Red feather star
- Thread starter zibnata
- Start date
danedodger
Member
I KNOW I saw one of these guys in my magazine....aha!! It should be reef safe and probably even make a good part of a cleanup crew not to mention they're beautiful and really interesting! I'm not SURE about that though so I'd wait for someone who hopefully knows more about them to chime in. I remembered seeing one in Tropical Fish Hobbyist because the picture (a red one) really caught my eye!! It says they will eat "blended fish and shrimp particles that are squirted onto the arms with a food baster."
Didja know that they start off their life on a stalk??? Eventually they break off of the stalk and go wandering around. Really cool stuff!
Sadly it also says that they ship poorly and usually don't do well in home aquariums. This may be just one of those species that are too delicate/we don't know enough about to keep yet.
Didja know that they start off their life on a stalk??? Eventually they break off of the stalk and go wandering around. Really cool stuff!
Sadly it also says that they ship poorly and usually don't do well in home aquariums. This may be just one of those species that are too delicate/we don't know enough about to keep yet.
blemmy_guy
Active Member
Ive had 2 of them, the 2nd is still alive . There very difficult to keep! And like DaneDodger said they dont ship well at all. The hardest part with them is just acclimating them to your tank. Then the 2nd hardest is keeping your water perfect, from what ive seen they have very little tolerance to changes in your water. There a Beautifull star fish. They can actually swim, its too cool. Do a search on me, and look at some of my pictures of her. Goodluck
Todd
Todd
blemmy_guy
Active Member
heres the thread. Todd
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=182021
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=182021
fishamajig
Member
in my opinion I wouldent mess with it. it is a very hard invert to keep and even very experienced aquarianists have trouble keeping them long term. if you dont buy it from the store then maybe they wount get em in again and they can stay in the ocean where they belong.
im suprised ophira hasn't chimed in yet.
im suprised ophira hasn't chimed in yet.
ophiura
Active Member
They are NOT easy to keep long term at all. How long have you had yours Blemmy?
Success beyond a year is not all that common, again, as with many harder echinoderms, due to starvation...I DO NOT recommend trying them. They need room to spread out, are generally nocturnal, and actually require pretty specific particle size food. Most people who have long term success (and again, it is not all that many) have access to lots of invertebrate larvae. This is not a "food in a bottle" creature..but rotifers, brine nauplii, etc. SMALL plankton.
The are definitely not part of the clean up crew, though certainly reef safe!!
These are not an animal to purchase without a great deal of research into care, and preparation for keeping them. Most will die of osmotic and shipping stress (be SURE your tank is mature, and water quality PRISTINE, especially specific gravity). They need a fair amount of food, so water quality could become an issue at some point.
Odds are your $35 purchase will be short lived...I would instead encourage the LFS not to carry them (especially not to carry animals they can't even tell you about). Really, I strongly discourage anyone trying, unless this is a very large mature reef tank with refugium, deep sand bed, etc, etc.
Success beyond a year is not all that common, again, as with many harder echinoderms, due to starvation...I DO NOT recommend trying them. They need room to spread out, are generally nocturnal, and actually require pretty specific particle size food. Most people who have long term success (and again, it is not all that many) have access to lots of invertebrate larvae. This is not a "food in a bottle" creature..but rotifers, brine nauplii, etc. SMALL plankton.
The are definitely not part of the clean up crew, though certainly reef safe!!
These are not an animal to purchase without a great deal of research into care, and preparation for keeping them. Most will die of osmotic and shipping stress (be SURE your tank is mature, and water quality PRISTINE, especially specific gravity). They need a fair amount of food, so water quality could become an issue at some point.
Odds are your $35 purchase will be short lived...I would instead encourage the LFS not to carry them (especially not to carry animals they can't even tell you about). Really, I strongly discourage anyone trying, unless this is a very large mature reef tank with refugium, deep sand bed, etc, etc.
fishamajig
Member
i fugured you would have the info on this one. thanks for the specifics i could not provide. but all in all not something you should try.
mudplayerx
Active Member
As everyone said, they are near impossible to keep. John Tullock actually lists them in his book "Natural Reef Aquariums" as totally unsuitable for tanks. Keep us updated Blemmy!
ps- your brittle star and damsel look just like mine
ps- your brittle star and damsel look just like mine
blemmy_guy
Active Member
I got mine in may of this yr. And had it in my 70 gal. it wasnt doing to good so i put her in my 125 which is much older , and so far shes thriving there.
And Mud i noticed the same things on one of your picture threads. We have the same taste in a lot of stuff i noticed.
i will keep you allupdated on her. She is soo beautiful, they can actually swim, its very cool to watch. And
ophiura is right she basically only moves around at night.
Todd
And Mud i noticed the same things on one of your picture threads. We have the same taste in a lot of stuff i noticed.
i will keep you allupdated on her. She is soo beautiful, they can actually swim, its very cool to watch. And
ophiura is right she basically only moves around at night.
Todd
mudplayerx
Active Member
Good luck with your feather star. The 1st time my girlfriend and I saw one in a book we were flabergasted. It is truely one of the most beautiful critters available for hobbyists.
I didn't know you had a 125 gallon tank. Man, I can't wait until I get my degree and start making some decent money.
I didn't know you had a 125 gallon tank. Man, I can't wait until I get my degree and start making some decent money.