blue linkia dead?

[coltsfan80]

this might be a strange question, but how can you tell for sure if a blue linkia is dead? I was at a relatives house, (I too have a saltwater, but no sea stars) and I noticed that it looked like it had expelled its guts ..eww I know that sounds gross but that is what it looked like...but she said he was moving around earlier that day...do starfish die like that? can they die really fast after seeming to be fine..and do they rid their intestines??

 

[ophiuroid]

Yes, this is not a good sign at all.

They tend to either die of osmotic shock within a month of acclimation...or of starvation in about a year, depending on tank size. What you are seeing is probably not a good sign.

 

[coltsfan80]

what exactly is osmotic shock?

 

[ophiuroid]

Osmotic shock occurs when an animal is first introduced into a system. If there are significant differences in parameters, most notably in specific gravity - or the specific gravity is out of range (typically too low), the animals suffers extreme damage physiologically. This is due to imbalances between internal body fluids and external concentrations. Linckia stars are patricularly delicate in this regard, and often can not tolerate significant changes in salinity, or long term care in less than optimal salinity ranges. In addition, it has been postulated that some stars have difficult adapting to the extremely unnatural concentrations of compounds within synthetic salt mixes.

For these stars, a specific gravity of 1.025-1.026 should be considered mandatory.

 

[coltsfan80]

thanks for the info

 

[chocolateblnt]

*sigh ... another dead linkia. You have at best a 50/50 with those and usually they melt if your reef isn't established beyond a year!

 

[plancton]

Not true, I read at wetwebmedia that linckias die in the 90%-99% of the cases. I bought one that also had its guts out, and it basically died on the second day. An expert aquarist told me that linckias are not worth keeping.

I wanna buy an echianster sp, probably the easiest of the colorful reef safe seastars, and it looks healthy on the store. Read my other topic about it to help me decide.

 

[Cody Ray]

What do linckia sea stars eat? I don't trust what liveaquaria says.

 

[ophiuroid]

Their specific diet is unknown, but the do not eat "algae" in the sense that we think of it...nor detritus, IMO. If they did eat these things, then we would be able to keep them in very small tanks, and that just doesn't seem to correlate well with experience.

They most likely feed on algal/bacterial films (which is why surface area of hard substrate comes into play), or the microscopic critters that feed on it, or things like sponges, bryozoans, etc on live rock.

 

[Monsta]

thats the problem....noone knows what they eat. I got 2 multicolored linckias hitchhikers about a week ago; so far they are doing good. Unfortionately i couldnt find any important information about them on the net.

 

[ophiuroid]

Multicolored, huh? I suspect maybe Linckia multiflora...which is good news. Of all the Linckia, this is one of the most likely to live, and even "reproduce" via arm drops! If it is even a moderately sized tank, you may be fine!