Help! Blue Sea Star...

[bklynmet]

I have a Blue Sea Star that I aquired on the 2nd of this month. I acclimated it very slowly and put him in the tank. It took him until the 16th (2 weeks) before he moved from his initial hiding spot - though I did noticed he moved his legs from his initial position when I check on him.

This was a photo of him on the 16th after he came out... He wandered about a good deal that night and lost where he went - you have to sleep sometime...


This is him tonight (21st) - the first sighting since last thursday... He appeared sometime after lights-out three hours ago.
The white stuff i think is a grain or two of sandbed and bit or coralline algae.

Is this split in its leg normal? Is he a goner?? he hasn't moved much - even when shining a light on him. Dunno if he feeds through its legs or via a central mouth like the serpent stars I have. How much time should I give him? Does he need to be taken out of the tank to avoid polluting the tank - like a dead fish?

[johnb0184]

I think those are the sucker parts on his legs. Also, if he dies he will start to melt.

[Shawnts106]

You are aware of the complexity for this species???
Blue Linckia stars are almost impossible to keep in captivity without a HUGEEE reef tank with TONS of liverock!


they DO NOT last long in small reeftanks..

sorry to see you purchase such a delicate animal....

maybe now you wont make the mistake of purchasing something before researching it...

[RamPuppy]

not only a large tank, but a large MATURE tank.

[Shawnts106]

key word Mature....

[bklynmet]

Shawnts106 - coming down a little hard on me don't you think.. I try my darndest to make sure everything in my tank not only survives but thrives - to the best of my ability.
I did reasearch on it and found that if it survives the acclimation - it is a long-lived specimen. I did not find anthying specifying a large tank was essential - is 75 gallons tiny?

Now to the problem at hand - is this normal or the is he dieing and requuire removal so the rest of the tank does not get affected. Thank you.

Tank has been up since october of 2004 - I think it's mature.

[miztic]

out of curiosity, what exactly do they eat?

[bklynmet]

from my REASERCH, they're scavengers - eating detritus, algae, and miscro organisms - and occassionally will take tiny bits of meaty food such a clam or shrimp.

[miztic]

very cool creature, I hope yours does well, thanks for the info.

[bklynmet]

nevermind - got a search done and it appears that this is a precent to it dieing and should be removed to prevent fouling and killing the rest of the tank
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=229620

[mystikdragon7]

Originally posted by bklynmet
Now to the problem at hand - is this normal or the is he dieing and requuire removal so the rest of the tank does not get affected. Thank you.

Tank has been up since october of 2004 - I think it's mature.

You will know when the star is dying. Its body will start to melt and turn to mush, also its skin will turn into a white marshmellow apperance.

There's still a mystery on what exactly these linkias eat, no one really knows for sure. There has been good success not so much with huge tanks, but the amount of LR that is in your tank. Linkias do far better in tanks with ample amounts of LR for them to forage on.

How much LR do you have in your 75gal? 100lbs or more is really good,

[skippysmind]

The care level for blue linka stars are an expert only. The fish stores will not tell you this because they are a big seller. I don't see a problem until your fish, crabs, and snails start eating the star. The slit on his arm is actually the bottom side where his suckers come out.

[edwar050]

Well least you drip aclimated it properly which gave it a better shot than most see. Shawnts106 has seen much flack on RC before, pay no attention. I have read many things saying that say Linckia stars eat detritus and microscopic forms of algae. I don't think anyone currently really knows what keeps these stars alive.

[bklynmet]

Thanks edwar050.
I spent 6 hours acclimating the star knowing that the acclimation is what makes/breaks the deal with them injecting 2ml of tank water every few minutes with syringe...
I had been worried after introducing it because it stayed put in a cave in the LR but after 2 weeks in the tank - it moved out (after lights out) and put on a good 'show'.... Then it disappeared from view - underneath LR or something... but reappeared last night after lights out...

What makes an expert an expert? People that have posted comments on the star - have stated they require expert care. But after acclimation procedure - what other involvement does a reefer need to provide for them except stable tank parameters? b.t.w. the conditions in the tanks are very stable as it is lightly stocked and water changes are done weekly.. etc, etc.

