Reef safe starfish.

touched mine to air and still going strong. but only a few months strong.

 

Well I did see 2 blue linkias today that touched the air and I wanted to get one but after I seen them hit the air and the fact the were from a store I don't shop from (even though the just came in but were only floated not dripped) I passed them by.

 

I was researching older forum threads about reef safe starfish and found this one - I am curious about the Linkia starfish - so i thought that if i resurrected this thread, others might chime in on it and share their more recent experiences & offer additional thoughts and advice.



Thanks

 

You can do the drip method with shipped orders, you just need to add some prime to the bag water. This will detoxify the ammonia so it wont kill them. Just don't try it with out something like prime. I have done this many times, no deaths, including my starfish.

 

that is good to know.

Anyone else have experience with the Linkia starfish and whether they play nicely with others (including corals)?

just wondering.

 

I've never had a problem with them but they tend to only live in very mature tanks (perhaps because they feed on film algae and/or bacteria that can't be found in "younger" tanks).

 

I was reading this thread and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

While Linckia starfish are reef-safe, you must be aware that nobody really knows what they eat and they may not last in your tank. I've had a blue linckia for about 8 months, and I understand I am lucky he has lasted this long. He is also very shy, and I don't see him out and about very often.

A better choice, IMO, is a marbled seastar of the Fromia variety. They are hardier than linckias and much more active. My marbled fromia is always roaming around the tank, running circles around my linckia.

So I would consider the marbled fromias first if I were you.

 

everything I have read thus far definitely says "for mature tanks only" (not to be confused with "mature audiences only" of course since starfish seem to appeal to the young and old alike! ;D )

With that said, just curious what you have? I see linkias come in several very lovely colors like blues reds and even purples.

 

I don't have any at the moment. Our last one didn't make it through the radical treatments that we had to put our tank through to battle a bad case of bryopsis a few years ago. I've only kept blue ones because that's all that I've ever seen for sale up here.

 

We had a blue linka once for about a month and I killed it. Was doing a water change one day and didn't notice the star was on the back glass near the top of the tank until it was too late. The star was exposed to air right under the metal halide lights. By the time I refilled the tank, I think it got too hot. It died a few days later.

Jack