mr.clownfish
Active Member
how mature does the tank have to be for one of these amazing beautiful creatures? are they hard to take care of? i am totally obsessed.
blue linkia starfish Question.
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mr.clownfish
Active Member
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novahobbies
Well-Known Member
I'm hoping Ophiura chimes in here, but the gist of what she usually says is this:
They are extremely delicate, requiring a 90+ gallon tank with 100+ lbs of live rock, VERY mature. Pristine water but with some algae growing on the rocks, that sort of thing. And even then it's not a sure thing. I tried one back in the day in my 55g (I know, I know...) with no success. I've had my 110g running for about a year now and I admit...I'm tempted. I want one, but I can't shake the feeling that maybe they're better off left in the ocean.
They are extremely delicate, requiring a 90+ gallon tank with 100+ lbs of live rock, VERY mature. Pristine water but with some algae growing on the rocks, that sort of thing. And even then it's not a sure thing. I tried one back in the day in my 55g (I know, I know...) with no success. I've had my 110g running for about a year now and I admit...I'm tempted. I want one, but I can't shake the feeling that maybe they're better off left in the ocean.
cherylann
Member
Blue Linkia eat a microalge and they constantly eat so when it has found and eaten it in your tank, if you have any, it slowly starves to death. I have never heard of any substution foods that work. I really wish fish stores would stop selling them, but I guess everyone has to have their blue linkia I know I did.
t316
Active Member
Originally Posted by cherylann
http:///forum/post/3156754
Blue Linkia eat a microalge and they constantly eat so when it has found and eaten it in your tank, if you have any, it slowly starves to death. I have never heard of any substution foods that work. I really wish fish stores would stop selling them, but I guess everyone has to have their blue linkia I know I did.
In a new tank, this might be the case, but I doubt that my BL ran out of food to eat...
There's a little more to it IMO.
http:///forum/post/3156754
Blue Linkia eat a microalge and they constantly eat so when it has found and eaten it in your tank, if you have any, it slowly starves to death. I have never heard of any substution foods that work. I really wish fish stores would stop selling them, but I guess everyone has to have their blue linkia I know I did.
In a new tank, this might be the case, but I doubt that my BL ran out of food to eat...
t316
Active Member
Originally Posted by cherylann
http:///forum/post/3156859
I find it strange that you have a habit pointing out whats wrong with someones opinion, yet you rarelly offer any help just negativity.
I'll be glad to elaborate in any/all posts that you are referring to cherylann. Please specify what exactly you are referring to, and I'll fully offer any help you need dear...
If you feel "shot down" about your previous post, don't be. If you are going to stay on this forum very long, you will need to grow some thicker skin. My point is that your answer might be true in the case of a new tank. But, tanks of any age to them, starvation cannot be the cause of death as you have described.
http:///forum/post/3156859
I find it strange that you have a habit pointing out whats wrong with someones opinion, yet you rarelly offer any help just negativity.
I'll be glad to elaborate in any/all posts that you are referring to cherylann. Please specify what exactly you are referring to, and I'll fully offer any help you need dear...
If you feel "shot down" about your previous post, don't be. If you are going to stay on this forum very long, you will need to grow some thicker skin. My point is that your answer might be true in the case of a new tank. But, tanks of any age to them, starvation cannot be the cause of death as you have described.
t316
Active Member
Got anything for me cherylann...
Here's a link to all my posts...
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/sear...archid=3848843
Here's a link to all my posts...
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/sear...archid=3848843
bryce.martin23
Member
ive heard the same thing about these blue linkas, and just as stated before, i to wish that stores would stop selling them because its almost certain death for these animals. I admit, ive had one of these starfish before because of the pure bueaty of them but it only made it for about 4 months, eventually it will just die. From what i heard, is that there are two major things these starfish die from. One being that they starve to death becuase we dont offically know what they eat in captivity and two, water quality must be emaculent, and being completly honest, even i dont watch my water that closley, think about water evap, you lose X amount per day, do you replace water daily or do you do it once a week. then when you do add your top off water, do you pump it all in at once, or do you drip it in overnight. Everything we do effects the balance of somthing in our tanks.
mr.clownfish
Active Member
Originally Posted by bryce.martin23
http:///forum/post/3156906
ive heard the same thing about these blue linkas, and just as stated before, i to wish that stores would stop selling them because its almost certain death for these animals. I admit, ive had one of these starfish before because of the pure bueaty of them but it only made it for about 4 months, eventually it will just die. From what i heard, is that there are two major things these starfish die from. One being that they starve to death becuase we dont offically know what they eat in captivity and two, water quality must be emaculent, and being completly honest, even i dont watch my water that closley, think about water evap, you lose X amount per day, do you replace water daily or do you do it once a week. then when you do add your top off water, do you pump it all in at once, or do you drip it in overnight. Everything we do effects the balance of somthing in our tanks.
wow u are soooooo right about the water top off!
that would also change the PH level a bit.
