Sea star questions

[tzylak]

I am considering getting a Serpent Sea Star.
Does it need plot of sandy area or will the reef and DT walls suffice?
If it is a carnivore do I feed him with tweezers or dropping in a cube of frozen shrimp suffice?
I presume it eats only dead meat, not living fauna.
Will it eat flakes?
Do I need to quarantine it?
How do I transfer it without exposing it to air? . . Or is that 'no air exposure' warning an overkill?
Will it remain visible or will it disappear deep inside my reef? -I see my CBS only once a week, making it a low-value creature in the DT.
THANKS!!!

Tank specs:
Fish: Ocellaris Clown, B&W Clown, Firefish Goby, 6-Line Wrasse, Midas Blenny, 3 Banggai Cardinals, Cleaner Shrimp, Fire Shrimp, Banded Coral Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, Bristle Worms and CUC.
Reef: 150 lb. Sand, 70 lb. Rock, Frog Spawn, Button Polyps, Hammer, Mushrooms, Kenya Trees, Brain, Leather Toadstool, Cheato and one aiptasia
Tank: 50g hex with overflow, 23 gal sump with DSB, 2x Rio 3100 return pumps, 2x15” power compact 10K, 2x 50/50, 1x actinic, 1x deep blue LED strip, chiller 650, heater 100W, skimmer 65.
I got the tank on 7/18/2014 but it has been established for over 20 years!!
I do monthly water test and weekly 5g changes.
pH 7.8-8.1, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 0-3, PO4 0, Ca 360-400, Alk76-8, 77-79F, sg 1.022-25
23 sec. video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2s5ik52vqmwh4w1/151019%20Aquarium.wmv?dl=0

[Pigpen17]

I hear they get huge. I bought mine from Reefcleaners. Said it would only get to be about 8". So far I have had Ming about 2 years and he's about 5-6".

I let him sift around for food bits for the most part, and he'll catch a few floating pellets when I feed, but I drop a bit of frozen clam for him about once a month. I don't see him much. In fact, until he started to get bigger, I never saw him except at night. Now he hides under a rock with his arms sticking out. I dig him.

Not sure about QT or air exposure. I acclimated mine for about 10 min, and then dropped it right in. It "ran" for the nearest cave. and that was all I saw of him for a while. Not sure if I got lucky or not.

[tzylak]

Hmm, does it ever cling onto the front glass or it mostly hides in the reef?
I am also curious about the other questions listed above.
Thanks!

[flsvedlund]

Serpent stars are great for grabbing excess food. They don't need sand because they'll live in the rocks just fine. I don't really see any need to quarantine them and you can expose them to air no problem. I always drip acclimate them and then pick them up on my hand and set them into the display tank. In terms of being out all the time, I doubt it. Mine have always lived down in the rocks most of the time. However at feeding time mine come out and go scampering after the excess food which is fun to watch. I've always though they were a great addition to the CUC.

[billdogg]

Serpent stars are great for grabbing excess food. They don't need sand because they'll live in the rocks just fine. I don't really see any need to quarantine them and you can expose them to air no problem. I always drip acclimate them and then pick them up on my hand and set them into the display tank. In terms of being out all the time, I doubt it. Mine have always lived down in the rocks most of the time. However at feeding time mine come out and go scampering after the excess food which is fun to watch. I've always though they were a great addition to the CUC.

What he said. Probably the favorite part of my CUC.. I have several in my 120. Note that these are Serpent Stars, NOT Brittle Stars! Although the other Brittle stars are reported to be safe, Green Brittle Stars will become HUGE, and WILL EAT YOUR FISH.

hth

[tzylak]

Thank you all for your replies.
1. Wow, I did not consider for the Serpent Star to be considered as a member of the CUC. Well, considering that I have 4 shrimp, 3 hermit crabs and bristle worms, can one have TOO MUCH CUC??
2. I did not even consider that it might be capable of catching live fish . . -fish are so fast. Can they move that quickly? How big must it get for me to be concerned??
3. The parameters do not list a minimum tank required for this one. Is there a minimum with respect to a fully grown star?? . . . . This is a 50g hex tank . . .

[thegrun]

1. Yes you can have too big of a clean up crew. When that happens some of your CUC will starve unless you start to feed them which really defeats the main purpose of having a clean up crew.
2. If you get a serpent star you should not have issues with them catching your fish, some brittle stars will catch fish. I've kept serpent stars for many years without any issues. They stay hidden during the day except when you feed the tank.
3. While I don't think I would keep one in a 10 or 15 gallon tank, yours will be fine, even when it's fully grown.

[Ron Reefman]

I have a serpent star and a brittle star (red/black) in my 75g hex tank. They don't tend to get on the glass much, if ever. They tend to stay under rocks until they are very 'comfortable' in the tank and even then they tend to only come out for food.