Anyone have experience with a blue linckia star

[Brenden]

Anyone have experience with a blue linckia star? My wife is wanting me to put one in the tank. I have several brittle and serpent stars in the tank now. Are they much more difficult?

[Fluff]

I don't know much about them except that they like to eat sponges and mine died of unknown causes. So yes, I'd say they are more difficult. I believe the blue ones are actually supposed to be more sensitive than the orange and red ones. Oh, they also aren't supposed to be exposed to air for any length of time so handling has to be quick.

[IndyReefMan]

I've had one for about 8 months now and he's doing great. They're supposed to be very difficult to care for but I haven't had any problems. He's slow, but he moves around a lot. Sometimes on the rock and sometimes on the glass. He especially likes to hang around right on my algae scraping magnet so I can't help but wonder if he's eating off of it. They're supposed to be very sensitive to salinity changes, but I have an automated top-off system. You might want to think about one of those or at least be very diligent on your daily RO top-offs. Be sure to acclimate them very slowly and carefully too. When I first put him in, he barely moved around for the first three weeks or so, but now he's all over the place. Also, I have brittle stars in with him too and they don't bother him at all.

[seaham358]

They are cool but are not a long lived star. From what I have read if you can get one to last over a year you are doing well, they say most die around 18 months. No one is 100% sure what they eat so they usually end up dieing from starvation.
If you touch them with your hands the oils from you skin can kill them, they will develope a white spot and it spreads. They look like there melting.
I have had a maroon, orange and blue and the blue lasted around 2 years before it died.
The maroon was dead in a few weeks, listened to LFS and added it to a new tank. The orange died from my tank crash.
So if your tank is mature 12+ months with lots of LR they are worth a shot. IMO having a very mature tank is a must...

[Brenden]

My tank does not have much algae in it. I had a lot at one time about 2 months after the cycle. As far as SG I have 650+ gallons of water volume with about 5-7 gallons evaporation a day in worst case, that should not cause a noticable change in my SG.

[talloulou]

I killed one. I added it to my tank and it died two weeks later 8O 8O He died the same day I did a water change so I'm wondering if that's what killed him but everything else in the tank is fine.

[MT79]

B. Linckia stars are extremely sensitive to ANY changes in water chemistry. More often than not, IME, they are doomed before you get them home from improper handling. On top of that that they are specialized feeders (film algae) and therefore require a mature tank w/ plenty of LR. Like anemone's they should not be added to a tank less than a year old ideally. There are other sea stars that would be better suited for you and your tank at this point IMO.

[afilter]

All above is correct. My blue only lasted about four months. Try an orange or maroon/purple first if you like the linkia. My maroon actually divided into two stars at one point.

The real problem like mentioned above is you do not know how they were handled prior to getting it. They are notorious hiders as well and in a 525g could get lost for weeks.

For hardiness britltes and serpeants are the way to go. The brittle I have now has been in there from the beginning and was missing a leg when I first added it. Now it is the size of a small diner plate.

[StripesTheEel]

I have had experiences with the blues and they have had mixed reviews. I had one for 4 months and it died. I have now had one for about 8 months, and it moves around alot. I am unsure of what it eats, probably the excess food that drops to the sand bed but I target feed it every week, just in case.

[IndyReefMan]

I target feed it every week, just in case

What do you feed it?

[StripesTheEel]

a piece of shrimp..

[MT79]

a piece of shrimp..

I've heard others claim this also...have you seen it actually eat the piece??
According to almost everything I've read and my own personal experience they will not accept ANY type of food target fed to them, not even flakes. Some older articles on the net suggest target feeding, but none of the more recent do. It's now a general consensus that they feed on film algae only.

[StripesTheEel]

Yeah I have.. I dont give it a whole piece. Probably 1/3 or so. I find if i put a whole piece in there the angel or eel will hunt it down. So I found a small piece every week or so.. Obviously I dont want to force the star on the food, so when I see it moving along the sand bed I quickly chop a small piece up and place it near one of its arms..

[MT79]

Well, I think you have a star that is the exception to the rule lol. It may eat the shrimp but if they are indeed film algae eaters, as is much speculated/accepted and true IME/IMO, I would wonder exactly how much nutrition is obtained from the shrimp. It would sort of be like feeding a Tang only meaty foods. I see you also have a good amount of LR for it to forage from which is most likely where it is getting the majority of it's "food" from. Bottom line- they need plenty of LR, a mature tank, and a well seasoned and dedicated hobbyist for them to survive let alone thrive.

[StripesTheEel]

Yep, the tank that it is in has approx 200lbs of LR,

It would sort of be like feeding a Tang only meaty foods

Yeah if anything it may be a treat for them!

[vertex]

I have just got one a couple of weeks ago myself. It moves around a lot and seems to love getting food. I just shut all the water flow off and drop a bit of crushed mysis shrimp or marine pellets on its legs by the glass and then it immediately lifts off the glass and covers the food. You can kind of see its stomach like a brittle star wrap around the food and then pull it in. Much slower that's all.

[Brenden]

Well I was offered one for $10 and could not refuse. I will keep my fingers crossed.

[MT79]

Well I was offered one for $10 and could not refuse

Sounds about right $ wise. Keeping your fingers crossed will do nothing for the survival of the animal. There is no substitute for time when it comes to tank maturation/stability and the "new hobbyist" learning curve. Best of luck to the star

[nycfatcow]

haha ijust bought a red linkia. ahhh you guys are making it seem like its definately gonne die!

[Brenden]

MT79 my tank has been running for 6 months. I have learned how to keep it "stable". I have red serpents, tiger striped serpents,as well as brittle and reg. serpents in my tank since the beginning with no deaths. I know the linkia is a different animal but I spent over 20 hours researching and reading up on it. From what I have read there is no guarantee with these stars regardless of tank age or experience. I have a large food supply in my tank. The LR alone should be enough to keep it feed. In short I did more than "cross my fingers"