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02/27/2018, 03:22 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Posts: 366
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Please ID Sea Star - Reef Safe?
Local guy was shutting down his tank and gave me a number of his loved ones. One of them was this lovely orange sea star. He assured me it was reef safe. I could not pass on it.
Can anybody help me ID it and also let me know if it is reef safe? Thank you. |
02/27/2018, 03:32 PM | #2 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Maryland
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looks like a tile sea star.
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02/27/2018, 11:57 PM | #3 |
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Location: Prague, Czech Republic
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Thank you for the tip. While looking it up, I think I narrowed it down to Biscuit Sea Star. Here is a link:
https://australianmuseum.net.au/biscuit-sea-star Now the question is .... Is it reef safe? |
03/03/2018, 09:25 AM | #4 |
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I have seen these go for over $100 online. I've never had one, and at that price I probably never will, but I have seen them marketed as reef safe. Apparently they consume algae. I cannot confirm that with personal experience though!
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03/03/2018, 02:44 PM | #5 |
P. ceratophthalma
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Michigan
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They do not eat algae, they strictly eat sponges and it will slowly starve to death in a captive setting.
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03/03/2018, 02:52 PM | #6 |
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Our tank has plenty of random small thin layers of sponge(?) on the underside of stacked rocks.
Would that type be useful? Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk |
03/03/2018, 02:53 PM | #7 | |
P. ceratophthalma
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Michigan
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Quote:
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03/03/2018, 03:51 PM | #8 |
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03/03/2018, 06:09 PM | #9 |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA
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If you Google photosynthetic sponge there are several retailers that sell them. They come in red and blue/purple depending on your eyesight. 😀
They grow quickly in a shelving form similar to a monti. Our flame angel approves... I can't keep a yellow ball sponge, a red tree sponge or a blue vase sponge alive more than 2 weeks to a month. Regardless of the flame angel. Yellow/orange "elephant ear" sponge takes over a year to fully degrade. Even with the flame angel. Since you already have the starfish, a smaller sponge might not be a completely ridiculous expense? Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk |
03/04/2018, 12:27 AM | #10 |
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As I wrote in the original message, I got it from somebody that was shutting his pretty new tank - due to divorce.
I don't think he had any sponges in his tank. I have a whitish slime like sponges growing under my cliffs. They are pretty aggressive, but I doubt would grow fast enough. It found the sponge within an hour of me putting it in my tank and has been slowly moving through that area since. I live in central Europe and have not see any sponges for sale in local stores. I will contact other members and keep looking for sponges for it. |
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