Red Linckia Propagation !?!?

[Count Percula]

I'm posting this at the encouragement of another member in hopes of providing help/receiving help from others concerning Linckia propagation.

Actually, it might not actually be "propagation", because what's going on in my tank was definitely not intentional, at least on my part. It would probably be more accurately described as "reproduction".

Anyway, here's my situation... I've heard or starfish losing an arm and regenerating it. I haven't, however, heard of the arm regenerating a new starfish! A few online searches and sure enough it happens. So, my red Linckia lost a couple of legs a couple of months ago. I figured he was dying, but then I noticed he appeared to be regenerating both legs. This made me wonder who/what had gotten after him, but made me happy.

Then, I noticed that both legs that he had dropped moved from where I had seen them. Then, after about a month I spotted both of the legs. They were moving about and are growing new starfish!!!

This might be common, but I've never seen it. Here are a couple of pics. I've had him for about a year. Also, he has always had five arms/legs (Rays??), but the new ones appear to have about seven??

My starfish has been hiding in a cave eating the past couple of days, but when he comes out I'll post a couple of pics of him and his regenerating arms. In the meantime, I've posted a couple pictures of the "new" starfish below. I'd welcome any comments/tips on anything to do or not do with these guys.

Also, one final comment - I've read lots of comments about Linckia being difficult to keep and folks struggling with keeping them alive. Here's how mine stays fat and happy - He is always eating this dark purple/black sponge that hitchhiked into my tank a year or so ago. He eats a large portion of it for a few days, then moves on to the next batch of it. As he moves from batch to batch, it gives the last batch time to regrow and provide more food. I'm guessing there are six or seven "patches" of this sponge now. It's the purple looking funnel in the center of the last picture.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Great thread CP. I do have a question, how long has your 180 been setup? The maturity of a tank has a lot to do with the success of raising these starfish from all that I've read. It's encouraging to hear that they love eating those purple sponges. I'm pretty sure that I've seen those for sale on KP Aquatics website on their sponges page. Maybe check that out and let us know if it's the same sponge.

 

[Count Percula]

Thanks for the tip, DK. I'll check that sponge out.

As far as tank age, I started cycling my previous acrylic 180g (a fairly old one) in September of 2014 and added my first livestock toward the end of October 2014.

I tore the tank apart in December of 2015 and replaced it with my current 180g Starphire glass tank. So, total setup time is about about four months short of two years with a major tear down six months ago. It's probably important to note that I only tore down the display. The sump, fuge, and plumbing under the tank remained unchanged.

 

[Ron Reefman]

CP, thanks for doing this thread. Please keep us updated on how they do in the future. So your tank hasn't been set up that long, only 6 months. And it was started with stock from another tank that was just over a year old when you switched it over. Do I have that right?

You've had the Linckia Star back when you had the old tank?

I think it's very cool that both the original and the new ones seem to be doing so well in your tank.

I like stars. I probably have 10 to 12 serpent & brittle stars spread out over my 4 tanks. I'd love to have a Linckia, but the one I tried only lasted a month. The other part of your story that I find interesting is the sponge. I have a real fascination over sponges. There are some that we seem to be able to keep in our aquariums and many we can't. I snorkel in the Florida Keys a lot and just love the variety of colors and forms that sponges can take. I occasionally will bring home a small sponge as a 'test' and sometimes they are hitchhikers with other tings I collect, like my Little Money zoas. They seem to like living on sponges in the wild. But when I bring them home the sponges seem to die off over 1 to 3 months and the zoas end up attached to the rock they were all hanging on to. Here is what they look like in the wild.



and what they end up looking like when I get them going well in the frag tank.




I'd like to know more about your sponge. What do you know about it? Does it tend to grow under the rocks in the dark like a lot of aquarium sponges do? Or does it grow on top where they can be easily seen? I'd lkie to see more pics of the sponge as well as the stars.

BTW, I have recently bought 2 different photosynthetic sponges, one is deep red and the other is a gorgeous bright blue. They both are small and seem to want to grow almost like a monti coral (kind of like a plate). I've only had them for a month or two but both are growing. In fact the red one I've had for 2 months has grown about 30%.

 

[Count Percula]

I love those Money Zoas! I hadn't ever seen those before. Yes, your understanding of my tank history is correct. I had the Linckia for about seven months in the old tank (which had been set up for about 14 months total), then moved everybody to this new tank about six months ago.

Also, I posted some pics of my Linckia from this evening. Hopefully you can see his new arms in the photos.

As far as the sponge, I don't know a lot about it, as it was a hitchhiker on a rock in the old tank about a year ago. It grows from under rocks, then grows (reaches) for the lights. I think at it's peak, it was about eight inches from base to tip. It grows in a tube-like structure that you can put a finger into. The Linckia eats some of it, then parts of it float away and attach elsewhere and begin to grow. I have photos of it stashed away - I'll find some and post them.

 

[Count Percula]

Here's one more.

 

[Count Percula]

One more that I just took

 

[Dkuhlmann]

This is the sponge from KP Aquatics I was talking about. It's a blue vase sponge

http://www.kpaquatics.com/product/blue-vase-sponge/

 

[Ron Reefman]

KP Aquatics is an interesting operation. I met the owners when they won an OceanRevive fixture from a competing website at MACNA in 2013(?). I met them because I was working for OR at the time. Our local aquarium club does a field trip to the Keys every year and the last couple of years we stop at KP Aquatics for a tour and to buy stuff.

 

[Count Percula]

Yeah, I went to look at that Blue Vase sponge last night. My purple one doesn't look anything like it. (It definitely doesn't now that my starfish has been munching on it..)

I know I have some good pics of it, I'll just need to find them to post.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'd love to see some good pics. If the sponge is willing to grow out in the open and not just under the rocks like most sponges in our tanks, I might be interested in a trade for some.

 

[Count Percula]

More Linckia pics

More Linckia pics

My Linckia was hanging out where I could get a couple pics of his new growth last night. I also added a couple pics of the purple sponge he loves to maul.

I'll get some more pics of the new starfish (growing from the separated arms) when they come out and I can get a good shot.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Your Linkia has a slightly different coloration and a bit of a pattern in the color that I haven't seen before. But then I've had my failures with Linkia stars and really don't pay much attention to them until now.

I do have a sponge that looks a bit like your first sponge pic. It's growing under a Blue Ridge coral and has a couple large openings (exhaust ports) like in your pic. But it's been there for several years and has never grown out into the light and certainly doesn't create a cool tube like yours.

Very cool stuff. And best of luck with the youngsters!

 

[alb_56]

Thank you for sharing this.