There was a comment that I would need 100lb of LR in my 75g tank... the star requires 100lb of LR? can it thrive in less? or is the underlying point of stable and mature water parameters important?

For those people that actually have a blue Licknia
So do these stars only show their faces after lights out? What setup do you have them in - tanks size, LR ?
Thanks.

[cchoffman]

I have talked to people that keep them a long time and they will acclimate them overnight. Six hours is long for almost everything else, but it might be too short for Linkia starfish.

Use drip accilmation next time, less work on you. Set it up and leave it.

[efisher]

i have had my blue linka in my tank for about 1 year and believe it or not I only acclimated it for about 1hr. I have heard of people doing it overnight for 8 hours, etc. either I got really lucky or my tank is just right.

[bklynmet]

Originally posted by efisher
i have had my blue linka in my tank for about 1 year and believe it or not I only acclimated it for about 1hr. I have heard of people doing it overnight for 8 hours, etc. either I got really lucky or my tank is just right.

efisher - How does it behave? Come out during lights on or only after lights out? Ever taget feed it? I notice you have 120 lb of LR in a 60. Do you think that plays a role with your success with it? How did you acquire it? LFS or via 'mail'?

back to the acclimation topic.. IMO the success (or lack thereof) of keeping one healthy has a lot to do with how it's handled before it gets to your tanks plus the transition into your tank. You can only control one aspect - unless you collect it yourself from a friend or while out diving.

[wenright]

I am purchasing a blue linka for my tank tomorrow from a fellow reefer who is breaking down his tank to move. He has had this starfish for over 1 year in a 30 gallon tank with one small piece of LR. The only reason that I am purchasing the starfish is that it HAS been kept in captivity for over a year. What has it been eating?? The current owner does not know, but it's stayed alive and has grown...Go figure...It will be going into a 120 gallon established reef with 160# of LR and will be drip acclimated for no less than 6 hours. Wish me luck

[Lpabsolute]

wenright
Good luck with the star. I think that if it survives the move then it should be a great addition to your tank. I'm sure the star wont mind the extra tank space. Good Luck again........

[Buster4900]

I have a red linka star in my 100 gallon tank. I acclimated him for about an hour and still there six months later. He is fairly active during the day. Sometimes he sits in high flow area for many hours. Night time he is always in the same high flow spot. He spends most of his time on the glass and occassionally on the rocks and sand. I think I would leave him as long he is looking OK. Goodluck!

[bklynmet]

wenright - best wishes... wow 1 year in a 30g tank with little LR? goes against some of the earlier posts (where I don't know if they had a linka and were just commenting from what they've heard)... that's why I wanted to hear from people who actually had them in their tanks...

buster4900 - 1 hr? wow - makes my six hour acclimation seem drastic... thanks for posting...

i think there is good and balanced information being shared in this thread...

[Johnsteph10]

It is mostly a myth that there is a difference in the hardiness of most Linckia sp. - it almost always depends on the way it was shipped as the cheaper sp. are shipped much more poorly and thus tend to do less well in captitivity.

Linckia as a sp. tend to do fairly poorly in our reeftanks likely due to a number of factors.
1. We do not know what they eat. People say that they are omnivores/detritivores but in truth we don't know. That is why people say they need a big tank with lots of rock - chances are you would have enough of whatever in the tank to feed them.
2. They are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and salinity - that is why you need to slowly acclimate them (over hours and hours). That is also why you need a stable tank to prevent fluctuations.
3. They do not die quickly - most of the time it takes months and they slowly rot/wither away from the tips inward. We do not know if it is from starvation, poor shipping/stress, etc.

I truly believe that only experienced aquarists with adequate resources should attempt most of them - even then I have my doubts.

[bklynmet]

Thanks Johnsteph10... that tip on them rotting from tips inward is something I did not know until now and something I will look for...

if we share how they are thriving as well, we would know what to look for to see if they are 'happy' or just dieing a slow death...

[mystikdragon7]

Linkias will starve in your tank over a very long period of time. They will last in your tank for up to a year and even year and a half before they just die. Linkias have an extremly fast metabolism and will eat non stop. When the food runs out in the tank they will slowly eat themselves and eventually starve to death. That is why I said 100bls of LR is good becuase it gives them more to grave on since we don't know what thier diet really is.