lutz123 February 19, 2014 Share February 19, 2014 In my kpaquatics order yesterday they added a pink micro basket star. He is happily snuggled in the purple sea plume he shipped on for now. As I read, that's typical for juveniles. Anyhow, hints on feeding would be much appreciated. I know they are very difficult to keep, and as this guy has a body maybe a third of an inch (guessing less than 2 inches including legs.). Normally, I feed frozen mysis twice daily and add cyclopeez a couple of times a week. Feel free to make suggestions if you see the need. As for the tank, it's in a 34 gallon solana AIO, running just a return pump with good flow, no skimmer or physical filtration. 2 seahorses, a jawfish, live rock, halimeda, toadstool algae, added two big chunks of chaeto yesterday, a few gorgonians, 2 cynarina, 3 spiral corals, urchin (plus a bb sized baby urchin), serpent star, snails, a hermit, hitchhiker sponge crab, tree sponge, and some microbrittles. So yeah, some competition for food. I really just need to start a build thread so I don't need to rehash the description every time. And have I mentioned how much I love kpaquatics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 February 19, 2014 Author Share February 19, 2014 No one? No surprise since they aren't really recommended. I will pick up some coral food. I just don't want to overfeed the tank with something that won't be beneficial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 February 20, 2014 Share February 20, 2014 Have a picture of yours? I believe that they are specialized feeders (different species have different diets and needs) and it depends on their structure. My limited understanding of them is that most feed on zooplankton and are somewhat fliter feeders so you'll need to provide lots of current and plenty of food suspended in the water column. I know they are related to brittle stars but are far more difficult to maintain because of their specialized feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbowdeep88 February 20, 2014 Share February 20, 2014 I had some at one point. they seemed to prefer to open up at night for feeding and always positioned themselves in an area of high lateral flow. they would also open up at feeding time during the day. i think i remember reading that they "filter feed" as davelin suggests. aparently they strain out particles and roll them into bite sized pellets as they pass them down their arms. fascinating to watch them do this. sad to say mine lived 2-3 months which means they probably just slowly starved to death. the tips of their feathery arms would start to fall off and that was the beginning of the end. For your little guy i would say probably not mysis, maybe cyclopeeze, probably smaller is better like coral frenzy or rwef chilli? or a few squirts of water from thawed food. i think their care can be imagined similar to a NPS Gorgonian. in other words not the 2-3x/weekly feedings i was attempting to make work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 February 20, 2014 Share February 20, 2014 This thread is seriously old, but has some posts from people with experience- http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/general-invert-forum/60494-basket-starfish-care.html Personally, I would start with micro particle food and/or tiny food like the cyclo and/or nutramar ova. Maybe even use selcon as that can be a filter feeder food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyCallMeMr.703 February 20, 2014 Share February 20, 2014 I always thought they were Very Interesting...,following.... I just worried about it feeding, which has kept me away from it ATM. Very Cool, Pics?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 February 20, 2014 Author Share February 20, 2014 Thanks. I will see if I can get a decent picture today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 February 20, 2014 Author Share February 20, 2014 It's twisted, but you can see a couple of the dots from the top of the central disk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w February 21, 2014 Share February 21, 2014 I'd try to get a positive identification before you decide what type of food it needs. I've also heard that different species feed on different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 February 21, 2014 Author Share February 21, 2014 Thanks. I hadn"t done the obvious thing which is to email Phillip and see what they said. They added them to the website and it's apparently Astrophyton muricatum, which I suspected but couldn't find a similar picture. The article below describes juveniles exactly like mine. It's interesting that the coloration is so similar to the gorgonian as juveniles, but changes as they move on. Hopefully it's a slow grower - they get huge. It extended it's arms when I was squirting cyclopeez on it yesterday. Hopefully that will do until I can pick something else up. http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bocas_database/search/species/1149 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 March 7, 2014 Author Share March 7, 2014 In case anyone is interested, this basket starfish has turned out to be very easy to feed. It is fine with cyclopeez or even a whole frozen mysis. Coral slurry type foods are okay but I think it prefers larger morsels. I know they are all different so I can only speak for this type, and who knows what it's preference will be if it survives to even half of max size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w March 8, 2014 Share March 8, 2014 That's great news. From what I heard they are very hard to keep alive. Congratulations for getting it to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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