Basket Starfish?

[Brock Fluharty]

I saw a basket star for sale recently, and I have no idea what that is. It is $8.50, and I was wondering if they were reef safe? I did a google search on it for images, and every photo looked like a starfish that had about 10 legs, and then those legs each branched out into 10 more and so on. It eventually looked like a bush or something. Is it reef safe?




Brock

[Doctor_Reef]

There isn't much about these critters to be found yet but what is known is that the basket stars are a specialized type of brittle stars. They have a series of complexly branched arms which are used to catch plankton. We do know that they move out at night to areas with strong currents, usually at the edge of fan corals, to filter feed on plankton. During the day, they wrap themselves up into a tight ball.
I have several reef people that have had these in their tanks and had no problems with them... I can't tell you too much more about them...You could possibly do a large search on the net and see if anyone has some more definite thoughts on this...

[Brock Fluharty]

Thanks! I'll get one and observe it's habits and post on here!

[Doctor_Reef]

Great...I would be interested in knowing how it goes with this addition!!! Good luck!!! :)

[Condiman]

Please get some photos if you can.

[Brock Fluharty]

Ok. I will. Have you guys seen what they look like? They are the coolest looking things i've ever seen!!!

[Doctor_Reef]

Yes, I have seen them...Don't have one but they are very cool to look at!!! :)

[romunov]

It will starve (and obviously die) in your tank due to lack of laminar flow and of course food. I would buy something else.

I hope you haven't already bought it. One of my LFS's accidentally got a baby one shipped to him. He obviously has to maintain high water quality for his fish and corals and he knew that he couldn't keep it. I had a spare tank laying around so I said I would give it a shot as leaving it there was a definate death sentence.

Boy that tank got nasty real quick. In the end, no matter how much plankton I gave it, it still starved to death. I knew it was a longshot but still had to try.

Here is what Susan (Ophiuroid) says regarding basket stars. In addition, I don't recommend keeping basketstars in aquaria. These ornate and beautiful animals have some special needs that are typically not met in captivity, resulting in a quick death. In the wild, these animals can live over 7 years. They can reach enormous size (over 3 feet), and require a heavy load of plankton in the tank. They are nocturnal feeders, so those keeping them often need to stay up after dark to spot feed the animal a variety of prepared and live foods. During the day, they often remain hidden. While they may very well feed on brine and mysis shrimp, the amount that would need to be added to the tank is very high. This would tend to pollute most tanks. Very few tanks are large enough to accommodate a filter feeder of this size. It is an animal that is best enjoyed in the ocean.

While I'm glad that Doctor Reef knows some people who have had success with them, I believe that Susan's last sentence quoted above should take priority....they are best enjoyed in the ocean. It's darn near impossible to give them the plankton that they need in our tanks and as a result, they should be left where they are. JMO

http://home.att.net/~ophiuroid/html/main.html
http://members5.boardhost.com/ophiuroid/

[Doctor_Reef]

I think we are mixing questions here... I said I didn't know much about these as there isn't much to go on and you should do a net search to find out more… What I said in answer to the question - are they reef safe is...and I quote...

"I have several reef people that have had these in their tanks and had no problems with them... I can't tell you too much more about them...You could possibly do a large search on the net and see if anyone has some more definite thoughts on this...

Most stars, with few exceptions, are hard to keep and one of the best articles I have seen on this is the following from Anthony Calfo...

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/ac/feature/

The reef folks that have them in there tanks are doing ok with them as far as keeping them alive...about there well being, I don't know...the systems that they are in are very large and the aquarist are very knowledgeable....I don't have one in my tank and do not intend on ever getting one...

Sorry for misquoting you. You are correct. They are reef-safe. I also agree with you that if you want to keep stars, advance research is a must. Your link along with the links in my prior post are a good START. I have successfully saved a number of stars and crinoids on their way out of this world. I would prefer that these critters stay in the ocean or only go to people who've done the proper research.

[Doctor_Reef]

Double ditto's!!! I added your link to my favs...and will use that ....Good stuff!!!! :)

[romunov]

They eat plankton, not phytoplankton. :)

[Doctor_Reef]

Hmmmmmmmm....I think we all said that...if not sorry!!!! :)

[romunov]

I should have said zooplankton. :lol: