Whiterabbitrage
New member
Wondering what is the longest anyone has been able to keep a Fromia sea star alive?
Longest living Fromia
- Thread starter Whiterabbitrage
- Start date
Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
Some people have had them a couple years. It's a matter if you have the setup, they're not impossible just should only be kept in large well established tanks.
Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
Which guy?
Depends how well established it is
and if it's saltwater..
Depends how well established it is
and if it's saltwater..
Whiterabbitrage
New member
I was just wondering how long anyone was able to keep them. Mines two years old. I'd like to hear that he will live a long life.
And Esage, you keep a Blue Linkia in a 34 gallon? And he's lived two years? Seriously?
And Esage, you keep a Blue Linkia in a 34 gallon? And he's lived two years? Seriously?
Whiterabbitrage
New member
Yeah, that's what I'd really like to know. How long do they live? In the wild and in captivity. When mine finally dies, I'd like to know whether it lived a normal span or not.
Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
We don't have that information because there is so many factors to include to their survivability. First and foremost, in captivity it's extremely difficult to figure out their potential life span as normally fromia starves or those who do manage to keep them awhile never keep logs or make records of it for reference, and if they did live long who can say something stupid like a tiny ph swing in the middle of the night or something didn't happen and cause it to die when it had more years left? Not to mention finding the current age of the animal is nearly if not impossible to figure out.
Manipulating the setup for the animal is somewhat difficult too as it's food source is extremely difficult to harvest or supply manually.
Shipping the animal also could potentially take a large fraction of it's life due to temperature swings, starvation during the trip, the acclimation, etc.
Regarding in the wild.. I don't see anybody tagging a starfish and watching it on a daily basis for years from birth to find the appropriate answer for that..
Now how long have I seen them live? I'd say somebody would occasionally throw in that they had theirs for around 2 years whenever I discussed their poor survivability but no clue how those are still working out for them, but it could be longer. At least 2< years would be an decent educated guess.. but on average, the majority of them stick around from a couple weeks to a couple months IME.
Manipulating the setup for the animal is somewhat difficult too as it's food source is extremely difficult to harvest or supply manually.
Shipping the animal also could potentially take a large fraction of it's life due to temperature swings, starvation during the trip, the acclimation, etc.
Regarding in the wild.. I don't see anybody tagging a starfish and watching it on a daily basis for years from birth to find the appropriate answer for that..
Now how long have I seen them live? I'd say somebody would occasionally throw in that they had theirs for around 2 years whenever I discussed their poor survivability but no clue how those are still working out for them, but it could be longer. At least 2< years would be an decent educated guess.. but on average, the majority of them stick around from a couple weeks to a couple months IME.
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Whiterabbitrage
New member
Joe, as usual you bring up good points. Research I've read says some starfish are known to live 35 years but none of it specifies which types this applies to. I am trying to get a ballpark figure of a life span for Fromia because I am trying a technique to feed them. I don't want to say it works if I am not sure. I guess the only way to know for sure is to set up a couple tanks and test it scientifically with a control tank.
Now to talk my boyfriend into letting me try this... :uhoh2:
Now to talk my boyfriend into letting me try this... :uhoh2:
Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
Not quite sure which species those would be myself.. I know crown of thorns is a rather tanky pain in the- to kill but I can't quite say if those live that long.. I remember somebody mentioning (you?) that they sprayed something in their tank which caused the film to bloom comparable to diatoms.
Whiterabbitrage
New member
Hey yeah, Joe, that was me, attempting to make biofilm. I want to set up two tanks, one as a control and one using my biofilm technique, and put Fromia in each. Maybe after a few years we can get some answers on whether this technique works or not. I am thinking it does because I got the fromia two years ago from a LFS that had it for months. I put it in a tank barely three months old. And no live rock. I used all dry rock. When I got the star, it was skinny looking, kind of baggy. Now it's fat. So I am thinking/ hoping that the technique to grow bacteria worked. But I want to be sure.
Betta, that is an idea. I don't get down to my aquarium much, and the research they do, they do with PhDs, not hobbiests. So they wouldn't be interested in me and my little experiment.
Betta, that is an idea. I don't get down to my aquarium much, and the research they do, they do with PhDs, not hobbiests. So they wouldn't be interested in me and my little experiment.
Esage
New member
He started out in a 34g solana. I then upgraded to a 60g. This past summer I downgraded to a 20g frag because we were moving. I moved the 20g three times this summer and finally setup a shallow 34g once we got settled in. And, yes I've had him for 25 months. I really think it comes down to getting luck and buying one that was acclimated properly from the ocean to tank. It's been very hardy fo me.
Esage
New member
He started out in a 34g solana. I then upgraded to a 60g. This past summer I downgraded to a 20g frag because we were moving. I moved the 20g three times this summer and finally setup a shallow 34g once we got settled in. He was only in the 60g for four months.And, yes I've had him for 25 months. I really think it comes down to getting luck and buying one that was acclimated properly from the ocean to tank. It's been very hardy fo me.
