Iam a newbie , what about having star fish ??

You should get a harlequin shrimp. Then you dont have to worry about your sea stars living very long. You get to look at them, and they serve a purpose.. One dies, then you buy another with a clear conscience. No sea star feeding necessary

 

Good to know. Mine is a Linkia. Keep the advice coming. I want to treat him right. I was told that he is reef safe and will not get too big for my 75. True??

 

The Chocolate Chip Starfish is a very popular starfish for fish-only aquariums. They are usually brown, tan, orange, or black in color with black thorns in the center of their disk, which resemble chocolate chips. These starfish are very hardy and eat algae and meaty foods. They should be fed regularly. Chocolate Chip Stars will spend the day cruising along rockwork and aquarium glass. They will often be seen climbing to the top of an aquarium and bending back an arm or two at the surface, but they will not crawl out of the aquarium. These starfish are very active and make great additions.They tend to eat corals, clams, and oysters.Starfish are intolerant of sudden changes in oxygen levels, salinity and pH of the water, and cannot tolerate copper-based medications. The drip acclimation method is highly recommended for all Sea Stars due to their intolerability to changes in water chemistry. It should never be exposed to air while handling.Echinoderms are central disc organisms that use tube feet or spines to move their bodies. Sea Stars belong to the Class Asteroidea. This is made up of Starfish that usually have five arms with hundreds of small tube feet called podia lined on the underside of each arm. These arms are shaped like triangles and are connected to the central disc. Each podia is equipped with a suction cup end that allows for ease of movement and to control prey. On the underside of this disc is the mouth of the Starfish. Some Stars will release their stomach out from this mouth to engulf their prey.

Funny, I've also exposed mine to air several times- what do I know?

 

CC can take up to a year to slowly starve to death. I'm curious. It's in your sump so how do you know if/what it's eating?

 

Well, there is some detritus I'm sure. At times, some food makes it down my intank overflow, and into the sump, expecially when I don't have the filter sock on my reverse durso on the intake. Also some algae (chaeto lights), and some chaeto. I see him every now and then, and he seems to be doing fine.

I got the idea from a fellow reefer on this forum.

Hold on, are you on the Sea Star Police? ;-)

 

Not the police just like to be educated. CC don't eat cheato and can get as big as 16" 1 reason why they don't make very good tank inhabitants.

 

Chocolate chip stars aren't reef safe, as you've discovered, Todd. They're one of the few that are hardy because they'll eat everything and anything, including corals and snails and whatever else they can catch. Most stars have very specialized diets and are very difficult to keep alive.

 

But apparently not this one! Difficult to keep alive that is.

16inches?

I'll give him away, or donate to the reef area of my local zoo if he gets to 8 inches diameter. Right now he's about 3-3.5 inches.
I saw him yesterday cleaning off my return pump.