Blue Linkia Help!

[TISLE]

So around Thanksgiving I ended up deciding on trying a blue linkia and bought one off LiveAquaria with a fish order. I acclimated it 5 hours, exposed it to no air and transfered it via my hand in a plastic bag. My tank is 8 years old with ALOT of liverock for a 75g in my opinion. I have a Vass array of biodiversity loaded in these rocks. When I first added him he moved around for roughly 3 weeks but about a month ago he went into a certain cave and rarely moved. I thought he found a very concentrated area of a food or biofilm in the cave for him to enjoy and I didn't notice any issues of deflation or decay. About 5 days ago he moved out of the cave to a perch above it and I noticed 1 of his legs is somewhat decayed.

Overall the rest of him seems ok, and no deflation besides that arm seems visible. I've read about arm amputation, but I don't want to stress him even more. I also have an SPS dominant tank, and don't want to leach something into the tank that's going to cause alot of issues. Does anybody have more knowledge of this subject or thoughts what I should do. At this point there's no way I'm pulling him, but I'm seriously keeping an eye on him.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,lets get some help here,they can be tough to keep,hopeful just diet may help?? do think if progresses fast,clean cut leg off ,in water w razor blade.jmo ,best wishes. #reefsquad ??

 

[P-Dub]

Likely a bacterial infection. They are very sensitive to parameter changes or if parameters are not in-line with NSW. Could you tell us all your parameters? Also, are you carefully monitoring temp, pH, and salinity? It will need those stable, in particular.

 

[rkpetersen]

I don't want to be a debbie downer, but when a blue linkia starts to to show damage like this, it's probably going to die. Cutting the arm off won't help, because it's likely not a problem with just the arm. Linkias have a terrible terrible survival rate in home aquariums; they generally can't get enough of what they need to eat to survive, and are very sensitive to condition changes as already mentioned.

 

[TISLE]

Yeah thats what I figured sadly. I tried to do exactly what I read online is the best way possible when acclimating etc... Ive read about how tough they are so I wanted to give it a shot. Im just going to keep an eye on him and hope for the best. I feel as though if I cut off his arm, I could seriously instigate things and maybe even push him off the edge. I also know how finicky these things are and Im somewhat worried about him dying and polluting the tank.

Would arm aputation be viable if that arm seriously starts to rot off?

Also - any thoughts on when I should pull him if the time comes? Is there a defacto visual or instance that signifies that its either completely dead or about to completely die? I appreciate all the input everyone!

 

[TISLE]

Also my tank runs a tad higher than NSW. My Alk stays around 9-10 more near 10, Calcium runs higher at 460, PH usually 8-8.3, Mag at 1350, 1.025, PO4 and N03 arent detectable in Hanna or Salifert tests but come up in ICP tests. I don't run super low nutrient but I do run somwhat low nutrient. I dose ESV 2 part and Red Sea ABCD. Acropower on Thursdays. Maybe the low nutrient could be factoring in as well?

 

[P-Dub]

Maybe the low nutrient could be factoring in as well?

It is possible. It's clear that the critter is not in peak form. If you have a LFS, they might be able to find a suitable home for him? Just spitballing. Hate to see it die if it doesn't have to.

 

[hds4216]

It is possible. It's clear that the critter is not in peak form. If you have a LFS, they might be able to find a suitable home for him? Just spitballing. Hate to see it die if it doesn't have to.

Changing parameters with a new tank would just compound the situation imo

 

[P-Dub]

Changing parameters with a new tank would just compound the situation imo

That's possible too. But some chance in the face of certain death is better than no chance.

 

[rkpetersen]

Also - any thoughts on when I should pull him if the time comes? Is there a defacto visual or instance that signifies that its either completely dead or about to completely die? I appreciate all the input everyone!

When I've seen more than one arm start to disintegrate (usually from the tip), they never recover.
Fromia species stars, also gorgeous and reef safe, are also ridiculously sensitive and prone to dying suddenly in home aquariums.
On the flip side, a dead sea star produces very little in the way of water pollution and no toxins. If one dies and you miss it, it won't destabilize your tank.

 

[TISLE]

Would like to throw a little input on this thread since its been a while. The Linkia is still in the tank. For a little bit he seemed like he didn't want to move at all for weeks. About a week ago he started moving again from a deep cave that he was in for a while. His arm - from what I can tell - seems almost 100% healed. Im not sure how it happened and from what I can tell its somewhat rare for them to bounce back. Ill try to grab a picture at some point but hes in a spot now where its somewhat tough to see his full 5 legs. My thought process is he has alot of biofilm and sponge in my tank to scavenge. I also upped my nutrients in this system. Was running pretty low. Now have around 5ppm Nitrate and .02 Phosphate. Still low but nonetheless different. Thought Id input this though. Hopefully when he moves again soon Ill try to get a good shot of his arms etc...

 

[Coolinmn55]

How’s he doing?

 

[TISLE]

Hes a trooper. Moving around on the glass in the mornings and usually all over the rocks during the day. He seems like he's at full health. It's a little over the 6 month mark that he's been in the tank now.

 

[TISLE]

Also I dont know if this is helping or not but Ive been buying Phytoplankton in bulk from a reefer on R2R and dosing 30ml per day into the tank. I started to around December and have been upping the amount since. Could that be one of the factors in helping the linkia recieve food from the water column thus increasing its ability to repair in the home aquarium? Who knows but thought Id put that out there.

 

[TISLE]

1 Year Update with this dude in my tank! Going strong! Here's to another year and many more. Though they may be hard to keep I think he's one of the coolest organisms in my tank by far. I also included a full tank shot