Anybody keeping a doublestar starfish?

[MikeP]

Saw these at a LFS, I searched the internet for more info but didn't find much. Are they totaly reef safe? What are they like to have? Do they spend most of their time on the sand, glass, rock or just all over? Do they live long in an aquarium?

Thanks for any info

[justinl]

best i could come up with...
http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=232887&POSTNUKESID=841c3c106d0a6b0db3018fbfc5b5c565

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1467&N=0

liveaquaria is a sale site so by no means should it be taken as the truth and nothin but the truth.

personally i wuold discourage buying this star. but then, i am biased as i would not recommend buying ANY sea star for your aquarium unless its care is known. like the chocolate chip star. and for example, not the lickias.

[MikeP]

That doesn't really look like the one I saw. The LFS called it a double star. The one I saw was whiteish with a star outline on it's body. It was also fat looking with short arms.

[i have crabs]

ive had a couple over time but they just melted after a couple months every time,

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Mike, I have one. I've had it for about 8 months, and then just a week or so ago, I kept finding it upside down, with its arms eaten away (or melting away?). Now it's been upside down in the same spot for a few days, and I'm not hopeful. I've been following the thread regarding the orange starfish that died, and am just wondering if they're better off not living in our tanks!

[Delphinus]

I think that most stars are bad news. :( It seems we have two categories: Either they are carnivorous and thus not reef-safe, or they are "we haven't a friggin clue what it eats" (to try and sum up all the articles I've ever read about the topic).

Some of the "we don't know what it eats" stars do adapt to life in captivity but the numbers are pretty grim, probably like 1 in 10 or something like that. I did have a blue linckia that lived for about a year and a half. Is that a good run? I have no idea. But that guy was about one in about 5 or 6 stars that I've tried - the others never made it past a month or two.

[justinl]

i think 1 in 10 is a VERY generous number. keep in mind people that tony knows what he's doin. think about the countless stars (lickia or otherwise) that people impulse buy just cuz they're pretty. i think a more realistic number is 1 in 30.