Red Linkia Starfish Survival

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I may have found a way to keep linkia stars alive. I’ve tried and failed a couple times. My last addition was 3 months ago and he’s growing and doing well.

I’ve caught him eating asterina stars over three times now and I think that may be a great food source to keep them going!

Let me know your thoughts!
 
That does add to the possibility of keeping them long term.
I do know that they feed primarily on microorganisms and detritus found on live rocks. Most of the success stories I have read state they do better in a larger aquarium with ample live rock to graze on. In reading that, I gathered that smaller systems just don't have the biodiversity to sustain a Linkia long term.
 
That does add to the possibility of keeping them long term.
I do know that they feed primarily on microorganisms and detritus found on live rocks. Most of the success stories I have read state they do better in a larger aquarium with ample live rock to graze on. In reading that, I gathered that smaller systems just don't have the biodiversity to sustain a Linkia long term.
My system is 200 gallons
 
Look online. There are a handful of users sharing pictures of their blue linkias consuming asterina stars.
 
Oh I have a pic from the other night.

IMG_9061.jpeg
 
Look online. There are a handful of users sharing pictures of their blue linkias consuming asterina stars.
interesting. i went with harlequin shrimp (pick up saturday) didnt even know this was a choice...
 
I have had amazing success with my Blue Linkia and I don’t have any asterina stars in my tank. Not sure what I’m doing lol but he is surviving and growing.
How established is the system and what do you feed?
 
My system was started in Dec. 2024. I feed benepets and reef roids on rotation 2 times a week. I also do AB+ and newly added Ion reef fuel 1 time a week and rotate now. I have a massive amount of copepods added. I also feed 1 cube of brine shrimp and 1 cube of mysis shrimp daily.

Daily Nitrates test are always between 10-15
Alk is around 9-10.1.
Phos 0.01
I don’t test mag or cal.
IMG_4263.jpeg
 
Just to quickly add my two cents on this topic:
Yeah, they'll eat Aquilonastra ("Asterina") stars, sponges, tunicates, etc. They're thought to be biofilm eaters in the wild, but - as you've noted - they'll occasionally scavenge for food too:
Yeah, some people believe that the "Asterinas" (technically Aquilonastras) the Linckias eat allow their stars to survive in their tanks - I've suggested people may want to try farming them to feed their Linckias as a result. They likely do also eat tunicates and sponges, as those tend to be bacterial sinks (so they'd basically replicate biofilm for the stars to feed on).

Genuinely glad to hear they're doing well for you - please keep us updated on how it goes, as most of the time I've heard these stars typically die off around ~8-13 months in our tanks (though I've heard of them making it to ~2-3 years if there are Aquilonastra stars in the tanks with them - they seem to basically wipe the Aquilonastra population out after/around that time).
One important thing to keep in mind with foods for these guys - just because they eat it, doesn't mean it's meeting their nutritional needs; it might be, but it might not be. With how long it seems to take these guys to starve, unless you're monitoring their health closely, you might not notice if it's not meeting their needs until it's too late.

Some ways to potentially gauge the health of the starfish that may be useful:
1 - Visual: is anything visually wrong with the specimen? (From what I know of starfish, these cues are generally pretty obvious if they're there at all - if the starfish is disintegrating, there's something wrong). [Edit: you may also be able to tell if the star is looking lean/gaunt or full/puffy; gaunt is generally not good.]
2 - Weight: is the specimen putting on or maintaining weight (generally healthy), or is it losing weight (under most circumstances, this would be unhealthy)?
3 - Size/Length: if it's not already full size, is the specimen growing? Is it shrinking (either from weight loss, disease, limb loss, etc.)?
4 - Reproduction: is the specimen engaging in reproductive behaviors/activities (i.e. courting, nesting, spawning, etc.)? (I recognize this one is not as common of an indicator in captive starfish at this point, but there are a few instances of starfish attempting to spawn in captivity).
5 - Longevity: is the specimen relatively close to meeting, actually meeting, or exceeding their expected wild lifespan (or at least surviving for a few years - healthy), or is the specimen dead/dying prior to doing so (unhealthy)?
6 - Speed: how quickly can the specimen right itself when it's flipped over?
7 - Level of activity: how much is the specimen moving around? (Generally speaking, low activity indicates poor health; moderate activity indicates good health; and high activity indicates good health but probable stress - it could be searching for food, oxygen, etc., but it's probably not in terrible health when moving a lot).
8 - Grip strength: does the specimen have a strong hold/grip with its tube feet? (A strong grip indicates good health, a weak grip indicates poor health).
9 - Willingness to eat: is the specimen eating? (Seems obvious, but can be really hard to tell with some stars - some stars leave little trails called feeding scars through the things they're eating; sometimes you can see their everted stomachs; other times, like if they're feeding on biofilm, you may not be able to tell at all - them crawling onto visible food is a good sign they're willing to eat, but - as mentioned above - the food may or may not meet their nutritional needs).
Linckias will eat sponges and Aquilonastra starfish (known in the hobby as Asterina starfish), and the tanks with them are typically the ones I see with stars hitting ~4 years
In addition to the diet above, the below may play a role in survival too:
That may, yes - starfish can absorb nutrients through their skin, so that may play a role:

