What kind of star should I get?

[djconn]

Okay, I'm on the hunt for a nice starfish for my 20g. I had a green brittle star once that was a royal pain and ate a few fish so I def. don't want to do that again.

I've seen those nice red stars (can't think of the name but I think it starts with an L) and they might be a good fit. I need something that is reef safe. Let me hear eveyone's thoughts.

 

[Jennie]

Are you referring to the 'Red Linka'? Isn't that one of the ones that is real hard to keep? Off to do a search now that is on the brain........

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yes...linckia. Calfo and Fenner don't recommend keeping the linckia. they rate it as intermediate to advanced in difficulty to keep. I know someone who wiped out his entire 10 gallon tank due to a dying blue linckia. This guy is an advanced aquarist too.

The only species Calfo and Fenner consider the best stars to keep are the mini serpent stars. striped micro brittle star, which is the one in the picture that Jennie posted a while back, the reticulated brittle sand star and the white sand star.

Not very encouraging is it?

 

[djconn]

No, not interested in any of those at all. I was just looking for something pretty to add to my tank. Hmmm... :?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

The blue and orange linckias tend to be pretty widely available and fairly inexpensive, you could try one. I'm sure you'd be able to tell when the star starts to go south on you and get it out of the tank. this other guy had bought it as food for his harlequins and tossed it in his 10 gallon tank and forgot about it.

 

[djconn]

Hahaha...no wonder it died!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

yup...kinda dumb. The problem is when those things decide to die they generally do it quickly and nuke the tank in the process.

 

[incysor]

Yep, if you see any part of it starting to disintegrate, just pull it out cause it's a goner. In houston you can also sometimes find fromia stars as well, they tend to be kinda the same color orange as the linkias, but their arms are more flattened than the linkias are.

What about harlequin brittle stars? That's the one I'm looking at. They're supposed to be as tough as normal brittle stars, but they're definitely cooler looking. Liveaquaria.com has several cool stars. The best places in town that I know of for cool stars are B&B and Planet Fish. Sometimes T&T will get something in as well. I haven't done business with either of these sites, but I'm thinking about it.

http://www.reeftopia.com/starfish.html
http://members.aol.com/Dropnet/Starfish.html
http://www.liveplants.gulf-coast.net/invertebrates.htm
http://www.islandreefs.com/inverts/harlequin%20star.htm
http://www.allaquatics.net/drygoods.asp ... 84c1&idx=3

This one is amazing.
http://petsolutions.com/product.asp?pn= ... 1102112250