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FAQs about Chocolate Chip Sea Star
Selection Related Articles:
Chocolate Chip Stars, Asterina Stars,
An Introduction to the Echinoderms: The Sea Stars, Sea
Urchins, Sea Cucumbers and More... By
James W. Fatherree, M.Sc.
Related FAQs: Seastar Selection,
Chocolate Chip Stars 1, Chocolate Chip
Stars 2,
CC Star Identification, CC Star
Behavior, CC Star Compatibility,
CC Star Systems, CC Star Feeding,
CC Star Disease/Health, CC Star
Reproduction, Sea Stars 1,
Sea Stars 2, Sea Stars 3,
Sea Stars 4, Sea Stars 5,
Seastar Compatibility, Seastar Systems,
Seastar Behavior, Seastar
Feeding, Seastar Reproduction,
Seastar Disease, Asterina
Stars, Crown of Thorns Stars,
Fromia Stars, Linckia Stars,
Linckia Stars 2, Sand-Sifting Stars, | 
CCSs will eat other invertebrates... but generally not fishes unless
they're dead. Obgilbyina queenslandiae
(Saville-Kent 1893), the Queensland Dottyback.
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Re: chocolate chip starfish for use as Aiptasia control part 2
12/15/06
Hi there,
<Vicki>
I wrote y'all a couple months
ago asking if a Chocolate chip starfish would be a good idea for
Aiptasia control. Y'all told me to give it a try and let ya know how it
went. Well it was a great idea and seems to be working. Out of the
dozen or so Aiptasia I had in the tank, all but three or so are gone. I
have gotten a great deal of joy out of "Cookie" that I may not even mess
with corals this spring. I would feel bad about taking him back to the
LFS and someone else buying him and not taking as good care of him as I
do.
Thank you for your advice,
Vicki
<Thank you for this
follow-up. Bob Fenner>
Chocolate chip star fish in my reef tank... comp.
2/3/06
Hello,
I was looking through some
postings on you site about the Protoreastor nodosus sea star, and
noticed that no one thinks the can be reef safe. I have my CCS in my
reef tank for 2 years now with a leather coral, torch, hammer,
xenia, many corallimorphs, snails hermit crabs and a burgundy star
with no problems. My secret is to keep it well fed.
<Ah, yes>
My CCS is about 4 inches across now. I feed some white fish flesh
such as frozen smelts or Julian Sprung's sea weed at least 3 times a
week. So far it has not bothered any of my corals or other inverts
in my 125 gallon reef tank. I know to watch it more carefully as it
gets larger but for now I will enjoy it and its behaviors. Attached
are some pics for others to view. Let me know what you thinks of the
photos...thanks
<Thank you for this data point/input, and very
nice pix. Bob Fenner> |  
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I just started a S/W/ tank (about two weeks ago), today I bought a CCS,
- 01/12/2006
<Chocolate Ship Star? Not easily kept...>
I
read a lot of the Q & A that were posted about CCS. Now I wish I would
not have bought him,
<What would your granny say? "Look before you
leap?">
sounds hard to keep them healthy. The pet store where I buy
all my stuff has been very helpful, but they did not tell me that I have
to feed him anything special. Do I?
<... posted>
I
have a 46 gallon tank with two clownfish, 3 damsels, a tang and a sea
urchin. Is just the algae enough for him!! I feed the tank flakes and
shrimp brine?
<How would I/we know what you feed?>
Thanks,
Melissa
<Will likely perish... go, read "small sweet one"... on WWM.
Bob Fenner> Chocolate Chip Starfish
Hello,
<<Hi Ken,
Lorenzo Gonzalez standing in for the crew, off to MACNA in Dallas>>
My name is Ken Kimura. I have a 12 gallon reef tank and been wanting to
buy a starfish for my tank. I was thinking about getting a Chocolate
Chip Starfish (Protoreastor nodosus) but I cannot find any specs on the
animal.<< see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seastars.htm >> I wanted
to know if it is reef safe or not. <<Decidedly NOT>> Is there any other
starfish you recommend for my reef tank? <<Members of the Fromia,
Linckia, Archaster genera will be more appropriate>>Any help would be
helpful. Thank You!
