fishtanknewbie
Member
Is that star fish reef safe! 
Tank is good again
- Thread starter wrassecal
- Start date
wrassecal
Active Member
Originally posted by ophiura
Yes, by all accounts. It is Echinaster echinophorus.
Susan, thank for the compliments. I'm glad you saw the post. Other than "reef safe, peaceful algae grazer" I can't really find much on this star. I love this guy, he is so entertaining. Can you enlighten us?
scotts
Active Member
Good to see you again, Have not seen you for awhile, uh let me just say....your tank......awesome! Those anthias, what type are they, anything special about them. Since I dun got me one of dem beg 125 gallun tanks Im thinkin' 'bout gettin me sum of dem. I live in Mo. for awhile so I figured I would type so it was easy for you to read.
Scott
Scott
wrassecal
Active Member
HI Scott, I was going to say nice to see you too but, after reading your post, I'll refer you to your avatar and let you picture me sticking my tongue out at you
They are lyretail anthias. I wanted a "harem" or "schooling" fish and love their colors. You need at least two females for the male.....go figure. They generally swim in the upper area of the tank, and do need to be fed a couple times a day. Anthias have small stomachs. Mine love cyclopeeze and will eat pretty much any prepared frozen foods I feed the tank.
They are lyretail anthias. I wanted a "harem" or "schooling" fish and love their colors. You need at least two females for the male.....go figure. They generally swim in the upper area of the tank, and do need to be fed a couple times a day. Anthias have small stomachs. Mine love cyclopeeze and will eat pretty much any prepared frozen foods I feed the tank.
X
xnikki118x
Guest
Once again, I have to comment on how beautiful your tank is. It's an inspiration to all of us.
ophiura
Active Member
Originally posted by Wrassecal
Susan, thank for the compliments. I'm glad you saw the post. Other than "reef safe, peaceful algae grazer" I can't really find much on this star. I love this guy, he is so entertaining. Can you enlighten us?
I wish! I rely for much of this info from people like yourself
So what I learn from your experience combined with the same experience from others = my advice! I can figure out what beast it is in some cases...but their wild diet is often poorly known. So those hobbyists (such as you) who come and share their experience are so very important with building the foundation of knowledge about captive care.
tony detroit
Active Member
Nice tank, I love the male anthias.
fishtanknewbie
Member
Where can I get one of thos starfish at because I CAN NOT FIND THEM ANYWHERE AROUND HERE! :nope: If you can get your hands on anymore of those or now where I can get one e-mail me at fishtank765@sbcglobal.net. Thanks Clint
wrassecal
Active Member
Ok, here's more of my experience with the Echinaster echinophorus aka red thorny star. I've had it about 3 months.It is almost always in view. Climbs all over the rocks and the glass grazing algae. In the pics above you'll notice he's somewhere in all the group shots. He's the most entertaining star I've seen or had and appears to be very hardy. I do have lots of algae for him though with 135 gal tank and about 180 lbs of live rock. I bought him at my local lfs. His name is Gumby because I'm always catching him is some funny contortion to get to an area he wants to graze. Here is another pic of him cruising the tank on the thermometer. Well, darn it can't post pics again. I'll post some later.
ophiura
Active Member
I will just throw in so it is not confused - they won't eat "algae" like nuissance algaes. They are "grazers" on various stuff on LR such as bacterial/algal films, bryozoans, encrusting sponges and similar. But I don't want people to think they can get buy with one if they just have algae or stuff to scavenge...if so, we could all keep these stars. I would still consider this to be a "bigger tank" star, at least 75g...until I hear from people with them in smaller tanks. Lots and lots of LR...mature tank...and a reef. I would also get one in all but the largest tanks....or keep one a year and then maybe try another later. One year is the critical point after the first month. We look for signs of starvation at 8-12 months.
Have you ever tried to see if it is interested in and spot or target feeding? That would be interesting to know. Nothing to go out of the way for, just as you regularly feed.
Have you ever tried to see if it is interested in and spot or target feeding? That would be interesting to know. Nothing to go out of the way for, just as you regularly feed.