Orange Likias

acez28

Member
Would these be okay with a choco Chip Star. My Choco star is kept well fed and is only about an inch. I have him in the tank with a smaller condy anemone that he could easily eat and a bigger condy that he prolly couldnt. Just wondering if adding him to the tank would he be ok with the choco. I know that choco chip stars will eat smaller starfish and other things but i actually havent had any problems with mine at all. Would it be worth the risk.
 

ophiura

Active Member
All Linckia require large mature systems with lots of LR. The minimum age for the tank is 6 months old, and, IMO, a minimum of 100lbs of LR for this species. Unlike your chocolate chip star, they can not be spot fed and are quite delicate. They only feed on things growing on LR, which your chocolate chip will also graze on. That is competition, which is bad for these stars.
There is the possibility that if your chocolate chip is not kept well fed, that it may eat the Linckia.
Unless tank parameters are pristine, a Linckia will not do well. Most will die in 9-12 months, of starvation, if they survive the first month after acclimation. Acclimation should be about 4 hours, using a drip method, with care being taken to keep the temperature in the acclimation container at tank temperature.
In short, this seastar is far more delicate than a chocolate chip. They do far better in large, mature reef tanks. I do not suggest they go into anything smaller than a 55 g minimum, and this is pushing it. You have the tank size and about the right amount of LR, but I definitely do not suggest they be kept with pufferfish (common predators in the wild). Still, if the tank is mature, with top notch water parameters, there is a chance. Just remember they are more delicate, and sometimes have very poor survival records overall.
As a guide, specific gravity should be 1.025 - 1.026, all other parameters pristine (amm, nitrite, nitrate all 0).
 
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