Blue linckia starfish

[ThisCityIsDead]

I was planning on adding a linckia starfish to my tank, but I was reading online about them and saw that the care level is difficult. I was once told they were pretty easy to maintain. Is this true?

The source I saw the difficulty level is in liveaquaria.com

[cloak]

The success rate of these stars is actually pretty grim IMO. There diet always seems to come into question, and a large tank is usually recommended.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/5/inverts

[snorvich]

They are not easy. I agree with cloak.

[Sk8r]

Absolutely. They're pretty for a couple of weeks, then they start to starve and slowly die in a very unattractive, sad demise. People with tanks over 100 gallons and several-year-old reefs may manage, but not a new tank. They are alleged to be film-eaters.

[ThisCityIsDead]

What starfish do you guys recommend for a reef tank 75G

[m0nkie]

have you considered a small Red Sea Star? they are fairly small. mine is 1.5", grow as big as 3". I have one in my tank and it's been doing well for 4 months.



http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...578&pcatid=578

[OllieDog]

Originally Posted by ThisCityIsDead

What starfish do you guys recommend for a reef tank 75G

Get a serpent sea star or a brittle.

[ThisCityIsDead]

Aren't the serpent ones a danger to corals and shrimp?

[ThisCityIsDead]

Originally Posted by m0nkie

have you considered a small Red Sea Star? they are fairly small. mine is 1.5", grow as big as 3". I have one in my tank and it's been doing well for 4 months.



http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...578&pcatid=578

I wasn't aware of these! I actually prefer the red or orange!

[ReefsandGeeks]

+1 on the serpent or brittle. I gave the red fromia seastar a try because I rarely saw them a my LFS and they got a smaller 1.5-2 inch one in. I took him home and aclimated for 6 hours and put on my live rock. He never touched the air. He moved very slowly, maybe 6 inches or so a day. I tried feeding him everything I had but of course He ddn't accept anything. After a few weeks his back side looked like it was picked at, and the next day he started to disintegrate.

Not to say they can't be kept, but a large mature tank is required in hopes that it's diet is abundant enough to suport it. I've heard anywhere from 100-300 gallons minimum. Being that mine didn't move much in search of food, I'm not sure if my tank didn't have it's diet or if it was maybe something else. I wouldn't try another personaly though unless I got a much larger tank than I can afford right now

[Gandolfe]

I had a blue star and the peppermint shrimp I had in my tank at the time killed it. I have serpent stars in my mixed reef tank and recently bought an orange serpent.as long as you feed them some shrimp or algae wafers every once in awhile they don't bother anything and you actually very rarely see them. Stay away from green brittles, they are notorious fish killers!

[ReefsandGeeks]

I tried finding a brittle star for my tank last weekend and not one LFS in houston had one. I called 8 places, and one had the green kind. Luckly I didn my research before hand and didn't go pick it up.

I picked up a fighting conch and I asked the store empolyee if they ever got brittles in and he said no because they have nowhere to house them. He said they eat fish and climb out of the tank. That's the first bad thing I've heard about any brittle other than the green kind though

[Sk8r]

Its the green serpent star that eats fish.

I'm experimenting with a sand-sifting sea star in my sump: unfortunately they can grow over 5" wide.

[jonwright]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Absolutely. They're pretty for a couple of weeks, then they start to starve and slowly die in a very unattractive, sad demise. People with tanks over 100 gallons and several-year-old reefs may manage, but not a new tank. They are alleged to be film-eaters.

At LFS I found a little red linkia. They said he'd eat algae etc. He lasted a few months then started to shrink and his skin peeled away (I was also rather new with a saltwater tank so it's possible I messed up the chemistry as well).

After I got him I did the research then wished I hadn't picked him up. I'd put down an algae wafer and he'd go right over it.

After that I stopped just taking LFS advice when getting a critter. He was cool and roamed all over the tank.

[m0nkie]

Originally Posted by jonwright

At LFS I found a little red linkia. They said he'd eat algae etc. He lasted a few months then started to shrink and his skin peeled away (I was also rather new with a saltwater tank so it's possible I messed up the chemistry as well).

After I got him I did the research then wished I hadn't picked him up. I'd put down an algae wafer and he'd go right over it.

After that I stopped just taking LFS advice when getting a critter. He was cool and roamed all over the tank.

there's a few threads showing linkia star fish eating asterina starfish. pretty cool. I want to give linkia starfish a try someday. Right now I'm just waiting for my asterina star population to increase.

[jonwright]

Huh - missed that. I had some asterinas but I got rid of them as when I searched on them folks seemed to generally consider them pests.

[m0nkie]

ya.. quite a few threads on it. I don't know if all Linkias eat them..

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1745175

[Pomacanthus1]

Originally Posted by m0nkie

there's a few threads showing linkia star fish eating asterina starfish. pretty cool. I want to give linkia starfish a try someday. Right now I'm just waiting for my asterina star population to increase.

Very interesting. I added a blue linckia to my old 55g after it had been up and running for several years. That tank had a lot of good LR and a noticeable population of asterina starfish. I never saw the linckia eating asterina or remember any threads talking about that back in the day. The thing lived for a few years before I had to tear down the tank, and even grew a bit in size if I remember right.

[cloak]

I think a linckia eating an asterina starfish is more of a fluke than anything else. Maybe the linkia was just trying to eat the "biofilm" ON the asterina star and it just got caught up in the mix. FWIW, I've seen an elegance coral eat a small nassarius vibex snail just because it was going after the small piece of shrimp I was feeding it.
I'd love to see pictures like the ones above being reproduced again. JMO.

[ThisCityIsDead]

I'm thinking of getting the red small star. My tank has only been running for 3Mo. But it has algea... Lots.

[Dankrencisz]

my Linckia is eating my Emerald crab. Or at least it appears to be.

Mine lost two of its legs but they are growing back already. Got it in May of this year into my 3 month old tank. He routinely cruises the tank and the glass and doesn't bother anyone. So far so good.

[Jhuneke]

I added a big blue linkia when my tank was 4 months old, then an orange .. ( when I was noob and took my Lfs word for it ) but I guess mine is 'dumb' luck.. I've had them both for 3 yrs.. In a 60g and now recently a 90g. I guess no rule is hard and fast

[Dummyforclownfi]

So what is the general consensus as to when a tank is actually ready for a starfish if the tank is over 100?

[Betta132]

Originally Posted by ThisCityIsDead

I'm thinking of getting the red small star. My tank has only been running for 3Mo. But it has algea... Lots.

The starfish in question does not eat algae exclusively. It apparently eats bio-film, which is the coating of organisms that grows on every surface in a MATURE tank. 3 months is not mature. It doesn't matter how much algae you have, the starfish needs bio-film and you probably don't have enough present.

[ThisCityIsDead]

I assume it all comes down to the quality of the tank and how starfish is acclimated. I had a sand sifting starfish, that did well for about 2 weeks. I did a water change and moved a rock. I wasn't aware it was stuck to a rock. I pulled that rock out to move things around and 20 mnts later, I noticed the starfish was on the bucket facing down. It didn't make it.