Feathered starfish

billydakid757

New Member
Hello everyone I have a question has anyone ever had a feathered starfish and if so are they easy to keep or should they be avoided b/c i seen a green one in one of the lfs i go to for like $50 buck i started to get it but wanted to get some info on it. Thanks in advance and happy thanksgiving to all.
 

ophiura

Active Member
Please do not get one, they are exceedingly difficult to keep. There are very few individuals that I've heard of keeping them beyond a few months.
They in general do not survive in our tanks. Most crinoids feed on specific particle sizes, and only seem to survive in very large mature reef systems with very large refugiums. But even then, it is sporadic. You can not typically add most bottled foods...at best you would have to add regular phytoplankton culture/diatoms if you could identify which species you have.
Most will absolutely die in our tanks and I would strongly discourage buying it.
At a minimum you should have a mature reef tank (no less than 1 year old) with a mature refugium, and clear indication of success with filter feeders and invertebrates reproducing.
 
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