HELP! Rescuing a linckia starfish

[mike550]

Hello! I found that my blue linckia starfish was missing one leg and another was partly gone. It looks like the starfish may be weak, so I moved it to my QT which is now acting as a rescue tank. My question for the group is what and how should I feed a starfish and what else can I do to help it recover?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Unfortunately its probably too late to save. Blue linkias are extremely temperamental and rarely survive in home aquariums. Once they start disintegrating its usually a death sentence.

 

[jeffchapok]

How old is your display tank? Linkia need a mature tank with a pretty good algae film to feed upon. If your tank is fairly new, that's probably why it's not doing well.

Chances are your QT tank is an even worse environment for it, as QT tanks usually tend to be "cleaner" than the DT. If that's your situation, I'd move it back to give it the best chance. But yeah, if it's that far gone already, the chance of it surviving is very small.

Also, try not to expose it to air when moving it. Keep it submerged at all times if possible.

I've never seen a linkia being supplementally fed. In fact, it's hard to see what they eat at all. Mine cruises the waterline of my tank 99% of the time, and there's very little visible there for him to eat. But he is surviving on something.

 

[mike550]

How old is your display tank? Linkia need a mature tank with a pretty good algae film to feed upon. If your tank is fairly new, that's probably why it's not doing well.

Chances are your QT tank is an even worse environment for it, as QT tanks usually tend to be "cleaner" than the DT. If that's your situation, I'd move it back to give it the best chance. But yeah, if it's that far gone already, the chance of it surviving is very small.

Also, try not to expose it to air when moving it. Keep it submerged at all times if possible.

I've never seen a linkia being supplementally fed. In fact, it's hard to see what they eat at all. Mine cruises the waterline of my tank 99% of the time, and there's very little visible there for him to eat. But he is surviving on something.

Thanks. My tank is around 2 years old and added the linckia a year ago. I figured it just scrounged around in the rocks, sand, etc. My plan B was to put it back in the tank in a protected “box” where it will get flow and put sand at the bottom. I can always feed a brine shrimp into the container.