Which Cold Water Starfish with Bimac?

[SharkPHD]

Hey everyone, I have two octopus setups, one Caribbean Reef and one Bimac. In the setup with the Caribbean Reef, I have a smaller Chocolate Chip Starfish which has been great at cleaning up the scraps left behind. That has kept the tank really clean and he leaves the Octopus alone (I have read the one horror story of the one that cornered a smaller octopus, but my star is smaller and they avoid each other).

In the Bimac tank, it only has the Bimac and a few tiny hermit crabs. I was trying to research a friendly starfish to add in with the Bimac to clean up after it. However, most starfish have a temp range of 72-80 degrees and I am running a chiller for the Bimac and the tank is at about 65 degrees. I am having difficulty even finding species of starfish that do well in a colder environment and was curious if anyone has any Starfish in their Bimac tank with a chiller to help get me started on which species to research?

 

[tonmo]

Using our Search feature, I'm seeing some successes with the chocolate chip starfish. An example (despite some other tank problems!) from way back in 2004:

setting up TANK FOR BIMAC , 240 gallons

its 8 feet long , 2 wide and 25 inches tall Is one inch deep sand bed ok and Are bimacs ok with several lbs of live sand mixed with southdown sand , or does this hurt them ? also how long do I have to wait till the tank cures to get one , he will abe a baby when i get him from...

tonmo.com

 

[SharkPHD]

Using our Search feature, I'm seeing some successes with the chocolate chip starfish. An example (despite some other tank problems!) from way back in 2004:

setting up TANK FOR BIMAC , 240 gallons

its 8 feet long , 2 wide and 25 inches tall Is one inch deep sand bed ok and Are bimacs ok with several lbs of live sand mixed with southdown sand , or does this hurt them ? also how long do I have to wait till the tank cures to get one , he will abe a baby when i get him from...

tonmo.com

Chocolate chip shouldn’t go below 72 degrees

 

[tonmo]

Got it - there are certainly a few positions on this, plus another one vehemently opposing:

Octopus tank mates

Is there anything else I can put in with a octopus (corals).

tonmo.com

Hopefully a resident expert / someone with experience will chime in here! I've also asked @octobot in the designated forum for ChatGPT experimentation:

Starfish with bimacs?

Hi @octobot, a question about starfish in cold water, cohabitating with bimacs: Hey everyone, I have two octopus setups, one Caribbean Reef and one Bimac. In the setup with the Caribbean Reef, I have a smaller Chocolate Chip Starfish which has been great at cleaning up the scraps left behind...

tonmo.com

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I am running a chiller for the Bimac and the tank is at about 65 degrees. I am having difficulty even finding species of starfish that do well in a colder environment

Finding a starfish for sale that has 65F in it's preferred temperature range that you can actually feed/keep responsibly is tough; for most species, 65F is either the high end or low end of their tolerated range (so they'll basically slowly die if kept at 65F, as it's either their summertime max temp or their wintertime min temp).

Pisaster giganteus could fit the bill, but it gets huge (up to two feet in diameter), so I can't recommend that one; I also can't responsibly recommend P. ochreus at this point as their wild populations are struggling a bit at the moment.

Honestly, the only species I feel I can actually recommend that I know are available for purchase are the Fragile Rainbow Star, Astrometis sertulifera, and the Brooding Snake Star/Dwarf Brittle Star, Amphipholis squamata. A. sertulifera is a true starfish (Asteroidea) while A. squamata is a brittle/serpent starfish (Ophiuroidea).

A. sertulifera reportedly feeds primarily on small crabs, though it is also said to eat sessile/slow-moving inverts like chitons, snails, clams, barnacles, brittle stars, and urchins. These can be purchased through Matsu Collections on the US West Coast.

A. squamata reportedly both deposit feeds (i.e. digs through sand to find food) and filter feeds by catching small particles out of the water column; as long as it gets enough quality, meaty foods with some algae mixed in, it should do fine (brittle stars usually aren't very picky comparatively). These can be purchased through Gulf of Maine Inc. on the US East Coast, but it's listed as Axiognathus squamata (an unaccepted synonym) on their site.

Because A. sertulifera may eat brittle stars, I wouldn't mix it with A. squamata. No guarantees either would mix well with a bimac, but if you give it a try, keep us updated how it goes.