Starfish

[jtinoco]

I've been considering adding a starfish to my tank. I'm really wanting a Linckia no matter what color.

I've been reading a lot about them. I keep reading that they need a slow and time consuming drip acclimation. What throws me off is that I had also read (nt sure if it was on this forum or where) that any livestock that is shipped should just be acclimated by floating the bag in the tank. If the drip method is used it converts the nitrates in the bag to the more toxic form of nitrogen which is nitrite. This is because of the unstable ion and the water being aerated when dripping causing the extra oxygen to bond thus creating nitrite. This will cause you to poison the animal and stress it further. The only time drip should be used is when you bring and animal from the LFS that had been in one of the tanks there. Not sure how accurate this is.

I kinda drifted onto the acclimation subject but just throwing out all the info I've stumbled upon.

Anyone had any luck with starfish and how did u acclimate it?

 

[psuedopimp]

i really want one too, but i hear they slowly starve to death in captivity. or at least in my small tank they would.

im not a very good person to ask about acclimation.

 

[deehz]

Links are awesome starfish, if you can get them to stay alive. These are the type of species of marine life that should be kept in the oceans. Although, there are reefers out their have kept them in captivity for a long time. Then again, the numbers that are lost are for greater then the few ones that are alive. The key is they need a very well established tank with stable water parameters.

I have kept him alive for a few months now and has grown since i got him (knocking on wood right now!). And yes, they have to be acclimated very slowly for a long period of time. I think I acclimated mine for about 5-6 hours. It was slow and methodical.

Even if you had detectable NO3 in your system, to loose a negative/positive ion and convert to NO2 would be extremely difficult. If I remember correct, it is harder to loose positive/negative (cations and anions) ions when there isn't that many in the first place. Basically an imbalance of protons and electrons. The closer they are to the nucleus (picture the planetary system, the sun being the nucleus and the planets and moons being the elements (protons and electrons +/- cations and anions) circling it. The farther away from the sun, the easier it is for that moon or planet to leave the gravitational force of the sun if tugged or pulled by a greater/equal force then that of the sun. So Pluto is screwed!), the harder it is for that ion to leave. So, even though the ion is on the outer most band of the nucleus, the atomic weight and force of an NO3 and NO2 compound would be fairly equal. So there would be virtually no attraction per say.

I don't know how accurate these guys were that you read. Then again, I am an engineering/biology major and not a chemistry major but took chemistry cause I had too.

Now back to the Link. I would wait a little longer and let your system mature a bit more. I hope I can keep mine for a long while. If not, I am not getting another one until they can be breed in captivity. I am also one of those reefers does not mind a bit of hair algae in their systems and algae on the glass. I think some algae is beneficial to a healthy tank. I like to keep it as natural "looking" as I possibly can. It could be why my Link is alive; its always on my glass possibly grazing on the algae? I hope I was able to be of some help Jtinco. Sorry so long. Here is a pick:

 

[jtinoco]

Links are awesome starfish, if you can get them to stay alive. These are the type of species of marine life that should be kept in the oceans. Although, there are reefers out their have kept them in captivity for a long time. Then again, the numbers that are lost are for greater then the few ones that are alive. The key is they need a very well established tank with stable water parameters.

I have kept him alive for a few months now and has grown since i got him (knocking on wood right now!). And yes, they have to be acclimated very slowly for a long period of time. I think I acclimated mine for about 5-6 hours. It was slow and methodical.

Even if you had detectable NO3 in your system, to loose a negative/positive ion and convert to NO2 would be extremely difficult. If I remember correct, it is harder to loose positive/negative (cations and anions) ions when there isn't that many in the first place. Basically an imbalance of protons and electrons. The closer they are to the nucleus (picture the planetary system, the sun being the nucleus and the planets and moons being the elements (protons and electrons +/- cations and anions) circling it. The farther away from the sun, the easier it is for that moon or planet to leave the gravitational force of the sun if tugged or pulled by a greater/equal force then that of the sun. So Pluto is screwed!), the harder it is for that ion to leave. So, even though the ion is on the outer most band of the nucleus, the atomic weight and force of an NO3 and NO2 compound would be fairly equal. So there would be virtually no attraction per say.

I don't know how accurate these guys were that you read. Then again, I am an engineering/biology major and not a chemistry major but took chemistry cause I had too.

Now back to the Link. I would wait a little longer and let your system mature a bit more. I hope I can keep mine for a long while. If not, I am not getting another one until they can be breed in captivity. I am also one of those reefers does not mind a bit of hair algae in their systems and algae on the glass. I think some algae is beneficial to a healthy tank. I like to keep it as natural "looking" as I possibly can. It could be why my Link is alive; its always on my glass possibly grazing on the algae? I hope I was able to be of some help Jtinco. Sorry so long. Here is a pick:

It was plenty of help and a good read. I'm not an expert on chemistry either but I enjoy the technical stuff. I'm not too sure how accurate it is either. I've also read that on shipped livestock the oxygen in the bag is depleted, obviously. This of course causes the pH to drop and makes te ammonia les toxic. By opening the bag the CO2 is released and the pH quickly rises making the ammonia spike as well. This may cause burns on the animal. Not sure how accurate that was either. Lol.

Either way I'll be doing the drip acclimation as I have with the other livestock once I do get the star which won't be for a while. Just wanted to get y'alls input on this

Any other "reef safe" (note the quotations) stars besides the Linck anyone has tried?