Linkia eating my zoas?!

[mrpontiac80]

Ok so I know Linkias are more challenging to keep but they are still considered reef safe. I have a mixed reef and one of my fish is a foxface lo. After having him in the tank for a year now I have considered him to be a model citizen until a few weeks ago half the zoas on my island started melting or disappearing. I would come home and see flesh with no zoa heads or polyps. Then by day two or three that area would be gone.

fast forward to today. I got home from work and my linkia was spread over my AOI zoas. After about 5 hrs, he finally moved and that area of zoas look like the others. I’ll be surprised if the damaged area is not completely gone in a day or two.
I was almost ready to rehome my beloved foxface because I didn’t want him moving onto torches or something. But now I’m thinking it is the linkia. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? Here are some before and after pics starting with the AOI zoas that occurred today.

 

[mkereefer]

Ok so I know Linkias are more challenging to keep but they are still considered reef safe. I have a mixed reef and one of my fish is a foxface lo. After having him in the tank for a year now I have considered him to be a model citizen until a few weeks ago half the zoas on my island started melting or disappearing. I would come home and see flesh with no zoa heads or polyps. Then by day two or three that area would be gone.

fast forward to today. I got home from work and my linkia was spread over my AOI zoas. After about 5 hrs, he finally moved and that area of zoas look like the others. I’ll be surprised if the damaged area is not completely gone in a day or two.
I was almost ready to rehome my beloved foxface because I didn’t want him moving onto torches or something. But now I’m thinking it is the linkia. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? Here are some before and after pics starting with the AOI zoas that occurred today.

what other fish are in tank

 

[mrpontiac80]

what other fish are in tank

Foxface lo
Purple tang
Two spot Bristletooth tang
2 clowns
2 pj cardinals
2 bangi cardinals
Midas blenny
3 zebra darts
Melanurus wrass

Orange linkia star
Serpent star
Conch
The standard hermits and snails

 

[mrpontiac80]

So 24 hrs later, and sure enough, where the linkia was perched for 5+ hours now looks like the others did. In a day or two more I would not be surprised if the flesh in that area melts to show just rock.

has anyone else had issues with linkia starfish?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Honestly, if it’s actually a Linckia star - not a different genus mislabeled as a Linckia - then I’d say the odds are astronomically low that it is actually eating your coral on purpose.

From everything I’ve learned about these stars, it’s much more likely that the star is not actually a Linckia, that one of the fish is attacking the zoas, or that the coral is sick and the starfish is eating the bacteria/mucus on the zoas (there is a good chance this could irritate/harm the coral if that’s the case, but there’s no guarantee) than that the star is actively targeting the zoas. Not saying it can’t happen, but it’s like the odds of finding a carnivorous cow - extremely low odds.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[Lavey29]

My linkia lounges in my zoa patches constantly and never does any damage.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I can only assume it is a legitimate linkia. I purchased it from top shelf aquatics a few months ago and it is often on corals and does no damage, but the zoas have just started melting away and the only thing I know is they were doing great and then the linkia sat on them for a few hours and then I have half of the heads. I’ve always thought they were harder to keep but reef safe. Now the nirvana zoas don’t seem to care and I’ll be honest if it wanted to eat some of them to control the population it wouldn’t make me upset;)

 

[Lavey29]

I can only assume it is a legitimate linkia. I purchased it from top shelf aquatics a few months ago and it is often on corals and does no damage, but the zoas have just started melting away and the only thing I know is they were doing great and then the linkia sat on them for a few hours and then I have half of the heads. I’ve always thought they were harder to keep but reef safe. Now the nirvana zoas don’t seem to care and I’ll be honest if it wanted to eat some of them to control the population it wouldn’t make me upset;)

I've got those same nirvanas dang they grow like weeds

 

[Lavey29]

I can only assume it is a legitimate linkia. I purchased it from top shelf aquatics a few months ago and it is often on corals and does no damage, but the zoas have just started melting away and the only thing I know is they were doing great and then the linkia sat on them for a few hours and then I have half of the heads. I’ve always thought they were harder to keep but reef safe. Now the nirvana zoas don’t seem to care and I’ll be honest if it wanted to eat some of them to control the population it wouldn’t make me upset;)

Mines in the zoas today also

 

[firefighterj80]

I can only assume it is a legitimate linkia. I purchased it from top shelf aquatics a few months ago and it is often on corals and does no damage, but the zoas have just started melting away and the only thing I know is they were doing great and then the linkia sat on them for a few hours and then I have half of the heads. I’ve always thought they were harder to keep but reef safe. Now the nirvana zoas don’t seem to care and I’ll be honest if it wanted to eat some of them to control the population it wouldn’t make me upset;)

Any update on the starfish with zoas? I came home the other day to my red linckia sprawled across a 12 polyp Utter Chaos that has been exploding with growth. Looked at it this morning and only 3 polyps remain.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Any update on the starfish with zoas? I came home the other day to my red linckia sprawled across a 12 polyp Utter Chaos that has been exploding with growth. Looked at it this morning and only 3 polyps remain.

Wow I’d forgotten I even started this thread 2+ years ago! The linkia is no longer around as it passed away. A few months after this post (I think). I upgraded tanks and did a large transfer of everything plus new rocks and sand. Honestly I am not sure if the linkia died before or after the tank upgrade.

Looking back I still don’t know what the cause was. I know that sometimes zoas just melt. I feel like it probably was just not the cause but maybe the result of sick zoas or something. I will likely try one again in the future.

 

[firefighterj80]

Wow I’d forgotten I even started this thread 2+ years ago! The linkia is no longer around as it passed away. A few months after this post (I think). I upgraded tanks and did a large transfer of everything plus new rocks and sand. Honestly I am not sure if the linkia died before or after the tank upgrade.

Looking back I still don’t know what the cause was. I know that sometimes zoas just melt. I feel like it probably was just not the cause but maybe the result of sick zoas or something. I will likely try one again in the future.

Yeah I knew the thread was a bit old but yours was the only one I found in which a linckia was laying across zoas and then they died. My Utter Chaos were in amazing health and melted after the star was on them for a few hours

 

[mrpontiac80]

Yeah I knew the thread was a bit old but yours was the only one I found in which a linckia was laying across zoas and then they died. My Utter Chaos were in amazing health and melted after the star was on them for a few hours

That stinks. I mean fish that are reef safe can sometimes go rogue and we as people all like different tastes also so I do not find it impossible for a linkia to decide to eat something that most wouldn’t. But either way I found it very coincidental.

 

[firefighterj80]

That stinks. I mean fish that are reef safe can sometimes go rogue and we as people all like different tastes also so I do not find it impossible for a linkia to decide to eat something that most wouldn’t. But either way I found it very coincidental.

I'll keep an eye on it. Appreciate the responses