Linckia starfish information

[arnoldrew]

My wife loves starfish, but is not satisfied with the huge brittle star and little Asterinas in our 90g reef. I've heard all sorts of things about Linckias, from "they will die for no reason" to "they will inevitably starve to death without a large-enough tank." Even what they eat seems to be up for debate, with some claiming they only eat biological film, some claiming they will also eat sponges (I have a bunch of them in my tank that I wouldn't mind losing to a starfish), to Liveaquaria claiming you need to feed them meaty chunks of food periodically. I assume different species have different requirements, but I haven't seen any comprehensive guides. Can you guys give me some tips or a primer for Linckias of various types? I have a 90g reef with a 20g sump. It's been up for about 8 months with no issues and parameters have always been stable with nitrates at 0 for the last 6 months or so.

[Berje]

There really isn't any real good information about them. Like you just stated its all different wherever you look. One thing, imo that is best left in the wild. But some people have had success with them, but not many.

[Calappidae]

There really isn't any real good information about them. Like you just stated its all different wherever you look. One thing, imo that is best left in the wild. But some people have had success with them, but not many.

^indeed

We do have info on their care just the outside sources selling these animals (liveaquaria for example) is misleading and causes abunch of questionable information against the true information.

Linkcias eat the "biological film algae"... it is the ONLY thing they eat which we can get them to live off of.. On the note of them eating sponges.. they DO eat sponges.. but only one or two species which we cannot identify.. it would be a hitchhiking sponge, we know that, so the sponge diet is something we just ignore as it isn't going to keep it alive and we have no clue which sponges to feed... kinda the same case with certain nudibranches.

In a large tank, assuming 100 gallons.., and more than a year old.. preferably two.. the film will hopefully have spread enough for it to live off of. Any sooner and they do starve. No promises they won't run out eventually and starve anyway.

They are very VERY senstive to slight traces of nitrates.. phosphates.. and anything they has a minor swing in water quality such as salinity or PH.

They're very prone to parasites. Most notable is a type of snail which can be seen and plucked off the star before any deep wounds occur causing infection killing it.

All starfish in general cannot be exposed to air.. this is a rather argueable subject as we don't know why and coastal stars are constantly in the tides.. but lets be on the safe side and just stick with it anyway.


Fromia stars (red tile, marble, red fromia, etc..) are very similar in their dietary needs.. just less prone to disease and parasites and stay smaller.

[snorvich]

Excellent information above. From my experience, the best chance to maintain them is in very mature large tanks. In small tanks they do not last long.

[arnoldrew]

Excellent information above. From my experience, the best chance to maintain them is in very mature large tanks. In small tanks they do not last long.

What is "large" or "small?" I have a 90g. Am I better off with a Fromia since (according to Calappidae) they are smaller, or should I just leave them in the ocean? My wife says I can't get rid of these stupid bulldozer pencil urchins until I give her a starfish. :-(

[Calappidae]

What is "large" or "small?" I have a 90g. Am I better off with a Fromia since (according to Calappidae) they are smaller?

I still would be wary of a fromia in a 100g. They say 100g at a year old is enough for a blue linkcia.. double that I wouldn't even sleep at night wondering if I let it establish long enough or killed a star..

[snorvich]

My smallest tank is 240 gallons (10 years old) and that is about the minimum I would be willing to risk starfish with (with all due respect to Calappidae's 100 gallon minimum which may be ok).

[arnoldrew]

Thank you both. Do I have ANY options, or is a starfish simply a no-go?

[Calappidae]

My smallest tank is 240 gallons (10 years old) and that is about the minimum I would be willing to risk starfish with (with all due respect to Calappidae's 100 gallon minimum which may be ok).

I was leaning more torwards the 300 gallon zone at a year old. Maybe a 100 if a couple years old.



Let your tank establish about a year or two and MAYBE you can get a fromia sp in that 90g.

Most of the other stars are flat out not reef safe and can potiently harm fish and inverts given the chance.

[rworegon]

^indeed

We do have info on their care just the outside sources selling these animals (liveaquaria for example) is misleading and causes abunch of questionable information against the true information.

Linkcias eat the "biological film algae"... it is the ONLY thing they eat which we can get them to live off of.. On the note of them eating sponges.. they DO eat sponges.. but only one or two species which we cannot identify.. it would be a hitchhiking sponge, we know that, so the sponge diet is something we just ignore as it isn't going to keep it alive and we have no clue which sponges to feed... kinda the same case with certain nudibranches.

In a large tank, assuming 100 gallons.., and more than a year old.. preferably two.. the film will hopefully have spread enough for it to live off of. Any sooner and they do starve. No promises they won't run out eventually and starve anyway.

They are very VERY senstive to slight traces of nitrates.. phosphates.. and anything they has a minor swing in water quality such as salinity or PH.

They're very prone to parasites. Most notable is a type of snail which can be seen and plucked off the star before any deep wounds occur causing infection killing it.

All starfish in general cannot be exposed to air.. this is a rather argueable subject as we don't know why and coastal stars are constantly in the tides.. but lets be on the safe side and just stick with it anyway.


Fromia stars (red tile, marble, red fromia, etc..) are very similar in their dietary needs.. just less prone to disease and parasites and stay smaller.

