Linkia Star Deteriorating!

gregghia

gregghia

Member
Here is a pic of my blue star. Its been doing well for first two weeks. Now one of the legs looks like its deteriorating. The tank has been struggling lately with cyano algea problems but could that be causing the problem? Not sure

There is nothing aggressive in my tank and the star seem healthy otherwise. Any ideas???
 
emm0909

emm0909

Member
How big is the tank and how much rock work do you have. A linka needs a 150 with plenty of rockwork to survive. This same discussion is going on in "My 46 Gal cleanup crew" thread posted today.
If you have a big tank with the necessary rockwork then I have no answers for you. I don't know them very well.
 
grabbitt

grabbitt

Active Member
Like emm0909, if your linckia doesn't have enough LR, it's not going to last long.
If this is the problem, you may want to consider returning him to your LFS.
 
gregghia

gregghia

Member
75 gal tank with 30 sump... good rock work but not alot! What is the significance of the volume of rock work?
What should I do. If its dying that may cause a spike in my DT? Give suggestions please..
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
can do a search, ophiura's always talking and warning about linkias. send her a PM and see if there's any hope. but if it deteriorates anymore i'd take it out of the tank.
 
peef

peef

Active Member
Hey I don't know a thing about star fish other than that they rejuvinate limbs. If it is deteriorating why not chop it off at the healthy spot return it to LFS and have them QT it. Might not give you a credit but at least it might live. If this is a stupid idea and wouldn't ever work please excuse my ignorance with star fish.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
deteriorating usually means it was acclimated wrong or (edited:) less than perfect water quality or wrong tank conditions (too small, not enough rock, not old enough system)
i think once they start deteriorating, it's going to be dead within a couple days. its not the limb that's deteriorating, the whole thing is dying and the limb is just showing it.
 
mmm33732

mmm33732

Member
not necessarily. i have a knobby star that started to deteriorate about 5 months after he was in the tank. not sure what caused it because it was always healthy. anyways, a leg started to deteriorate like that. it was like that for about 2 days, then started to heal up. after 4 days, it was back to normal. i believe i puffer i had at the time picked at him. either way, he healed up just fin in no time. that was about a month ago. perfectly healthy again. however, i had a blue linkia that died not long after i got it and it looked the same as yours. linkias are extremely sensitive, so my guess would be that yours is a goner. but what i was saying is that not all stars are done once that happens.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by mmm33732
not necessarily. i have a knobby star that started to deteriorate about 5 months after he was in the tank. not sure what caused it because it was always healthy. anyways, a leg started to deteriorate like that. it was like that for about 2 days, then started to heal up. after 4 days, it was back to normal. i believe i puffer i had at the time picked at him. either way, he healed up just fin in no time. that was about a month ago. perfectly healthy again. however, i had a blue linkia that died not long after i got it and it looked the same as yours. linkias are extremely sensitive, so my guess would be that yours is a goner. but what i was saying is that not all stars are done once that happens.

pretty much the whole post has been on linkias though. different stars are more hardy then them.
 
grabbitt

grabbitt

Active Member
In a 75G with little rockwork, that star will not last.
It needs at least 150 lbs of LR in a developed tank.
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
sounds like acclimation shock to me, typical when new stars are added to an existing system. contact ophiura she is the resident star specialist
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
If it is two weeks after introduction, it is acclimation. These need large mature reef tanks with PRISTINE water quality. What are your specific parameters? How did you acclimate?
If this was at 8-18months, it would be starvation.
But a new star - acclimation.
Specific gravity MUST be 1.025-1.026.
You can try taking a razor blade and making a clean cut and removing the dead part, but likely they damage is much more significant.
 
grabbitt

grabbitt

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
You can try taking a razor blade and making a clean cut and removing the dead part, but likely they damage is much more significant.
Poor star.. I'm glad I didn't make the same purchase when I first came across one.
 
gregghia

gregghia

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
If it is two weeks after introduction, it is acclimation. These need large mature reef tanks with PRISTINE water quality. What are your specific parameters? How did you acclimate?
If this was at 8-18months, it would be starvation.
But a new star - acclimation.
Specific gravity MUST be 1.025-1.026.
You can try taking a razor blade and making a clean cut and removing the dead part, but likely they damage is much more significant.

Water parameters that I know;
Temp 82
Nitrate/trite = 0
Ammonia = 0
Calcium 400+
SG 1.025 and consistent.
Using API test kits...
Someone suggestion I do a KH test for alk but never done that....
I acclimated one week in a nano tank that are same conditions jsut 1 degree warmer. The water is from the DT....
If I cut it with a blade am I not "hurting" it. Will it not react? I am not wuss but never cut a starfish....
 
althemean

althemean

New Member
gregghia said:
I acclimated one week in a nano tank that are same conditions jsut 1 degree warmer. The water is from the DT....
QUOTE]
isnt that more of a quarantine rather than acclimation? for acclimating something dont you typically "drip acclimate" for at least 2-3 hours
Click to expand...
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by althemean
Originally Posted by gregghia
I acclimated one week in a nano tank that are same conditions jsut 1 degree warmer. The water is from the DT....
isnt that more of a quarantine rather than acclimation? for acclimating something dont you typically "drip acclimate" for at least 2-3 hours

yes, by acclimation it is introducing the animal to the new water conditions. that means a SLOW drip acclimation for 3-4 hours for linkias. putting it into one tank then another, i doubt the star was acclimated to both tanks.
 
gregghia

gregghia

Member
Oh sorry.. that is what I did. I float the bag for a good 2 hours to get the same to temp. Then I put the star in a bucket in the water from the store. I used a smal tubing line wiht a a drop per second drip to introduce DT water. I took the star from the bag to bucket without ever leaving water. It sat in the bucket at least a few hours. Then I transfered it to the DT and put it into a high not very brightly lit area with little flow.....
 
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