Chocolate Chip starfish

ledzep fan

ledzep fan

Active Member
Well, I really would like to get a chocolate starfish. I just wanted to know what are the god things about it and the bad things about it. Also, they are also really cheap. I heard bad things about it though. Like it eats sleeping fish. Is this true? If I do get one it is going into a 120 gallon fish tank. So please any one with any experience help me out here. :help:
Thanks
LedZep fan
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
i have heard of acocunts where they were the prime suspect for eating shrimps, fish, ect. But usualy large green brittle stars are the predetory ones.
good things:
look cool
will eat uneated foods, although you should spot feed it raw, meaty, seafood
Disadvantages:
must have excellent water quality and make sure SG is about 1.025-1.026
 
nofish4u!!

nofish4u!!

Member
I absolutely love mine! I have a 120g tank and he is constantly on the move! No problems with him eating any of my fish. He adds a lot to the tank.
 
T

toungetwster

Guest
I had one for about 4 months; he was great grew like he was on steroids! The only thing; he "LOVED" my snails! He ate them like a starving Frenchmen! then he starting going for my mushrooms. That's when I traded him in!
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
I love my chocolate chip as well. He has grown fantastically in a year and he always comes up to the top of the glass to get food. As soon as he smells the food hit the water, he begins a fast climb to the top of my tank. He will also occassionally stick an arm or two out of the water to beg for food as well. Very fascinating creature.
The only bad thing is that they are not reef safe, as they will eat coral.
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
it is actualy unknown why they reach their arms up, but it is beelived to have to do with gas exchange. theya re interesting creatures.
i had one in my fowlr..... until my LFS suggested i use copper for ick even though i told them i had a CC star. they said it was okay.
PS: this is when i first started and listened to the LFS.
now i jsut have tons of baby brittles in my reef. the micro stars, not realy babies.
 
nofish4u!!

nofish4u!!

Member
HAHA! Lion- You thought your star was reaching for food, but really it was just passing gas!
Oh man... sorry, couldn't help myself. CC stars really are cool. I've never spot fed mine.. do most people?
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Well, he only does it at feeding time and anytime I hand him food when he does this he always sends it to his mouth in a hurry.
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
Originally Posted by nofish4U!!
HAHA! Lion- You thought your star was reaching for food, but really it was just passing gas!
Oh man... sorry, couldn't help myself. CC stars really are cool. I've never spot fed mine.. do most people?
you will probably need to. most will nto find enough food unless you feed a lot.
PS: "passing gas" and gas exchange are different. just so you know :hilarious although lion was right partialy, because it is believed to be done partialy because of the food stimuli. but it is unknonw. i wasnt saying he was necessarily wrong, jsut giving the reason that it is thought to be is all.
aww man, i realy want to get another, but ive used copper in my fowlr and my other tank is a reef.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
CC stars are definitely predatory on corals, clams, scallops, snails and any other reasonable slow moving creature. As for sleeping fish, well...I don't know how much I believe that to be honest.
You do need good water parameters (specific gravity esp should be 1.025-1.026) and a mature tank (around 5 months ideally). They also require a pretty long acclimation.
They are very interesting animal for sure!!
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
yes. lol
the problem is, id want another reef, and my QT is goign to become a reef, but it is only 12 gallons, so i woudl have trouble keeping the SG up all the time.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by fishieness
you will probably need to. most will nto find enough food unless you feed a lot.
PS: "passing gas" and gas exchange are different. just so you know :hilarious although lion was right partialy, because it is believed to be done partialy because of the food stimuli. but it is unknonw. i wasnt saying he was necessarily wrong, jsut giving the reason that it is thought to be is all.
aww man, i realy want to get another, but ive used copper in my fowlr and my other tank is a reef.
thanks fishie!
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
Originally Posted by nofish4U!!
IMO- You're scratching to get a new one. Time to break open the piggy bank! You can never have too many tanks

psh, you dont need to convince me! convince my mom.... it took me months of convincing that a sump wouldnt make our ceiling fall through, try to convince her for another tank....
and my step dad?! man... GOOD LUCK!
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
thanks fishie!
no problem, i jsut wanted to clear that up, because when i reread the post it sounded like i was being a smart-alic. But i wasnt. so sorry
 
ledzep fan

ledzep fan

Active Member
Thanks for all your replies the only think i'm worried about was that they could attack sleeping fish. What do you guys think about that whole idea? I also have a puffer, wrasse and a angel but, i think if i keep them well fed they wont attack it. what do you think about that? I doubt they would attack the star if i kept them well fed.
LedZep fan
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
I don't think there is anyway that a chocolate chip would attack a sleeping fish, especially one like an angel, puffer, or wrasse.
Also, fishie, I did not think you were being rude at all.
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
yeah, i think your fish are all big enough that they would be safe.
however, as you mentioned, the larger problem will probably be your puffer with the starfish.
sometimes it depends entirely on the puffer and it doesnt matter how much you feed him.
lions and puffers are not compatible. but my valentini and my fuzzy dwarf have been fine. sometimes it depends entirely on the fish itself and you wont know until you try.
 
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