why did they have to be so delicate!!
are all the linkias the same or is it only the blue one?
http:///forum/post/3156906
ive heard the same thing about these blue linkas, and just as stated before, i to wish that stores would stop selling them because its almost certain death for these animals. I admit, ive had one of these starfish before because of the pure bueaty of them but it only made it for about 4 months, eventually it will just die. From what i heard, is that there are two major things these starfish die from. One being that they starve to death becuase we dont offically know what they eat in captivity and two, water quality must be emaculent, and being completly honest, even i dont watch my water that closley, think about water evap, you lose X amount per day, do you replace water daily or do you do it once a week. then when you do add your top off water, do you pump it all in at once, or do you drip it in overnight. Everything we do effects the balance of somthing in our tanks.
wow u are soooooo right about the water top off!
that would also change the PH level a bit.
why did they have to be so delicate!!
are all the linkias the same or is it only the blue one?
t316
Active Member
Originally Posted by Mr.clownfish http:///forum/post/3157086
wow u are soooooo right about the water top off!
that would also change the PH level a bit.
why did they have to be so delicate!!
are all the linkias the same or is it only the blue one?
The BL is not only popular with people b/c of it's color and beauty, but they are supposed to be reef safe. The water issue would normally only come into play in examples such as "large" water changes. Topping off shouldn't make that much of a difference unless it's a massive amount all at once. But even with the right water quality, and the right size tank, keeping them around for 12-18 months seems to be about all most people can get out of them. I thought I was doing everything right (tank size, acclimation, putting extra food underneath him, params, etc) but still no luck.
Here's a very detailed write up from Ophiura about stars...
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/180772/iotm-seastars-part-i
wow u are soooooo right about the water top off!
that would also change the PH level a bit.
why did they have to be so delicate!!
are all the linkias the same or is it only the blue one?
The BL is not only popular with people b/c of it's color and beauty, but they are supposed to be reef safe. The water issue would normally only come into play in examples such as "large" water changes. Topping off shouldn't make that much of a difference unless it's a massive amount all at once. But even with the right water quality, and the right size tank, keeping them around for 12-18 months seems to be about all most people can get out of them. I thought I was doing everything right (tank size, acclimation, putting extra food underneath him, params, etc) but still no luck.
Here's a very detailed write up from Ophiura about stars...
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/180772/iotm-seastars-part-i
ophiura
Active Member
Really let's start with the OPs specific tank params. Age, amount of LR IN THE TANK (sump doesn't matter), specific parameters, inhabitants, etc.
In general:
1 year old reef tank
100G minimum
150 lbs of LR minimum
Ideal reef parameters
The specific diet of these stars is really not well known but it is clear that they do best in very large tanks with a lot of high surface area LR for grazing. If this correlation is true, then they do not specifically eat algae or detritus, both of which can be grown/available in immature tanks in abundance. People often quote them as eating "algae or detritus" so that is misleading in many ways. When people hear "algae" they think hair algae or similar. Quite likely they feed on the microscopic fauna and encrusting things like certain species of sponges, bryozoans, etc.
What is clear is that in general they can not be spot fed.
Success is measured at one month and at 18 months. IMO, if you haven't kept the star 18 months (any Linckia or Fromia or even sand sifter FWIW), there is no success. Knowing the general metabolism of these stars, that is usually they point where they have digested away their internal structures, then begin to basically melt away.
Most will die of osmotic shock within a month of captivity/introduction. Many others will die over the course of the next year or so...of starvation or lack of proper diet.
Large reef tanks (300G) with huge amounts of LR really seem to be ok. So they can be kept in the right system.
In general:
1 year old reef tank
100G minimum
150 lbs of LR minimum
Ideal reef parameters
The specific diet of these stars is really not well known but it is clear that they do best in very large tanks with a lot of high surface area LR for grazing. If this correlation is true, then they do not specifically eat algae or detritus, both of which can be grown/available in immature tanks in abundance. People often quote them as eating "algae or detritus" so that is misleading in many ways. When people hear "algae" they think hair algae or similar. Quite likely they feed on the microscopic fauna and encrusting things like certain species of sponges, bryozoans, etc.
What is clear is that in general they can not be spot fed.
Success is measured at one month and at 18 months. IMO, if you haven't kept the star 18 months (any Linckia or Fromia or even sand sifter FWIW), there is no success. Knowing the general metabolism of these stars, that is usually they point where they have digested away their internal structures, then begin to basically melt away.
Most will die of osmotic shock within a month of captivity/introduction. Many others will die over the course of the next year or so...of starvation or lack of proper diet.
Large reef tanks (300G) with huge amounts of LR really seem to be ok. So they can be kept in the right system.
ophiura
Active Member
As an aside, there is a very high mortality in seastars coming into the hobby, not from exposure to air or disease (as people think) but due to adapting to synthetic salt mixes (which are rather different in concentrations that natural sea water) and in artificially low specific gravity.