Chocolate Chip Starfish

pittsburgh23

pittsburgh23

New Member
Have had the tank up for about a week.....50 gallons, Live Rock, and a green Chromis. Things are going great, the cycle has already started. I was thinking about down the road getting a chocolate chip starfish but i heard they arent reef safe, and that some fish may even attack them. Just wondering if anyone had any ideas on them, or what fish would be safe with a starfish.
thanks
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Yup. Definitely not reef safe, and will possibly be attacked by things like puffers, triggers and larger wrasses, etc.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Its my understanding that they can catch your fish while sleeping, and they will not miss an opertunity to go after a sick one. They will graze constantly on your rock, eat your critters that they come across including an unfortunate coral like sponges and such. I have not had the pleasure but have heard many things about them from this site and from the LFS's that I have been to.
Although I am still learning, Susan will be able to dial them in for you. She's just the best :)
Thomas
 
snakes'n'fish

snakes'n'fish

Member
I have only one use for a Chocolate chip star fish. I have one in my aggressive tank, he is a good scavenger , but he has lost all his chips to the picasso and an arm to the eel. The only reason I took him was because the LFS was going to trash him because he had not sold in 6 months. I added him to the tank figuring he'd get lunched. Aside a few injuries he is about the only thing I have found that is a good scavenger for the tank. He eats what ever the rest miss.
Adding one to a passive fish tank or a reef tank , I would be wary of it. they can be quite predatory.
 
ijeh99

ijeh99

Member
I have a chocolate chip - he was great for about four months and then he went snail crazy. He ate 6 snails in 2 days beside other food that I would put right beside him. It took him two weeks to be satisfied before he headed up on the glass to stick there until I guess it gets hungry again. I hope it will be a long time until it eats again or I will have to give him up. Snails costs $6.00/snail for me.
 
pittsburgh23

pittsburgh23

New Member
thanks guys for the info. I"m not sure really what fish i wanted to put in there, i knew i really wanted a chocolate chip starfish but from what i've been reading they arent too good for any tank......
 
liz

liz

Member
I've had a CC star for about 3 months now. I only have 2 fish, a CBS and a little crab. The CC did chow down on one of my fish after it died. I just added some hermit crabs and astrea snails today. Did I just put in some really exspensive CC starfish food? What do you feed a CC star? I though they were scavengers and were more or less part of a clean up crew. We've enjoyed our star and haven't had any problems yet.
 
liz

liz

Member
My bad, I thought CC was for Chocolate Chip. Sorry for any confusion, My counter current star or my crushed coral star! hehe =)
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Chocolate chip stars are generally ominvorous predators and scavengers...they will eat a touch of algal films, and stuff on LR, but they will more then happily eat other things they come across from time to time...snails, corals, sponges, dead fish (I really have not heard of them, nor can I really imagine them, catching healthy fish), clams, scallops, etc. They are not reef safe. They will eat nearly anything placed near them, including excess food (primarily in aggressive systems where the fish are fed heavily and are messy). Otherwise, I tend to encourage spot feeding with krill, shrimp, squid, silversides, shrimp pellets, etc.
 
clownfish1452

clownfish1452

Member
I have two chocolate chip stars. And they eat almost everyday only because they will go to the top of the tank and bend side ways and grab the krill I put in for my puffer and they love the seaweed I put in for the tang and damsel. They will grab what ever food they can grab. I had then for almost a year and they have not done anything areally bad, but they will eat the sponges off your rock. But they grow so fast.
Sarah :)
 
mossad327

mossad327

Member
To everyone who has a CC star right now and thinks it's ok because it hasn't eaten anything yet - Get rid of him now. This was how I was for five months before my star completely obliterated my hammer coral in two days. It's not worth it.
 
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