How long of a quarantine for sea star?

[Fluxion]

I bought a large Blue Linckia sea star. I have it in my quarantine tank right now and I was wondering how long should I leave it in quarantine?

[Avi]

I don't believe you need to quarantine it at all. What you should do is take it out of the quarantine tank in a container without exposing the starfish to any drying at all. Then, acclimate it to your reef, using the drip method, over the course of three hours. They don't take to rapid water quality changes so you should do it that slowly.

[ralphie16]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8151979#post8151979 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Avi
I don't believe you need to quarantine it at all. What you should do is take it out of the quarantine tank in a container without exposing the starfish to any drying at all. Then, acclimate it to your reef, using the drip method, over the course of three hours. They don't take to rapid water quality changes so you should do it that slowly.

He is absolutely right about the slow aclimation time. Drip method for AT LEAST 3 hours. Personally I do about 4-5 hours. It has to be very slow due to their inability to handle quick shifts in salinity.

Although you may have reasons, and I am sure they are valid to some extent, but personally, I prefer to quarantine EVERYTHING. Rather safe then sorry, and what better way to become familiar (or even bond) with your new pet then a little tank all by himself where you can fuss over him to your hearts content and he won't have to deal with whatever stresses there may be in your display tank (aggressive/curious tankmates, etc).

[Avi]

With starfish of that kind, I don't think quarantining is a great idea because of a number of reasons...the QT may have been medicated at one time or another...the acclimation to that, and then again to the reef is stressful, for some examples. I've generally done it for more than three hours as you say, ralph, and I do agree that the three hours is a minimum, but when I have done it for three I saw no negative results.

[DSMpunk]

I normally quarantine everything I put in my tank including corals, however Linkia's are extremely sensitive to air exposure and salinity changes.

So I agree, in this case I would just do a very slow acclimation process straight into the display tank.

[Fluxion]

Thanks for all the advice. The sea star is already in my quarantine tank and I am now wanting to move it to the display tank. What is a good technique for removing the sea star? I don't want to just pull it off the side of the tank. How can I coax it to let go?

[Avi]

I don't think that you ought to be concerned about removing it from the glass. Just putting minimal pressure on it will get it to release itself. But, the thing about sea stars of the kind you have is that there is a lot that is not known for certain about them. While that goes to questions about what they eat, it also goes to what is safe and what is not regarding shipping, transfers, etc. Because of this, there's a whole lot of "lore" that's been attributed to them. And, while I think it's certain that they are sensitive to water quality changes (eg. salinity) as we've discussed, it also goes beyond that and much of that "lore" is based on the notion that it's "better to be safe than sorry" concerning these starfish. So, one thing that's fairly commonly believed, though not necessarily fact, is that you shouldn't touch them with your hands because of the possibility that oils, creams, colognes, etc. that may be on your hands may harm the starfish. Because we don't know if this actually does pose a real threat, it's better, IMO, to not touch it...better safe than sorry. Another, belief about them, which may or may not be true, is that they cannot, without being harmed, be exposed to air for even the briefest time. Again, even though removing one from water for a moment to transfer the starfish most likely wouldn't expose it to any air because of the water that would remain on it for that short time, it's best, to be safe, to keep it in water all the time during the transfer.

Taking that cautious approach, I use a plastic bag to put the starfish in with the water that it in, directly, while under the water. First put the bag into the tank that the starfish is in, and allow it to be partially filled withwater. To get the starfish into the plastic bag, if you have to get it off the glass, you can use some safe plastic implement like a clean spoon or even the handle of a fishnet. As I said, it would take very little effort to get the starfish off the glass and directly into the bag into which you will drip your reef's water for at very least, three hours, before you put the starfish into your reef. To do that, put the bag into your reef and release the water with the starfish into it.