Feather Starfish

[Curtswearing]

umm this is the first ive ever heard of this do you have any research to back this statement up or have your previously had one dont mean to be rude or anything.

It was just something that Ron Shimek said at an IMAC years ago

 

[slim_jim989]

hey there just want to give you an update a month later its still alive and my roomates still feeding him everynight looks like a keeper so far and hes happy everynight when he comes out. all flaing and all looks awsome ill have to get a video of him hen i get back home.

 

[returnofsid]

With the heavy feeding load, how is the rest of your tank doing? Have you checked phosphates and nitrates?

 

[slim_jim989]

yes i check those regularly and my nitrates are at 10 but ive had it there for awhile and i do weekly water changes. but the sump helps out alot and phosphate are at 0. and everything seems to be fine on chemicals.

 

[returnofsid]

10 isn't perfect, but not bad at all!! Are you running Chaeto in your sump and pruning it back on a regular basis? This should help. Also, a DSB in the refugium would definitely help!! Skim wet!!

 

[slim_jim989]

yes i run live rock and cheato in my sump and i have about 3in sand bed in my DT but with my sump right now i cant run a DSB but when i move tanks then i will have a seperate refugium but not sure on the DSB but well see. and i know 10 isnt good but its been stable and not spiking so i think it will be fine.

 

[returnofsid]

Yep, sounds like things are going great. Glad to hear of your success with this delicate critter. Can't wait to see pics and video!!

 

[slim_jim989]

well unfortunatly i wont have any pics for about 3 weeks still in Virginia but my new tank will be smaller so i cant wait to get my new skimmer so i can be fine with a heavier load. well see

 

[slim_jim989]

almost 3 months old in my tank

Well ive had this feather starfish in for almost 3 months now. its stayed pretty much underneath the same rock the whole time. I think he likes it there because how the current from my two powerheads pretty much collide right around that area so more food gets thrown there. Well when i was away for 6 weeks my roomates took care of my tanks. And if you recall my other thread i had bad times when i got back. The temp went down below 68* not sure how much. Everything else chemical wise was good. I brought the temp back up and has been good for a week now lol. Well my feather has lost some arms but is still there and moving around during the day and night. heres two pictures not as many arms as when i first got him. But i figured due to the flux in the temp.

just wish i had a better camera besides my phone haha. Also i have a flame scallop thats been in there for over 3 months now. So i dont mean disrespect to anyone in this comment. But if you think u can tackle on the beast then go for it even if other people dont think you can.

 

[noonesname124]

sorry for your loss

 

[slim_jim989]

no no, i still have the featherstarfish hes still alive when i had the temp flux i only lost some of my coral thats all lol

 

[Maxx]

Hate be the cold hearted one here, but 3 months is nowhere near long enough to be considered a success with either a Crinoid or a flame scallop. Both of these animals are known to slowly starve to death in captivity.

Please keep posting updates, but I will be very, very surprised if you have either of these animals at the 12 month mark.

Nick

 

[slim_jim989]

well they only gave me 2-3 weeks so its so far doing better then what most would say and a year from now i dont know about that one haha well see though

 

[Duce]

I would not say they are impossible to keep...the feathery ones I think is almost impossible..on the other hand I have never tried one... I have one that is black with green...it has been in my 72G for I would say close to couple years....

 

[dudeman]

i have a friend that i helped set up a 55g and he bought a feather star and its still going great at the 5 moth mark. another buddy just bought the tank and hes still doing great.

 

[slim_jim989]

sweet thanks for the share guys

 

[morgan]

Sorry to offenend anyone but i have collected fatherstars and seem the collected and sold from my lfs i had not really thought of it as such a hard animal to lookj after espeically now with all the great food suplments and the gut loaded frozen foods on the market its not easy to keep these things alive i service atleast 7 customers tanks that i service have featehr stars in them ranging from 6 montsh old to 3 years+ and alot of these people wouldnt put half the effort in that u are they just feed liquid coral food 2-3x a week and fozen foods everyday
im sorry to rant on but theres alot of things in this hobby that people will tell you u cant do and other people will just dont it with out a moments thought for example mixing clown fish, all i ever heard was u cant do u know how many tanks i have seen with up to 3 or 4 pairs sometimes even sharing anenomes, octopus ink is another one that i think is blown out of contexts my occy would ink quiet reguarly and i didnt do anymore water changes or ran carbon or even had mechanical filtration also mine would never crawl through the eggcrate on top of the tank wasnt much of a seal but it did the trick

 

[slim_jim989]

thanks morgan. Yeah i normally feed my phyto/zoo plankton food mix everyday and i see my skimmer working everyday so thats good lol. But i make sure my corals and feathers are healthy. I also do weekly water changes but everything seems to be fine.

 

[Maxx]

Morgan and Duce.....Got pics?

Nick

 

[Duce]

I will try to see if I can take a pic...mine is hiding in SPS colony but you can see its hand sticking out...