starfish care (1 Viewer)

[turtlesoup2]

how had are the linckia starfish to care for

 

[padanky]

Mine died, came with my tank (craigslist). Hear that stars don't have a long life span, and linchia is even worse I believe. Mine was an orange with arms no bigger than a inch.

 

[Llama]

They will die eventually. I don't recommend purchasing. These are one of those critters that shouldn't be collected IMO

 

[turtlesoup2]

what starfish would recommend that is reef safe

 

[Llama]

I wouldn't recommend any to be honest. None of them do well in our closed systems. The only stars in my system are astrea and micro brittle stars. The ornimental stars just don't do well. I don't feel right keeping a creature that I know will not do well.

I won't flame you if you end up getting one or anything like that. This is just my personal choice.

HOWEVER, if you are going to try one. Make it an orange and not a blue. The blue WILL die.

 

[rxonco]

I've always read that the orange/red will do better than the blues. But like llama said, most will eventually fail. I've kept a few large brittle stars for years with no problems. They're great scavengers. Mine was the size of a dinner plate when I finally broke my last tank down. You may keep away from the green ones though. I've always read that they can be a bit aggressive towards your livestock.

 

[CBBSteve]

Hi, turtlesoup.
As a beginner, you should be ok with any of the brittle stars as long as they get enough to eat in your tank. Stay away from all the rest, including linkia, chocolate chips, serpents, etc. Most often, they'll eventually starve to death. The serpents can catch and kill fish.

good luck,
Steve

 

[HorseyStripe]

....The serpents can catch and kill fish.

good luck,
Steve

oh ************! i don't remember ever reading that anywhere!...one of these babys came in my tank...he's huge!...like 7-8" across!...

 

[Llama]

They can be killers. Keep it well fed or remove it. Depends on you

 

[trb]

....The serpents can catch and kill fish.

good luck,
Steve

oh *censored*! i don't remember ever reading that anywhere!...one of these babys came in my tank...he's huge!...like 7-8" across!...

As long as it is not a green one, you should be OK. The green ones are the ones that have a reputation for eating fish. Not saying the others can't, but I haven't heard of it.

I'm on my second orange linkia and second chocolate chip (in the sump, he is NOT reef safe) The first linkia got caught in the moded maxijet and I found pieces of him all over the tank. This one I've had for over 2 months now, and he moves all over the place. The first CC got stuck on a temporary skimmer pump I had in the sump, there was no cover on the inlet and he got too close and got sucked against it. He was a fat and happy guy.

From what I've read as long as they do not have bumps on them, they should be reef safe as far as most corals.

 

[r_jay]

my first linkia "melted" not in a rush to try that again, I made the mistake of thinking "It's a STARFISH they MUST be hardy."
Though I have heard of people that have had them survive for years, the main thing you have to ensure is water stability especially during acclimation. So gotta drip it and need a large tank and ensure water quality/ph/salinity stability. I've heard the marble starfish is a good hardy speciman but no starfish other than brittles and CC's would do well in a nano btw.