cantbstopd
Member
you seem to be the expert on sea stars, so i have a question. what is the "normal" life span of a star in an aquarium? i have a marbled star and was just curious
.....thanks
ophiura ?
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ophiura
Active Member
Linckia, Fromia, etc - the reef safe seastars like I suspect you have - have a dismally short like in aquaria, with few making it beyond a year to 18 months. This is due both to acclimation issues, and the fact that they are typically kept in unsuitable tanks in which they slowly starve.
All of these stars need very large tanks with a lot of LR in order to stand any chance for survival. Though we don't know exactly how long they live - the scientific debate has been over whether they ever die of "old age" as we know it. They live far longer than they do in captivity.
Non-reef safe stars can easily be kept for many years.
I have brittlestars that I've had for 6 years easy and I would anticipate keeping them indefinitely so long as the tank stays OK.
All of these stars need very large tanks with a lot of LR in order to stand any chance for survival. Though we don't know exactly how long they live - the scientific debate has been over whether they ever die of "old age" as we know it. They live far longer than they do in captivity.
Non-reef safe stars can easily be kept for many years.
I have brittlestars that I've had for 6 years easy and I would anticipate keeping them indefinitely so long as the tank stays OK.
cantbstopd
Member
thanks...i have a fromia. I have had it for :thinking: 2 years now. Today i came home to it laying in the bottom of the tank with the bottom of its "legs" facing up. so i picked it up and it didnt seem to move very well
. so i got some of an algae sheet and placed it directly under it's mouth area, and it hasnt moved yet. hope its ok
ill check it again in the morning and see if its actually holding on to the rock.......is there anything i might do to help it? thanks again....
cantbstopd
Member
yeah ive definitly had it for at least 2 years, maybe more. 2 years for sure though. all of my salifert test kits are due to reach the expiration date this month, so i dont really want to rely on them to much but this is what i came up with this morning. temp 75.7 cold front just went through so its chilly. NH4 .25, NO2 0, NO3 2, Ca 500, Alk 2.9, Ph 8.2, Salinity 1.023 (little low), PO4 0, silicates 0. The ammonia, calcium and nitrate are all salifert test and about to expire, so i think ill hit the lfs and have them test later today to be sure
. is there a big difference between 18 and 24 months to a star in an aquarium? :notsure: just curious.....to me its not that big of a difference, but im not a sea star in an aquarium either
thanks for the help