Starfish Q......

[mickadee]

First post here hope someone can answer..


I was wandering if anyone had any dealings with a atlantic pin cushin star the LFS has one here and I just love the way the thing looks its about the size of a dinner plate and its hillarious to watch this thing gracefully glide up the walls of the tank its in. I know its not reef safe it would be going in another FOWLR tank if I hear good things on it and feeding habits etc... I searched around some but couldnt find anything on these guys...
thanks
Mike

 

[mickadee]

I take it nobody has a clue about this fish!!
thanks thought
Mike

 

[davelin315]

I've seen them in the ocean on the bottom in the sand on flats. I don't know what they're eating there, or any of their habits, but I do know that they can get really big and bulky, so you may want to rethink putting one in your tank (the biggest one I found was about the size of a softball, 16") as it could eventually take over everything, and I can't imagine it's really exciting to come home and see a pillow sitting in your tank.

 

[pathos]

Hi Michaelar, welcome to the board.

Yes, I think this would be a bad decision too. these things get too big and starfish are extremely difficult to care for anyhow. Pass on that guy and start with something easier for now. If you like starfish try a small serpent star. Just be sure to acclimate hime very slowly and keep your SG up, around 1.024. HTH

 

[mickadee]

I have many many starfish and have had them for a longtime I have
2 green britle star
2 green serpent star
3 red brittle star
1 tigar brittle star
2 red linkia
1 blue linkia
4 chocolate chip stars
they have all been in the tanks for several months now so the starfish thing is not new to me however the pin cushion star is a new for me.
as far as the size the starfish is about the size of a dinner plate now
but thanks for the info..I think it would be cool addition to my tanks but wanted to find out if anybody knew anything about them before buying him 30 is a little much to put into a fish that is unlikely to make it...
thanks
Mike

 

[ophiuroid]

I am assuming the seastar you are thinking of is this, Oreaster reticulatus:

(from site: http://www.hood.edu/academic/biology/cushionseastar.htm)

Juveniles are mottled almost camo greenish with brown, gray and white.

This seastar is not a good choice for an aquarium, especially one with a lot of other inhabitants. It clearly does best in seagrass meadows, an ecosystem all its own, and not likely to be replicated in a tank. In the wild, it is not typically found associate with "reef" structures like rock or coral outcrops which we tend to try and replicate in our tanks. It appears to feed on animals associated with this specialized habitat, including other echinoderms, as well as particulate matter, algae and sponges. It can reach sizes of up to 20in. Best left at the LFS, or even better, in the wild.

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Brittlestars!!
http://home.att.net/~ophiuroid
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[mickadee]

that is not not the starfish in Q
the star fish that is in Q looks like a big rock with out any noticeable legs it jas slits up the side where the legs should be but instead of legs they come to a little point the legs have not been broken or shed off the are simple none there
i will see if I can get a picture of it and see about posting it somehow but I havent found one on the net yet so I may take a camera to the LFS and get one to post...
Mike

 

[ophiuroid]

Perhaps one of these? (from http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seastars.htm)

In which case they are not Caribbean/Atlantic. They need a wide variety of foods and lots of open space. One in my LFS was eating a long spined urchin the other day....

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Brittlestars!!
http://home.att.net/~ophiuroid
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[ October 28, 2001: Message edited by: ophiuroid ]</p>