Anyone have an orange linckia starfish?

[sk8rreefgeek]

I've had one for two days now. Just curious about their general behavior. He doesn't move very much. But in the morning he's in a different spot. yesterday 2 of his arms were coiled a little bit at the ends, like fists (right after the lights went off). It looked pretty funny actually, but I'm hoping this isn't a bad sign for it.

anyone have any problems with em?

 

[sk8rreefgeek]

anyone?

 

[useskaforevil]

not what you're looking for, but um... no.

 

[drstupid]

i've had one for almost a year now, it it tough to keep one alive without a large and well established system. mine needs occasional target feeding and it's got a really dirty two year old 120 with lots of rock and a DSB to feast on.

 

[sk8rreefgeek]

I have about a 2" sandbed (varies). my tanks been running for over a year so hopefully it should be ok.

what do you target feed yours? does he move around much?

 

[Buster4900]

I had one in a 100 gallon tank thatwas running for abouta year. He slowly got smaller over the coarse of a year and finally died. I trued alot to keep him healthy, just did not work out. I would love to have another, lots of compliments. Goodluck!

 

[sk8rreefgeek]

dang. thats what I've been reading in some other cases. I was hoping to get some positive responses. looks like they're pretty hard to keep...

 

[vito is hooked]

Ive had both of mine for 8months now, no probs yet, eept for my french angel, but has been moved.

 

[sk8rreefgeek]

cool! thats what I like to hear

those guys are cool. It's weird, it seems like they have personality, even when they're just laying there. haha

 

[K' Family Reef]

we have an orange linkia
for over a year now... there is over 200# of LR in the tank for it to roam around on... it seems to be doing well.. moves around a lot - always in different spot around the tank from left side to the right front to back...

regards

 

[cabowabo]

Starfish should be on the list of creatures that should be left in the sea. You may be lucky for a short time but it will end sad.
It's good to hear some above have made it that far but I don't think you will hear many success stories. Sorry to be the downer. Good luck anyway,and more importantly to the starfish.

 

[useskaforevil]

i've always had alot of trouble keeping starfish in my tank, and the harliquin shrimp seem to take such good care of them, welcoming them as soon as they hit the water.

 

[dp reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11906115#post11906115 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drstupid
i've had one for almost a year now, it it tough to keep one alive without a large and well established system. mine needs occasional target feeding and it's got a really dirty two year old 120 with lots of rock and a DSB to feast on.

Many people that I have talked to claim that their diet is still unknown, what are you feeding when you target feed?

I had a very small one (about 1.5 inch diameter) that seemed to be doing great for about six months while in my 20 gallon tank. When I moved it into my 60 gallon with FAR more liverock and a DSB, it died within two weeks (and yes, I drip acclimated it for over an hour). Seems like these critters are one that are going to be shrouded in mystery for a while, but it does seem like the bigger and more established the tank, the more likely it will survive for a long period of time.

 

[Madman133]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11909166#post11909166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dp reefer
(and yes, I drip acclimated it for over an hour)

Actually they need to be acclimated for at least 3+ hours...One hour is a very short time for acclimating anything in saltwater.

I would say dont try and keep one unless you have a system with 200+ lbs of liverock. Otherwise dont expect it to live past a year.

 

[dp reefer]

Point taken, but is their diet known? And why would it seem to be healthy in a 20 gallon with 30 lbs LR but not in a 60 gallon with 85 lbs LR? I guess maybe it was slowly dying and the tank transfer was the final straw.

 

[jrpdriver]

we've had this one for a couple months now

 

[HBtank]

I have had my blue for over a year now. It is doing fine, but has not grown.

 

[drstupid]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11906151#post11906151 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sk8rreefgeek
I have about a 2" sandbed (varies). my tanks been running for over a year so hopefully it should be ok.

what do you target feed yours? does he move around much?

whatever i'm feeding the others, whenever he's on the glass and i can get near him. i use a baby medicine dropper to gently squirt the food up between him and the glass, if i leave my closed loop off for about 1/2 hour he's able to get it down. i'm a big fan of selcon, even if he doesn't get the food down having a selcon bath always makes him more lively.

he has been slowly shrinking and getting more lethargic, i've been attributing that to the fact that i removed my too large hippo tang a few months ago and haven't replaced it yet, so it's not had a steady diet of tang poo. they are detrivores, and will not survive in a pristine environment.

 

[sk8rreefgeek]

wow thanks for all the replies! They are cool creatures
mine looks good so far. he doesn't move much during the day (unless he runs around the whole tank while I'm at work, and returns to the same spot when he hears me coming lol)

that's a really cool pic of that blue one

oh, WarrenAmy&Maddy: glad to hear about yours, how's the 'ol pistol???

 

[drstupid]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11909400#post11909400 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dp reefer
Point taken, but is their diet known? And why would it seem to be healthy in a 20 gallon with 30 lbs LR but not in a 60 gallon with 85 lbs LR? I guess maybe it was slowly dying and the tank transfer was the final straw.

they are detrivores. maybe the new tank was too clean...