New Basket Starfish

1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by chipmunk
Hay
I will do what ever it takes. to make this starfish a sucess. I can help that most people are scard to take a chance on something so get off my back. If i learn the hard way at least i tried and was not scard to try. And by the way so far so good

The point is not that people are scared to try. The point is people would rather not fail and kill a beautiful naturally long living creature.
You said you did your homework.... how big of a tank do you have? How are you planning on feeding it in 10 years?
We all have made mistakes in this hobby. I'm certainly not looking to "get on anyone's back", but don't be cocky. People are here to try to help.
 
sterling007

sterling007

Member
Opihura, I guess Chipmunk didn't read your latest informative postings regarding the different starfish in the Reef Forum. Too bad...
Yes, Chipmunk, you are in for an ordeal, take it from me. I had one, bought on whim, and from what I can determine, I am the only person on this message board that was able to keep one alive and fed. I had it for almost a year before i decided to donate it to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. If you're unfamiliar with Chicago, the Shedd is a very large and famous public aquarium here, however, it died in their care within a month. So that should tell you something!
You can look up my past postings, but here's the gist:
They only come out at night, LATE at night, to eat. Otherwise they're curled up under and/or behind something all day. I use to stay up to close to midnight to feed it, with a flahslight shining somewhere in the tank, but not directly at it (somehow they sense the light). And I hand fed it. But if it felt ANYTHING other than the food, i.e. tongs, prong, finger etc, it curled up and refused to eat. And they, at least mine, did not care for "dead" (frozen) food, almost always needed to be live food. And since I don't have plankton or live mysis floating around in my tank all the time, I had to feed it EVERY night, otherwise it would have starved. And actually, and alot of people critized me for this, but its the truth, it's favorite thing was live tiny, baby guppies. It was fairly cruel for me, because I would have to knock them semi-unconscious so they wouldn't swim free of the little tongs I used.
So good luck, hope you're a night owl.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by sterling007
Opihura, I guess Chipmunk didn't read your latest informative postings regarding the different starfish in the Reef Forum. Too bad...
:
Sterling,
Thanks for contributing to this thread!! I was hoping you would visit.
As far as the starfish posts - man, haven't even gotten to those brittlestars/basketstars yet!! AHHH!!!
 
sterling007

sterling007

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Sterling,
Thanks for contributing to this thread!! I was hoping you would visit.
As far as the starfish posts - man, haven't even gotten to those brittlestars/basketstars yet!! AHHH!!!

Oops!! Better get something out on them before someone else takes the plunge!!
Hey, and on a different note, the White Sox are going to kick Astros butt if and when they get the chance LOLOLOLOL!!
 
chipmunk

chipmunk

Member
SORRY for the mix up here. The new LFS told me it was a basket starfish and its not its a feather starfish. I must say sorry to every one on the board. Please forgive me.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by chipmunk
SORRY for the mix up here. The new LFS told me it was a basket starfish and its not its a feather starfish. I must say sorry to every one on the board. Please forgive me.

Oh good. How much have you researched on those? Basketstars...there is a chance...but feather stars, very very little. They require very SPECIFIC particle size food and are HIGHLY selective feeders.
So there is even less chance of keeping these long term.
 
chipmunk

chipmunk

Member
Feather Starfish
(Lamprometra palmata)
The Feather Starfish is an unusual species that looks more like a plant than a starfish. It ranges in color from brown to orange, yellow, and black. Like the Basket Star, the Feather Starfish is a filter feeder. It is nocturnal, and at night it can be found with its long arms unfurled where it filters plankton from the water.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
That is not sufficient background for success, I am afraid. Not to mention that there are, in this hobby, several "catch all species" given that may have no relationship whatsoever to what the animal actually is, and therefor what it actually needs.
But then, even the worlds experts in crinoid taxonomy have never really had long term success (years) with keeping them in captivity.
Its feeding requirements are, though, quite different from that of a basket star. Many invertebrates are "filter feeders" but the question is what particle size do they need. And providing that is where the mystery lies. Basketstars use fairly large plankton, but crinoids don't, and may often be very, very picky about what they injest. Diversity will be critical...rotifers, brine nauplii, etc etc. People who have success tend to have them in large mature tanks with healthy sand beds, refugium, and lots of larval invertebrates.
 
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