I agree that they probably do starve many times but if we are correct in the belief they're generalist feeders, why would it not be possible to feed them? Anthias constantly eat zooplankton in the wild yet we can maintain them in our aquariums. (I know those organisms are worlds apart in biology but my pont is that there are other constant feeders who can be kept in captivity).
It was just a suggestion. Try AI.....Not much more that I can say, other that I have been calling on thousands of aquatic stores for years and belong to many forums such as this and the mortality rate of these creatures is very, very high. It depends on a mature sand bed and in many/most instances, the aquariums are not "dirty" enough to sustain it, hence my position on the topic.
I understand and I wasn't saying you were wrong, only curious where your information was from and why you were sure that was the case and the cause of death isn't attributable to any other issue such as those I mentioned.
I get that and all I can offer is my own personal experience, those of the aquatic stores and importers that I have called on and what I have read.
IM in agreement that it's likely starvation in the vast majority of cases. The fact that this is a generalist feeder makes supplemental feedings MUCH easier than some other species.
Not sarcasm but you are suggesting that with the "proper" feeding, with "minimal" competition, they would do "fine". Perhaps that's why their mortality rate is so high - how many in the hobby can satisfy these conditions, or even care to do so ? This starfish will live 5-10 years in captivity, under the proper conditions but in the hobby, they slowly starve and waste away within a few months, or even a year or so; at least, that's my experience.
I think he's suggesting that he's not 100% certain either but logically if you provide the right food to any organism and it is able to consume the food it will not starve. Have you tried giving the the correct food without competition and found conclusive evidence starvation occured regardless? If so, I'd definitely begin looking deeply into the biology of starfish or echinoderms in general. Correlation doesn't equal causation.
Yeah, based on other species in the genus, these should probably do fine on on appropriately sized clams and/or other quality feeds.
That's pretty much what I was getting at with the post; when their needs are met, these "impossible" species do well enough to be aquacultured. So, it would seem that most hobbyists don't understand how to meet their needs (typically nutritionally), and that leads to frequent mortality - I'm assuming this is the case with these starfish.
Yeah, if the star is eating nutritionally appropriate foods in appropriate quantities for its size, then it shouldn't starve - so if it's being fed properly and it still dies, then I would look at other potential causes. At this point, I'm inclined to believe that the cause is feeding either nutritionally inadequate feeds or feeding in inadequate quantities, but I've yet to see someone report back on their success/failure after switching diets for the star, so I can't say for certain.
I have tried to keep them before and having been in the aquatic industry for years, am lucky enough to know many experts. I do not keep deep sand beds in my systems and what I have are not "dirty" enough and have concluded that I cannot adequately provide for their health.
Out of curiosity, how long have you had each, and do you do anything special to care for them?
Agreed! Some people get lucky but a majority of people aren't lucky long-term and in a 10 gallon tank a majority of things are even harder.
And why do you attribute all successful attempts to luck? Much more likely is that although they're not aware of what they are doing right, something is different that makes them successful in keeping them.
Do you have an idea why you have kept those starfish well fed? Can you tell me what it is they need to consume in order for nutritional requirements to be met? That would be groundbreaking because I'm unaware that any researcher in the world actually knows what a Linckias for instance specifically consumes and needs to keep it alive.
I've always got several brittle and serpents and think they breed-either that, or a ton of micro-brittles. The linckias, for 2-4 years or so, the marble for longer and the tile, several months. They are in a very heavily rocked 120 and I've had the rock for over 30 years, so a very mature system. I also overfeed everything, nori is in 24/7 and I do reg water changes. I'd add any other "reef-safe" that I can find.
I say luck because many stars including sand sifting stars eat too much compared to what a system can reproduce for them to eat and supplementally feeding them won’t always work. So what may work for one may not work for other and some people may get lucky. Every system is different and in a 10-gallon especially it will be impossible for the system to keep up with the amount of food they eat compared to the biggest tanks and even then it’s hit or miss for a lot of people. I don’t contribute all successful attempts to luck but a lot of them yes or the person is unaware of what they are doing and it wasn’t planned and they happen to get lucky as I think that is with many people keeping stars at least those who don’t know anything about them and don’t target feed them etc.
Ok, that sounds like a fair use of the word luck and I agree that if you don't know why you're able to keep something alive without doing anything differently than others I consider you to be lucky. If you are doing something differently on the other hand and have a reason beyond suspicion to believe that's the cause of your success I'd say you're more likely doing something right if you are able to explain how what you're doing solves what you believe to be the reason others have little success. For example, I believe that the reason I've been able to keep one of my Fromia indica starfish alive for well over a year despite such little success beyond 6-8 months is due to supplement feedings. The reason I believe this to help sustain them is due to tracking the weight of the starfish monthly. I initially noticed a sharp decrease in weight which indicated slow starvation. After tweaking the feeding regimen, however, there was a consistent gain in weight every month. That leads me to conclude that since only one variable was changed it is likely the reason for the weight gain. The same was observed with 2 others of the same species at the same time. It would seem incredibly unlikely that 3 individuals of the same species would react in the same positive way if it had nothing to with the 1 variable changed.
