linckia starfish

[CherryBlossom]

Just got this guy about a week ago, he seems happy and cruising the tank a lot...

Who all keeps these and what do you all do to keep them happy and healthy?

Today mine seems to look bigger and has little feelers coming out all over him? Looking for food?

Him today

Him a few days ago

 

[atlorange]

Nice.

 

[CherryBlossom]

Thanks!

 

[powdermonkey]

I would suggest you do some reading on them. Oh, and dont get to attached.

 

[CherryBlossom]

I did tons of reading also talked to a few people... Just wanted to see what others were doing with theirs :)

 

[tyler1503]

Looks happy :)
They move more when they're hungry and generally need a large tank to support enough food for them. If you see him moving all over non stop you may need to add something for him to eat. Most stars can eat meaty foods like mysis, although the herbivorous ones may need some nori to munch on. I personally have never feed nori to a star, so I can't comment on how well it works, or if they even accept it easily. It's just something I've heard. I've fed my stars mysis and squid an they love it, although they were predatory stars.
The little feelers on his underside are just has many, many "legs" :) he walks on these.
Yours looks happy and healthy.

 

[powdermonkey]

I did tons of reading also talked to a few people... Just wanted to see what others were doing with theirs :)

Nothing but the best of luck to you and the linckia! Hopefully yours was collected properly.

 

[mOnsterzOas26]

Beautiful !

 

[CherryBlossom]

Thanks Tyler & monsterzoas26... He seems to cruise my rock work were I have a lot of live mysis or brine shrimp, I've been reading some people try crab meat to feed theirs?

I've been feeding frozen Mysis as well

Powdermonkey, I trust my local Fish store, their shipments are pretty good, this is my second time with one... This one now seems a lot healthier , the first one I had was small and died right away

 

[NC2WA]

cherry,

there are two things that are crucial for them to survive long in captivity: constant pH and salinity levels...they will NOT tolerate large pH or salinity swing well at all..

otherwise they do not last long in captivity, less than a year. :(

 

[CherryBlossom]

Thank you NC2WA for that information

 

[Eienna]

If memory serves, orange linckia are usually not linckia at all, but rather fromia. You might want to look into that.

 

[CherryBlossom]

It's red not orange ...

 

[Eienna]

It's red not orange ...

Lol - silly me XD sorry about that. Same story for the reds.

 

[tyler1503]

I'm no expert on starfish, but linkia sounds about right. Linkia will have very rounded tips and Fromia generally have slightly more square or triangular tips. They also have a different texture, linkia looking smoother. Like I said I'm no expert, that's just my experience, which is very limited.

 

[Tahoe61]

Looks like

View Linckia guildingi

 

[NC2WA]

linkia or fromia, my reply applies to both :)

 

[Esage]

cherry,

there are two things that are crucial for them to survive long in captivity: constant pH and salinity levels...they will NOT tolerate large pH or salinity swing well at all..

otherwise they do not last long in captivity, less than a year. :(

That's not true. I have had my blue linckia for a year and half. If you get lucky and get one that was collected properly and acclimated properly throughout its trip, they can pretty hardy once acclimated to your tank.

 

[Tahoe61]

That's not true. I have had my blue linckia for a year and half. If you get lucky and get one that was collected properly and acclimated properly throughout its trip, they can pretty hardy once acclimated to your tank.

Yours is the exception to the rule. The slow die off of the majority of Linckias indicates a nutritional issue, starvation. Even a properly collected and healthy individual will starve in tanks not long established or not large enough to meet their dietary needs. There are no hard based facts regarding what specifically they do eat and what you can give them as a substitute. Even Liveaquaria list them as difficult.

Saltwater Aquarium Starfish for Marine Reef Aquariums: Linckia Sea Star, Blue

Congratulations on keeping yours so successfully.

 

[rworegon]

I have a rather large Linckia. Has light blue spots on it. I've had it for about 6 months. At one point it had some sort of injury and I thought I might loose it. But it recovered and has returned to its former glory. I think I read somewhere that they will eat some film algae and maybe corraline algae. Myne seems to alternate between cruising and resting. Sometimes on the glass and sometimes on the rocks.