Having difficulty keeping Linckia Sea Stars

[DSDoyle]

Hello,

I do not know what the problem is, but I am having issues keeping Linckias alive. My water tests as follows:

Salinity: 1.023
pH: 8.1-8.3
Alk: 120
Cal: 400
Par (bottom to top): 300-1000

Over heard the years, I have been told Linckias do not do well with air but lately I have heard differently plus I notice they "skim" the surface of the water (there is not an oxygen issue).

Please advise.

Have a great day,

Don

 

[ca1ore]

The 'problem' is that they are extraordinarily hard to keep - even for expert reefers. They don't handle shipping well and are almost always either already starving when you buy them or get that way shortly thereafter. Once they begin to disintegrate, they're gunners. Best left in the ocean.

 

[lagatbezan]

They are really hard to keep alive and have poor success rating mainly because it's not really known what they eat. It's believed they eat the clear film on live rock hence requiring a really large mature tank. they just don't do well in captivity.

 

[DSDoyle]

Is there a way to "promote" or cultivate the film algae?

 

[Cliving1]

I had a blue in college, wad lucky bc it ate my large sponge population. Not sure what else it really ate. They are as mentioned above, noted to be one of the most difficult to care for.