I have had a blue linkia in my 90 for about a year now. I have personally seen them attacking and eating asternia star fish. Actually, last night, after lights out I did my usual before bed check and the linkia was on the front glass eating an asternia. I grabbed my camera. lit the scene with a flashlight and snapped a couple of pictures. I haven't had a change to take them off the memory card yet but I will post them when I get them downloaded.

As for being very sensitive to even slight traces of nitrate, I'm not sure where you are getting your information from, since you said there is not much information on them, but I have been battling nitrates for some time now, above 20ppm and up to 35 ppm and the star is just fine. I am currently dosing vodka to try to bring those number down and also just started cycling a sulfur reactor because while the inhabitants of my reef are surviving and even growing, I know they would be happier with lower nitrate levels.

Cannot be exposed to air: Mine will occasionally move to the top of the tank and put itself in a position where one and sometimes even two arms are out of the water.

At one point, several months ago, it developed a small ulceration on one of its legs rather close to its body. I was worried that I might lose it. It took several weeks, but the sore completely healed and now there is no trace of it.

Here are a couple of recent pics:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3775/9312664772_79e9ea6f7e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65715887@N07/9312664772/)
stars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65715887@N07/9312664772/) by rworegon (http://www.flickr.com/people/65715887@N07/), on Flickr
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3767/12572900163_184a19ff99_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65715887@N07/12572900163/)
star in zoas (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65715887@N07/12572900163/) by rworegon (http://www.flickr.com/people/65715887@N07/), on Flickr

it seems to like grazing through zoanthids. I'm not sure what it might be doing except that I have seen asternia stars attached to zoa polyps. Maybe its eating them.

The linkia is one of my favorite animals in my reef. While I wouldn't encourage anyone with a brand new tank to go out and get one, I don't necessarily agree with the paranoia surrounding them and the "leave them in the ocean" mentality.

[Calappidae]

You've had it for about a year? I still ain't convinced. My red fromia was 6 months old before perishing in my 6month established 29 gallon. Having the knowledge now, that was ridiculously long compared to what I'd expect to be only a month or so..

Eating the asterina's is coinidental I believe, it's not actually eating them but instead just munching on whatever looks like food.. it isn't getting anything out of it. Although it's an interesting thought that it would show interest in the stars in the first place.. possibly they're eating it's algae and it senses heavy loads in it? Thats my thoughts.. nothing confirmed.

For the water quality, I'm questioning their vital parameters. Nitrates are a biggy. The starfish isn't dying instantly from the nitrates. After awhile it might slowly just wither in illness.. anything under 40ppm isn't THAT bad of a spike.

When a starfish comes out of the water like you just said.. it's not completely coming out.. it's only reaching it's legs out, not it's central disk, correct? My CC stars certainly follow those rules.

On the note of coastal stars.. gotta think about it.. look how many are found dead on the beach.. interesting thought to consiture.

[FireEater]

According to this thread that runs from 2009 to 2014, it isn't coincidental that they eat Asterina's.

RC Thread on Stars (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1745175&highlight=fromia+star)

[Calappidae]

According to this thread that runs from 2009 to 2014, it isn't coincidental that they eat Asterina's.

RC Thread on Stars (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1745175&highlight=fromia+star)

That is very interesting. Fromias were reported too..

Maybe they do eat asterina.

[FireEater]

First that I've seen of it myself. I found it about an hour ago doing a search here in the stars.

I tend to research things in our hobby over the years periodically to see if info has changed.

Out of everything I read today on the stars, that thread is the most convincing about their diet.

[Calappidae]

I have to try this out for myself.. next trip to the lfs I'm gunna bring some asterinas and request to target feed their stars in store. I'm no longer in disbelief but I'm very eager to atempt this myself.

[FireEater]

I was thinking the same thing to see if they would eat them.

The guy that started that thread in 2009 is AVI. He hasn't posted here since 2010 and his last activity was last February 2013. But he is current on being a RC Supporter, so maybe he will chime in about his.

Curious if his is still alive and doing good.

[snorvich]

I have asterinas in both my tanks, but I do not know if my starfish eat them. On the other hand, both tanks are more than ten years old so establishing a causal relationship would be difficult.

[rworegon]

I have to try this out for myself.. next trip to the lfs I'm gunna bring some asterinas and request to target feed their stars in store. I'm no longer in disbelief but I'm very eager to atempt this myself.

I'm not sure target feeding a linkia would be successful. Like I said, I've had mine for a year and this is the first time I've actually seen it eat. My large brittles I target feed all the time but they are fast moving carnivores. The Linkia is rather slow and probably more of a grazer. Probably the only reason it can eat an asternia is that the asternia isn't any faster than it is.

[rworegon]

As promised, here is a shot I took last night of my blue linkia eating an asternia. Sorry for the bad pic, I lit it with a flashlight.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7430/12981888185_8b3a6a1585_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65715887@N07/12981888185/)
_IGP4483 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65715887@N07/12981888185/) by rworegon (http://www.flickr.com/people/65715887@N07/), on Flickr

[alb_56]

It looks cool like that.

[Calappidae]

I guess my asterina breeding project for harlequin shrimp has now shifted into linkcia. If this is true it'd be amazing!

I'm more curious to find out the exact ammount of food needed to be consumed per day like snorvich said in that thread.