FOUND Blue Starfish...put in tank or not?

[yamazilla]

I found a bright blue star fish in the surf around Ponce Inlet Florida and brought him home. Hes dissappeared under my DSB and has yet to be seen. I would hate for him to die and pollute my tank. The surf temp is 69 and I dropped him into 83 tank with a trigger and puffer. I have never seen a star that looks anything like this guy on any site or in any store. I can post pic if someone think they can ID FLorida starfish...later

 

[moby da goby]

Just my opinion here, why would you want to pick up a star from the wild? The whole purpose of this hobby is to help conserve the reefs and the oceans, not deplete them. You can also introduce unwanted disease/bacteria into your own tank and kill everything.
If you didn't want it to die, you should have left it there.

 

[heavenly damsel]

OUCH Moby....back to the sandpile for you...need a little remedial "playing well with others" class.
You could have been a little kinder!
All of us who live around the ocean have a hard time resisting things that wash up on the beach. Our solution has been to set our old 55 gallon up as a local only tank. Have two oysters from the local seafood market in there...saved them from an untimely death. Our son the fisherman will be stocking it with local shrimp, local LR, a small spade fish, some pinfish and a small flounder.
You do run some risk if you add directly to your show tank. Did you put the star in your quarantine tank?
Good luck with him, hope he thrives for you.

 

[rockster]

Moby, can you tell us what stock in your tank did not come from the wild. Don't get me wrong, I don't have problem leaving animals in the wild and propagating the ones in the trade but our systems cannot exactly duplicate nature and as such, we cannot successfully propagate everything. Take the starfish for example, have you seen/heard of anyone successfully propagating them? Are your starfishes (if you have any) tank raised/bred?...Just a thought. <img src="graemlins//confused2.gif" border="0" alt="[confused2]" />

 

[yamazilla]

Moby.... I've put rock, sand and large conch snails I've found in Florida waters for some time in my tank and never had any probs. Some specimans come from the boat ramp area that isn't the greatest lookin water in the world. My tank houses many anenomes and clowns and they've always been heathly. This is the first starfish I've ever found. At least he was taken from his home and put in my tank within an hour. The fish you get up there in Canada are taken from there homes and shipped god only nows how far in tiny plastic bags. I wonder how many don't survive the trip to the great white north.

 

[krusk]

hmmm,

 

[tvan]

Red Tide.
A toxic red algee that haunts the gulf coast of Florida. Be very careful about keeping what come out of the gulf. We just lost 4 manatees in lemon bay!

 

[moby da goby]

I know I know, I came across a little mean. I do apologize for posting rather rashly. I myself don't have that option of looking in the water seeing how the nearest ocean is 1000 kms away and a heck of a lot colder. I only get the choice of what the stores here get whether it's wild caught or tank raised, in some cases I'll never know. I do hope the star was acclimated to your tank, the chances are much better that it will survive.
Do I get out of the sandbox to play again

 

[karvis]

i found many pieses of dead coral in FLA, buffers my water perfectly. (my friend went to FLa and took a urchin she found home!!!)

 

[von_rahvin]

just so you know unless you have a harvesting permit it is completely illegal to take any amount of live rock out of florida water. it is a felony offense and they can and will take everything invloved in the theft, boat, the car you used to tow the boat, all your dive gear, everything. it is MORE illegal to take any coral out of florida waters.
now as for starfish and urchins there are no laws making the private collection of them illegal. for fish there are very restricive size limits, and for shrimp and the like there are also restrive size and number limits. Gorgonians may be harvests but only in limited quantities.
just thought you guys might want to know the real laws.

 

[joshh]

moby someone should put you in jail witch is what you did to the star to take it out of the wild ,you should have left it were it was and enjoyed it there, you should try to get it back to its home,and if you want a blue starfish buy one

 

[joshh]

not moby i would say i agree with him, moby that is. Yamazilla

 

[hockeyplyr]

legal issues aside the only thing I can think this is is a blue Linkia star. But they are indigonous to the indo-Pacific, japan eastern africa. they are suposedly a wide spread speicies But I didnt know they could be found on the east cost. you may have a very interesting discovery there. I'll bet a Marine bio;ogist would be interested in this.
Look up Blue linkia on any search engine and see if any of the pictures you find match.