Bob the Starfish

[Formulator]

Bob works hard in the cold all night and likes to take a load off by the heater when he’s off the clock :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

Before anyone jumps to lecture me about the Linckia’s viability in the home aquarium, I have been considering one for several years and have done significant research on the subject. The tank is 9 years old, I’m dosing silicates, and have a great supply of sponges in the tank (if they do actually eat those). I hope to learn more about the creature and sincerely hope to have some success, or at least beat the average, considerably. If not, I will not try again.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the humor and I am definitely open to suggestions on husbandry!

 

[jonelder68]

:rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:!!! Wishing you good luck with Bob

 

[jcmjoe]

Bob is cool!

 

[cdemoss01]

Linkia right?

 

[Formulator]

Linkia right?

Yep

 

[JohnnyReef13]

Bob works hard in the cold all night and likes to take a load off by the heater when he’s off the clock :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

Before anyone jumps to lecture me about the Linckia’s viability in the home aquarium, I have been considering one for several years and have done significant research on the subject. The tank is 9 years old, I’m dosing silicates, and have a great supply of sponges in the tank (if they do actually eat those). I hope to learn more about the creature and sincerely hope to have some success, or at least beat the average, considerably. If not, I will not try again.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the humor and I am definitely open to suggestions on husbandry!

Wow! Blue Linkia! Nice! How do you take care of it?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Is he hugging a heater?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Looks like the heater is in the way of the TV! Little dude is LOUNGIN'

 

[Formulator]

Is he hugging a heater?

Hes kind of wedged himself in the corner with 2 legs hanging over the bracket/magnet that holds my heater to the glass. There is some space between him and the titanium of the heater itself. Though I was worried about injury when I first saw him there, he has since moved on to graze elsewhere.

I just thought the photo was funny because with only a tiny bit of imagination it looks like a dude sitting on a ledge, possibly warming up his yonder parts :face-with-tears-of-joy:

 

[PharmrJohn]

Its a great pic. Definitely put it up for POTM Nov!

 

[Formulator]

Its a great pic. Definitely put it up for POTM Nov!

Haha, thanks! Not a bad idea! Maybe I will do that… Even though it took zero effort from the aquarist :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[JoJosReef]

Go home, Linkia, you're drunk!

 

[Formulator]

Wow! Blue Linkia! Nice! How do you take care of it?

Extreme stability and nutrient control are the first prerequisites. Unfortunately, we don’t know a whole lot about what they eat, and a vast majority starve to death within the first year. Most of what we know is anecdotal, but there have been a few scientific studies and publications on the subject.

Large, very mature tanks with lots of live rock seem to be preferable. Most folks agree that they seem to graze on the biofilm of hard substrates as well as sponges. Some have reported success with dosing silicates which facilitates sponge growth in the tank and may even be important to the star’s metabolism.

Even the hobby’s “successes” with these stars are generally significantly shorter than the star’s natural lifespan and probably only a handful of aquarists have kept specimens alive longer than 3 years, despite a natural lifespan that is likely in excess of 10 years. I hope to study my new creature during his life in my tank and with any luck make some contribution to our understanding of their husbandry. This will be a one time endeavor for me as I still think we have a long way to go before we will be able to provide adequate care to support a full life in our tanks. Maybe someday though. Maybe not. I’m a scientist and I’m driven by exploring the unknown. I just can’t not try this once…

Here is one of the best summary articles I have found. While it is somewhat outdated, not a whole lot has changed in our understanding since the article was written.

Rob Toonan, Aquarium Invertebrates: Sea Stars — Linckia spp.

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

Extreme stability and nutrient control are the first prerequisites. Unfortunately, we don’t know a whole lot about what they eat, and a vast majority starve to death within the first year. Most of what we know is anecdotal, but there have been a few scientific studies and publications on the subject.

Large, very mature tanks with lots of live rock seem to be preferable. Most folks agree that they seem to graze on the biofilm of hard substrates as well as sponges. Some have reported success with dosing silicates which facilitates sponge growth in the tank and may even be important to the star’s metabolism.

Even the hobby’s “successes” with these stars are generally significantly shorter than the star’s natural lifespan and probably only a handful of aquarists have kept specimens alive longer than 3 years, despite a natural lifespan that is likely in excess of 10 years. I hope to study my new creature during his life in my tank and with any luck make some contribution to our understanding of their husbandry. This will be a one time endeavor for me as I still think we have a long way to go before we will be able to provide adequate care to support a full life in our tanks. Maybe someday though. Maybe not. I’m a scientist and I’m driven by exploring the unknown. I just can’t not try this once…

Here is one of the best summary articles I have found. While it is somewhat outdated, not a whole lot has changed in our understanding since the article was written.

Rob Toonan, Aquarium Invertebrates: Sea Stars — Linckia spp.

Research determined that their primary food source consists of biofilm decades ago. This doesn't seem to be a topic of debate in the research community. The majority of starfish species are known to feed on alternative sources of food in absence of their preferred source but their primary source of nutrition is pretty well established. The question of what components of biofilms contribute to meeting nutritional requirements hasnt been determined to my knowledge, but biofilms have been well documented to be their primary source of nutrition. That aspect of their biology isn't quite as much of a mystery as is commonly believed.

 

[Formulator]

Research determined that their primary food source consists of biofilm decades ago. This doesn't seem to be a topic of debate in the research community. The majority of starfish species are known to feed on alternative sources of food in absence of their preferred source but their primary source of nutrition is pretty well established. The question of what components of biofilms contribute to meeting nutritional requirements hasnt been determined to my knowledge, but biofilms have been well documented to be their primary source of nutrition. That aspect of their biology isn't quite as much of a mystery as is commonly believed.

Interesting. If you can point me to any of that research it would be greatly appreciated! I did not come to the same conclusion in my own research on the topic.

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

Interesting. If you can point me to any of that research it would be greatly appreciated! I did not come to the same conclusion in my own research on the topic.

Id start by reading the book "Echinodern Nutrition"...again, i'm not denying that they've been documented to feed on alternative sources of food, but biofilms are the primary source. I imagine in your research, you've come across a paper published in the 70s in which it was observed that the no marks were left on coralline algae the starfish grazed on, which indicates that prior research that concluded they fed on the coralline algae itself was inaccurate. Although speculation on my part, it would seem inconsistent to believe that they would reject alternative food sources offered by countless aquarists if they had a natural inclination (or lack of preference for food source) to feed on a wide range of foods available in the wild. Exhibiting generalist feeding behaviors seems to be due to a lack in availability of their preferred source of nutrition.

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

I absolutely wish you success. However, the primary flaw I tend to find in the idea of a tank being suitable due to size, age, live rock, etc. is the fact that the composition of biofilms is extremely variable and practically any environmental factor can change its composition very easily.

 

[Formulator]

I absolutely wish you success. However, the primary flaw I tend to find in the idea of a tank being suitable due to size, age, live rock, etc. is the fact that the composition of biofilms is extremely variable and practically any environmental factor can change its composition very easily.

Hey, I appreciate your insights and will definitely check out the book you recommended. Perhaps my efforts will be proved futile, but the journey will be enjoyable and I will try my hardest to learn something new about the creature during his time in my tank.

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

Hey, I appreciate your insights and will definitely check out the book you recommended. Perhaps my efforts will be proved futile, but the journey will be enjoyable and I will try my hardest to learn something new about the creature during his time in my tank.

I truly do hope it does well and learning from anything is always a plus!