<< Cheers! Lorenzo >>
Hidehiko Kenneth Kimura
Caring for a Chocolate Chip (8/30/04)
Hello, <Hi. Steve Allen
here.>
I just bought my first Starfish (Chocolate Chip). My tank is
newly cycled and the Nitrates were tested at 8. I just wanted to know if
there is anything that I would need to know about this little guy so
that I do not do anything wrong. <Glad you asked, but better to ask
first and buy later. Some important points: 1. They are not reef-safe.
2. They need excellent, stable water conditions. 3. They like a sandy
bottom. 4. They grow to about 6" in diameter. 5. They are carnivorous
and voracious--direct feeding with chunks of marine meats (fish, shrimp,
squid, shellfish, etc.) will be needed, though they do scavenge. 6.
Certain nippy fish, such as Triggers, will often bite off the "chips,"
which can lead to fatal bacterial infections. Check out the seastar
articles/FAQs on WWM for more details. Hope this helps.> DEBBRA POLSTON
Sea Star Question
We have just started our first salt water tank
and are getting different answers from everyone. We have a 12 gallon
nano cube tank with one 3" chocolate chip sea star, one small purple
suto.. fish(?), 6 snails, 1 emerald crab and some small blue and red
legged crabs. Someone has purchased us a 5" red sea star (I think
African something?) We have not added it to tank. Question?
How many sea stars can the tank hold and how many fish?
<Sarah, it's
sad to see these animals distributed so freely- they suffer some of the
highest mortalities in the trade. I hate to say it, but it takes a
large, established tank to feed just one of these animals. I would
decline the new addition, and hope that it can find a better home, and
then start arranging for a similar arrangement with your present
starfish. As for fish, it becomes much more complex. A 12 gallon nano
is a pretty small space, so you certainly want to research your
selections before purchase. Try this forum:
http://nano-reef.com/ for some people that share your passion! Good
luck, Ryan>
Thank you so much! Sarah A Bright
New Star...?
Bob,
<Scott F. here today!>
We just started a
saltwater aquarium about 2 months ago. We waited
about two weeks and
added two clownfish. They were doing well and then we left on vacation
for a week and turned down our skimmer and when we came back from
vacation we believe they had ich and other various diseases. Probably
from bad water quality since we turned down the skimmer.
<Well, poor
water quality is definitely a contributing factor to stress, which can
lead to disease...>
We then did a 50% water change and bought an UV
sterilizer.
Our fish died on Dec. 11th and we were looking at getting
a chocolate chip starfish. We have a quarantine tank already set up and
we were curious if we kept him in the quarantine tank for a week of so
and then introduce him to the main tank do you think the tank has had
enough time to get rid of the ich?
<I recommend at least a 3 week
quarantine for all new animals. It gives time for potential problems to
show themselves. As far as the tank "ridding itself of ich"- you really
need to let it sit "fallow", without fishes, for about a month or so.
This will cause the majority of the parasite population to crash for
lack of hosts (i.e.; fishes!). Perform routine maintenance (i.e.; filter
media replacement, water changes, etc.) during this time>
Will our
starfish be susceptible to ich?
<Nope>
Also, our local pet store
tells us that we don't really need to feed our starfish that he will eat
things out of our tank. Is this true?
<Well, the Chocolate Chip
Starfish (Protoreastor nodosus) is a pretty heavy-duty feeder. Being
omnivorous, it can derive nutrition from a variety of sources, and will
need to at least have some supplemental feeding to avoid having it munch
on your corals and other sessile inverts. I would not call it a "reef
safe" animal, but it is an interesting hardy creature if well cared
for.>
We have hermit crabs and snails in our tank which we have had
since the beginning of our tank setup. The hermit crabs are doing well
but within the last two weeks our snails have been dying about one every
day. We have checked our salinity and our nitrate, nitrite and ammonia.
Everything has been good. We are not sure why they keep dropping like
flies. Any suggestions?
<Could be anything from some sort of
chemical contamination in the water (Were you using any medications or
copper? That could be the cause right there..) to a parasitic illness of
some sort. There is a definite possibility, by the way, that your
starfish might further contribute to your declining snail population...>
Thank You, Bret Weddle
<My pleasure, Bret. Just keep a close eye on
things, check and recheck water conditions, and adjust as needed. Go
slowly, and I'm sure that your tank can make a happy recovery. Regards,
Scott F>
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