Need help with Blue Starfish

scoreboard

New Member
I have had a blue star in my tank for about 1 month and seemed to be doing fine. Now he has white spots on his body and just lost a tip on the end of one arm. Any info would be great. :needhelp:
 

jacknjill

Active Member
was it a blue linkia star? if so they have horrible, absolutely dreadful survival rates in home aquariums. what are your tank levels. what size tank, how much rock, how did you acclimate the star and for how long.
 

maurice

Member
Has your S.G. changed any,I have heard that they are very weak to the s.g. changes in a tank,other than that i wouldn't know.I hope everything works out for him.
 

sw65galma

Active Member
Unfortunaltey it's suffering from osmotic shock...Salinity changes..this usually happens within the first month. They usually die within the first year from starvation.
Survival is minimal...
There isn't much you can do except make sure you SG is 1.026 and all water parameters are perfect.
Sorry to say the star will most likely die
 

scoreboard

New Member
I have a 55 gallon tank with 65 lbs of live rock. Just happened very quickly, my tank did increase about 84 degrees one day when my A/C was out ( usually about 79 avg.) S.G. ranges from 1.021 to 1.022 and is fairly consistant but I do have a lot of evaporation.
Should I take him out of the take, I don't want him to kill my tank?
 

elvictre

Member
I would leave him for now and see if he recoups. I have a blue linka for over a year and he is doing great, but my first one died after one month also.
Vic
 

jacknjill

Active Member
in a reef or any tank with inverts you need to have the sg should be at least 1.025 and as stated above about 1.026 for a blue linkia. it is also reccomended to have at least 100 pounds of liverock
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
Your sg is too low for the star. Star adding saltwater as your top water and bring the sg up. I think she says 1.025.
But yeah, they need LOTS of lr, thier diet is unknown. I'd leave him in there, and SLOWLy bring up the sg. Try to spot feed him, I hear they won't, but maybe you'll get luckly.
 

sw65galma

Active Member
Originally Posted by Sinner's Girl
Your sg is too low for the star. Star adding saltwater as your top water and bring the sg up. I think she says 1.025.
But yeah, they need LOTS of lr, thier diet is unknown. I'd leave him in there, and SLOWLy bring up the sg. Try to spot feed him, I hear they won't, but maybe you'll get luckly.
It's 1.026, but whos counting
 

ophiura

Active Member
Your specific gravity is FATALLY low for this star. This is a characteristic death from acclimation shock which occurs within a month of introduction to a tank.
Most Linckia species stars DO NOT take to spot feeding. This should not be counted on. If you are lucky, you're VERY lucky...I would try to spot feed, but the overwhelming majority show no interest at all.
A blue Linckia requires the following, IMO, to have a chance of survival. Most do not survive more than a year, and success for less than a year should be taken with this in mind: it takes a healthy wild caught star around 8-12 months to STARVE TO DEATH. With no obvious signs of problems.
Necessary:
- Minimum 6 month old tank with PRISTINE water parameters (esp low nitrates, specific gravity 1.025-1.026, stable pH around 8.3, proper alk and calcium.
- Minimum 100g, but more importantly 150+ lbs of LR. Again, MOST CAN NOT BE SPOT FED and need LR to feed on.
- LONG slow acclimation, via a drip method...but if the specific gravity is too low it won't matter too much, IMO.
I am afraid there is little that can be done for this star, other than to hope it last long enough for you to try and get specific gravity into a suitable range (which should take several days at least). Even then, most of the damage has already been done, and it is unlikely, IMO, to recover from this.
Linckia and Fromia stars have very specific needs. Most are not suitable for this tank size range, IMO, and will not last for more than a year to 18 months.
 
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