups, and most people who disregard the majority opinion here are setting themselves up to fail at the cost of the creatures life.

 

Anyone who is asking this in a thread is not at the reefing level required to keep one.  People at that level of success already know this sort of stuff.

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Starfish live decades, if it dies at two years. You failed. If it dies in 5 years, you still failed. Most fail at about the year mark.

 

Nothing has changed from 2005 to now except most people are smarter and know better. 

 

That guy that kept one 3 years has a 530 gallon tank. If you want to know how to keep one successfully, get an enormous tank. 

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