"The nutritional intake of sea stars has been found to be a dual process of epidermal absorption of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from seawater and oral consumption (Bamford, 1982). The ability to absorb DOM through the epithelium is not unique to sea stars, but shared across many marine invertebrates (Gomme, 1982). Larvae and adult sea stars have the ability to selectively uptake neutral amino acids without the aid of bacteria, but the presence of bacteria within the sub-cuticular layer of sea stars might assist or compete for DOM (Manahan et al., 1983; Applebaum et al., 2013)."*

*Source:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6099117/
 
Just to quickly add my two cents on this topic:


In addition to the diet above, the below may play a role in survival too:
Accidentally posted early:
Blue Linckias can be kept on Aquilonastra stars for a time, yes (they usually drive the Aquilonastras to extinction/near extinction within a few years and then starve though). For people determined to keep them, I usually suggest trying to farm Aquilonastras, sponges, and tunicates to feed the stars (but at this point, I still don't recommend keeping them; the longest I've seen them live even with these food sources is like 4-5 years).

Yeah, in addition to the fact that they seem to be starving, I question the 10 year lifespan for two reasons:

1 - there aren't any proper studies I can find on their actual lifespan in the wild (so the 10 year thing seems to be a guess).

2 - while they grow fast as juveniles/larvae, they seem to only grow ~2.4 mm per year as adults; given that they become adults (i.e. sexually mature) at ~50 mm at ~2 years old, that would seem to indicate to me that they would live closer to 23 years in the wild.* [Edit: I should say here, that 23 years would be until the stars grow to the average adult size of ~96.6 mm; the largest star found in the study was 133.0 mm, so they could potentially live for ~38 years at the max size I've seen listed.]

To add to this, even if they did only live a decade, keeping one for just 1 year - very few people are able to keep them for more than ~13 months - (and having it slowly starve to death that whole time) when it comes in at 5-7 years old and has 3-5 years left in the wild seems like something I personally wouldn't call successful.

Regardless, as mentioned, the ones that survive shipping (which a lot die before they ever reach our tanks) are slowly starving to death in our tanks and are definitely not thriving - if they were thriving, we'd see spawning behavior and many stars living more than a year - so I can't personally view it as humane to keep them at the moment.

Personally, I currently recommend against trying to keep a tropical, true starfish (Asteroid) species, particularly biofilm-feeding species, except for Aquilonastra stars.

That said, if you're really determined to try keeping them anyway, I'd strongly suggest setting up an Aquilonastra farm, a cryptic refugium to farm sponges, and possibly a colonial tunicate farm as well (all of these should be separate from the Linckia's tank so they can't get to the farm and ruin the "crop") - the Linckias feed on these (they presumably emulate biofilms to some degree), and the most successful Linckia keeping I've seen have always involved at least one of these aspects (typically the Aquilonastra stars).

With Aquilonastra stars alone, I've seen people keep them 2-3 years; with the cryptic refugium sponges involved too, the longest I've heard is ~4 years. Still not good by my calculations, but arguably acceptable if they really only live a decade.

For those who are truly determined to keep true starfish against my recommendation, here are some signs to watch for to help track starfish health:

And a final note on starfish keeping:

*Source:
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5093827.pdf

Just remember to keep the Aquilonastra away from the sponges and tunicates too.
Edit: Apologies, I was going to organize this into my first post to make it more coherent.
 
While I understand your excitement, I doubt that they can survive on an alternative food source long term. The difference between their natural food source and asterina stars is significant to say the least.
 
I have had amazing success with my Blue Linkia and I don’t have any asterina stars in my tank. Not sure what I’m doing lol but he is surviving and growing.
How long have you had your linkia star,,, just out of curiosity?
*seems like 8-12 months then disintegration is common for those of us who think it'll work but just don't have enough of whatever to sustain them (long term)

P.S. I've only tried one fromia and that's what happened to me,,, other than chocolate chip star that's indestructible but coral destroyer (obviously)
 
How long have you had your linkia star,,, just out of curiosity?
*seems like 8-12 months then disintegration is common for those of us who think it'll work but just don't have enough of whatever to sustain them (long term)

P.S. I've only tried one fromia and that's what happened to me,,, other than chocolate chip star that's indestructible but coral destroyer (obviously)
I wouldn't call any true starfish indestructible. Your chocolate chip would have probably lived a good bit longer in the wild with its natural food source. They are forced to shift their diet in captivity.
 
I wouldn't call any true starfish indestructible. Your chocolate chip would have probably lived a good bit longer in the wild with its natural food source. They are forced to shift their diet in captivity.
Fair enough -- I meant they will eat and survive for some number of years on foods we can easily feed them as necessary. MUCH hardier than any reef safe star that I know of.
 
Fair enough -- I meant they will eat and survive for some number of years on foods we can easily feed them as necessary. MUCH hardier than any reef safe star that I know of.
They do seem to be far hardier than the vast majority, especially biofilm feeding stars.
 
My system was started in Dec. 2024. I feed benepets and reef roids on rotation 2 times a week. I also do AB+ and newly added Ion reef fuel 1 time a week and rotate now. I have a massive amount of copepods added. I also feed 1 cube of brine shrimp and 1 cube of mysis shrimp daily.

Daily Nitrates test are always between 10-15
Alk is around 9-10.1.
Phos 0.01
I don’t test mag or cal.
IMG_4263.jpeg
No offense, but half a year is not what I would consider success for a captive organism, especially linkia that seem to fall off just before the one year mark

I think it would be at least a year for an organism or longer for long lived species
 

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