Blue linkia starfish

[Bakerrr1010]

woke up last night looked like my starfish was a little curled up. Woke up this morning was in the same spot and one leg has a white mucus and inside of it looks messed up I took it out put it in my quarantine tank. Can I cut a leg off. I did a water change yesterday. Added a little extra salt water mixture close to him last night. Did I burn him?

 

[NanaReefer]

You sure didn't help by pouring new mix close by. Starfish are very sensitive to changes in parameters and temps. Linka's are not an easy Starfish to keep long term.
Sounds to me as if it may be starving.

 

[aviator]

Hello
What happend to your starfish?
I had one , then died like a wood

 

[dbl]

Have to agree with @NanaReefer. I've tried two Linkia's (red and blue), at different times, and found them very sensitive to any swings. Both did great for about 6 months and then just withered away. As much as I like them I'm thinking they are not well suited for long-term aquaria which is unfortunate because they are beautiful creatures.

 

[byars73]

One of the most difficult inhabitants I've ever tried

 

[Naiad]

Should only be tried in very large and stable tanks.

 

[byars73]

They are pretty sweet though lol

 

[cloak]

I think I may have made a mistake with a Linkia. I went to my LFS a few weeks ago and they had this beautiful orange one for $14. My tank is only 20 gallons, but it's been set up for about 7 years so I figured what the heck. I bought some nori and have tried feeding this at night, but no dice yet. I've also tried NLS pellets and beef heart and the starfish doesn't seem to interested in these either. I'm hoping it will eventually come around and start eating something, but I'm seriously starting to think about giving it to a fellow hobbyist in my area with a much larger/stable tank and see what happens. Wish me luck.

 

[Naiad]

I think I may have made a mistake with a Linkia. I went to my LFS a few weeks ago and they had this beautiful orange one for $14. My tank is only 20 gallons, but it's been set up for about 7 years so I figured what the heck. I bought some nori and have tried feeding this at night but no dice yet. I've also tried NLS pellets and beef heart and the starfish doesn't seem to interested in these either. I'm hoping it will eventually come around and start eating something, but I'm seriously starting to think about giving it to a fellow hobbyist in my area with a much larger/stable tank and see what happens.

I would be very worried. These guys are film eaters. What exactly they eat is still a mystery. It might be bacterial or microscopic organisms. I have never heard of one being sustained on prepared foods. I really don't see a 20 gal being able to support one.

 

[Naiad]

The biggest problem imo is these stars need a dirty tank with clean water... kind of an oxymoron. They love to feed on detritus, bacterial films, and decaying matter. However high nitrates are poisonous to them. Sooooooo you need a large tank that has the water volume to handle being dirty. Unlike their cousins they should NEVER be exposed to air. @cloak has a very beautiful star that shows no sign of oxygen burns. If I would try one this is what I would look for.

 

[cloak]

Yeah I know, I'm just hoping this will turn out to be a success as opposed to another horror story. I have seen plenty of pictures of these stars eating nori of veggie clips on sites like this and others so there's definitely still hope. Depending on where it's at in my tank I might cut the pumps and pipe down some live black worms in it's path. Maybe this will stick. Anyways, I'll give it another month or so and if it doesn't come around I'll probably give it away to somebody else.

 

[Mike in CT]

I almost picked one on impulse. I am glad I didn't because they seem impossible to keep and probably should not even be imported.

 

[Naiad]

Yeah I know, I'm just hoping this will turn out to be a success as opposed to another horror story. I have seen plenty of pictures of these stars eating nori of veggie clips on sites like this and others so there's definitely still hope. Depending on where it's at in my tank I might cut the pumps and pipe down some live black worms in it's path. Maybe this will stick. Anyways, I'll give it another month or so and if it doesn't come around I'll probably give it away to somebody else.

Try letting the food get ripe outside of the tank for an hour or so before feeding the star. I really think the stars prefer more rotten foods. He may ignore it while he has his version of live foods in your rank.

 

[Bakerrr1010]

Hello
What happend to your starfish?
I had one , then died like a wood

The day decided to cut the two legs off too try to void off the infection I picked it up and was more limp than ever so I needed up putting it in my freezer unfortunately. I realized anyways it's not good for my reef tank it was knocking corals and frags over