Orange linkia starfish

[Kristy]

Interested in hearing about your experience in keeping this starfish. I am not satisfied with what I am finding in the reference books. What does it seem to eat (scavenging? target fed foods? sponges?) How long have you kept it and how difficult was it for this starfish to remain happy and healthy?

[Kristy]

Bump. Surely someone has kept an orange linkia?

Anyone have a story about attempting to keep one and it didn't survive?

[Mr Cob]

I love sea stars!

... I have kept both blue and orange and had bad luck with them. Both perished after about 2 months despite being added to a DSB and 1 year mature system.

So...the last time around I did a little more research and found that the Spotted Linckias are known for being hardy in aquariums. They look sweet too:

Pic hijacked from: http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Your_Portal_to_Aquatic_Discovery
Linckia multifora
http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/w/images/c/c7/Linckia_multifora_2.jpg

I special ordered one from Jeremy and unfortunately it also perished. So...I'm still left hanging but fight the urge to add another one.

[Kristy]

Hmmm... That's not so promising! Thanks for sharing your experience, Rob. Anyone else?

[Mr Cob]

Sure. I'm tuning in...I'd like to see if anyone is keeping them longterm as well and if so...how?

[RayAllen]

Its funny you brought this up Kristy. I too was wondering about these stars. My tank is only 5 months old now so I will not be buying one soon but am curious of others knowledge on them.

[Europhyllia]

If you want to keep a starfish and don't have a small clams you could try this one:

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?61250-Echinaster-sentus-common-seastar

SeaLife doesn't have any in stock right now so the description on it isn't showing on their website but it looked very promising (they said the echinaster easily accepts small bits of food and can be target fed)

I am trying to stay away from the nobody-really-knows-what-they-eat starfish too...

[kkiel02]

Fromia starfish are also a wonderful substitute. I think they are also referred to as tile starfish. From what I have read Linkia starfish are very tough to keep. Prof who is up in Austin had a blue one for sometime. I know he no longer has it but I think he kept it a couple years so maybe you could get ahold of him.

[jroescher]

Like Rob, I've tried several times to keep orange and blue ones. They melt after about a month.

I've never heard of anyone being able to keep one for very long. Sad because the LFS has no problem selling them.

[Mr Cob]

Like Rob, I've tried several times to keep orange and blue ones. They melt after about a month.

I've never heard of anyone being able to keep one for very long. Sad because the LFS has no problem selling them.

Yeah...I see them at the LFS all the time...makes me think about what happens to them....if I'm 3 for 3 perished and I consider myself an experienced reefer then the majority of those being sold must have a similar fate as the ones I took in. That's too bad because they are beautiful.

[Kristy]

I had heard somewhere that the blue were harder to keep than the orange. Looks like neither is very doable.

Isn't it about the same odds for those little fromias?

[neogenix]

I've had one for probably about a month or maybe a bit longer, and he/she/it is doing fine... Blue though, not orange.

[Mrs. z28pwr]

I have a beautiful Tile starfish ( I think). He has beautiful colors and is doing well. He is huge!! I took a picture of him today with my phone

[tebstan]

I have a beautiful Tile starfish ( I think). He has beautiful colors and is doing well. He is huge!! I took a picture of him today with my phone

How long have you had it? Was it sold as a tile or a fromia?

[jrsatx20]

how bout those cute lil white ones asteria i think they called. they dont perish but flourish in the home aquarium.

[Mrs. z28pwr]

How long have you had it? Was it sold as a tile or a fromia?

I have had it for about 1 month. He did call it something else but I was so into his beautiful colors I didnt pay attention. All I remember was reef safe & tile star fish.... He also said to becareful with my clams.

[Kristy]

how bout those cute lil white ones asteria i think they called. they dont perish but flourish in the home aquarium.

Oh yeah, I know ALL about how to care for those little guys! But sadly, we don't seem to have as many as we used to. Probably because every weekend I throw at least 10 of them in the trash. Apparently they don't fare as well that way. ;)

Nice star, Mizeny!

[neogenix]

Just an update on my linkia, he's still around and kicking!

[Kristy]

Ours is doing great too. I picked up a little orange linkia (from Austin Aquadaome - I'd never seen one quite like it) about two weeks before I started this thread, so September 25 to be exact. I was reading up on its diet to make sure we were giving it the best possible care and that is when I started to be concerned about success rates, which is why I started this thread.

About a month or so ago, the little orange guy got the tip of his leg cut off in our powerhead. It was this perfect clean cut and we found the tip on the sand and he seemed fairly unaffected. For a minute I was afraid that he was doing that "unraveling" that starfish do before they perish, but that has definitely not been the case. That leg has now shown new growth and has a pointy tip again. He is no worse for the wear and has hopefully learned his lesson about powerheads!

Lorraine has kept a linkia successfully for quite a long time, so hopefully she will chime in here. She mentioned something about just keeping tank stability and they do great when I asked her about it.

[ShAgMaN]

I have a beautiful Tile starfish ( I think). He has beautiful colors and is doing well. He is huge!! I took a picture of him today with my phone

Mizeny, your star looks like a nardoa starfish to me (though I could be wrong). I've heard there pretty hardy, and have been known to eat astrenias as well.

Dang, just noticed this is an old post. Cool to see someone is having sucess with a linkia...neogenix.

[Europhyllia]

I agree on the Nardoa guess. That would be my guess as well.

The thing with the quick death (even in perfect tanks and with perfect acclimation) I believe is often related to them already having started the unraveling process by the time we purchase them so those usually die within a few days/weeks.

From what I've been reading it takes starfish quite a long time to starve to death so you can have one easy for half a year or more before it's gone without noticing that it's declining.

New growth however is a different thing! I would think that that definitely indicates that it is in fact doing well. You should post your secret, Kristy :)

[ShAgMaN]

Hey Karin, did you mention you have/had a fromia? If so, any success?

[Europhyllia]

Seemed successful and beautiful for quite a few months and then declined and died :(

I am trying to stay away from them now, although I am tempted by the Linkia multifora and keep thinking about the Echinaster. Echinaster might be more of a sure bet since they actively eat and can be fed. But then I might have to worry about my scallops?