sand fauna safe starfish?

[Percs]

Hi. I bought this white sand star a month ago and I'm starting to fear that it's destroying my microfauna. Does anyone have information on Archaster typicus? Thanks.

[Ninong]

Hi Percs,

Yes, it is. It feeds on the worms and other beneficial sand bed infauna. Bad news for a live sand bed in a reef tank unless it is a very large tank, say more than 300 gallons.

Here are two that feed on detritus, surface microbes and algae: The Blue Linkia (Linckia laevigata) and the Little Red Starfish (Fromia elegans). The Blue Linkias do not ship well, so it might be better if you could find one at the LFS that has been in stock for a couple of weeks. And, as with any starfish, you must do a long slow-drip acclimation on the order of 4 to 6 hours to be safe because of their extreme sensitivity to changes in salinity.

Maybe you could trade in the Archaster typicus for something else.

Ninong http://www.thereeftank.com/ubb/smile.gif

P.S. - The Blue Linkia does get pretty large (~12") so take that into consideration if this is for a small tank (anything less than 55 gallons). For a small tank, try the Little Red Starfish, or a Linckia multiflora, if you can find one.

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Irrational Exuberance!

[greenbud]

Its not that Blue Linkias don't ship well. They have an undeservedly bad reputation because they are very sensitive when acclimating. These guys are very senstive, more so than brittles, and require a lengthy acclimation of about 3-4 hours. Improper acclimation of this starfish causes its insides to literally burst and disentigrate, but this can take up to 4 weeks. This gives you the impression that it was doing fine but "suddenly" keels over. The lesson? Aside from you doing a proper acclimation, be sure that your LFS is aware of this and ask about their dealer. If he doesn't know what your talking about its likely they just tossed it in after an hour and your going to have a messy, melted starfish in your tank in about a month. HTH