[philolsen]

OK, I know that CC's are not reef safe and are oprotunistic feeders, but I now have one. My wife went out and bought it because she thought it was "cute", anyway it is now in the tank I am setting up as a sea horse tank, no ponies yet but it does have about 10 nass. snails, 5 black turbos, 2 mexican turbos and a sand shifter star. There is 1 purple whip gorgonia(Order octocorallia) ,1 yellow whip(Pteroogorgia citrina),1 purple frilly(Pterogorgia Spp) and a fan in there as well to serve as hitching posts when the ponies arrive next week. My question is how concerned should I be about the CC going after the snails (most of which are 1/2-3/4" at least) and the ponies as well as the gorgonia's?

[reseter5]

i have a big cc starfish like 7" .. it has a taste for purple tip aemones.. i have so many snails i cant tell if any are missing

[Frag Hag]

philolsen,

I would be more concerned for the invertebrates and gorgonias than the seahorses. The stars are too slow to catch the horses. I suppose they might have a better chance of getting their tube feet on the seahorses when they are hitched and sleeping, but not likely.

Still, I have a pair of seahorses and I'm not sure I would be entirely comfortable with the chocolate starfish in my tank. Although it's unlikely that the starfish will hurt the seahorses, I'd hate to add another aquarium corollary to Murphy's Law.

Is there any way you and your wife could take the chocolate chip starfish back to the LFS and choose something together?

Depending on the size of your tank, there are more suitable tankmates. Check out this link: seahorse.org - Tankmates


Shay

[philolsen]

Frag Hag

The problem I have is she is just starting to get involved, and knowing her the way I do, if I even mention bringing it back, well lets just say it wont be pretty. That is a great link by the way, I got some good ideas. The tank I am setting up is a 38 and I am looking forward to my first pony tank, I have several other tanks but this is my first attempt at ponies.

[leebca]

I'd say you have the makings of your spouse requesting you set up a new tank to house her 'cute' star.

The CC is a carnivore. It does and will eat snails if hungry enough. I have one and can vouch for that. It is fine for a FOWLR tank (which I run). When I feed the fish an opened clam I have to put it a ways away from the star. I've seen it 'dash' across my 180 gallon tank to cover the clam before the fish even finish eating it all.

It should be fed whole foods whenever possible (dead cut open marine fish; tiny anchovies; whole clam on the half-shell; dead shrimp; and my favorite whole food, hermit crab cracked from its shell! A piece of fresh scallop is a fine treat for it.)

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by philolsen

OK, I know that CC's are not reef safe and are oprotunistic feeders, but I now have one.

Good luck!

I have no personal experience with these because I have only kept reef tanks. I know from reading posts on the various reefkeeping bulletin boards over the past seven years that these stars will eat just about anything, including corals and even small fish. They are definitely NOT reef-aquarium safe.

This is one of the rare instances when the information given in one of the online vendors' websites is actually correct. Check it out!

Diet: Carnivore.
Feeding: It likes to eat. Eats meaty bits of seafood and detritus. Also will eat corals, anemones, urchins, crustaceans, small fish and anything else it can catch..
Behavior: The Protoreastor nodosus is generally aggressive toward other tankmates.