Reef Discussion

[jart]

I have a gorgeous blue lincksia starfish in my tank.

About a week ago I noticed that she had a small wound on the end of one 'leg', could see the white inner flesh. :(

Had read that starfish can regenerate themselves, so wasn't too worried. Kept a better eye on her for a day and confirmed that none of my fish were bothering her.

Wondered whether one of my inverts (CBS and small crab who has a hitchhiker) was having a nibble at nighttime. Could never catch them in the act, so decided to move her into the weir.

She is still really active, moving up and down and around the weir, BUT the tissue damage has continued to progress up her leg until now almost 1/2 one leg is gone! No other visible damage on her.

Is she somehow consuming herself? Some third party not visible to the naked eye chowing down on her? Any experience or knowledge of this?

Thanks.

 

[MagicJ]

How long have you had the linkia?

Unfortunately, the vast majority of sea stars in our aquariums eventually succumb due to starvation as there is just not enough food items available to sustain them. This can often take months to become evident.

 

[Franklin Dattein]

Blue Linckias will only thrive on substrates rich in detritus.
They starve for over an year, before they die, which makes them an attractive choice, despite the mortality rate.

 

[Ian3145]

Starfish usually regenerate limbs in the ocean but not so often in tanks in my experience. I've had this happen twice.

The first time was with a sea biscuit that somehow jammed itself in the rocks. I lost that creature but it was early in my reefing and I didn't realise that a sea biscuit was never going to survive in a reef tank anyway. They die at temperatures above 24C.

I did have a small red starfish that I nearly saved but I think necrosis set in and at that time I never used to keep treatments on hand. Be careful that it doesn't pollute your tank.

For what little it's worth, I would move it to a hospital tank and treat it with Melafix / Pimafix to give it a fighting chance.

BTW Those blue starfish are infamous bulldozers. It may have moved a rock or similar and hurt itself.

 

[ReeferRob]

Linckia starfish need sponges and detritus to feed on, without those, their days are numbered. I've kept others, but Linckia are not suitable for an aquarium without their food source. Fromia stars do a lot better, but they also need sponges.

 

[Ian3145]

My little girl just reminded me that we did have success with one sea star. A red one (fromia milleporella) lost a leg although we don't know how.

We nursed it back to health in the display, supplementing it's natural feeding by putting spirulina tablets near it, which it seemed to like.We still supplement the tank with one tablet a week for the star and a few other critters (CBS love it).

We also dosed the tank with Pimafix & Melafix, in fact that was when I first bought those products. That sea star lived for about 3 years, until I had a major tank crash due to external pollutants. I also have another in my tank now.

One point though. Anyone that knows my tank journals knows I'm a nut about fostering the micro critters in my tanks, I've spent a lot of time introducing biodiversity to my live rock, even bringing in eco building creatures from Oceanarium (highly recommended) in WA and buying seed rock from multiple sources.. I often run a small tank in it with no livestock bigger than a match ever introduced into it, the rock in that is normally my ultimate seeding rock which I put into a new tank for 6 months then return it to the original tank.

As a result my live rock (& substrate) is littered with sponges, worms, sea hares, about 7 types of snail, sea fans, tube worms, etc etc. I also grow 4 different decorative macro algaes in my DT for aesthetics and as a food source (no tangs). So there is a good food base there.

 

[Franklin Dattein]

Other thing to keep in mind is that they are very sensitive to air entering their guts. Try to avoid exposing it to air, when moving it from the shop.
I read somewhere a recommendation to keep them upside down, in the water, so gravity can pull air bubbles out, if it has been exposed to air.

 

[ReeferRob]

Other thing to keep in mind is that they are very sensitive to air entering their guts. Try to avoid exposing it to air, when moving it from the shop.
I read somewhere a recommendation to keep them upside down, in the water, so gravity can pull air bubbles out, if it has been exposed to air.

I've said it a few times, starfish and urchins should never be taken from the water. If they are, place them upside down in the tank and they will right themselves in time. I always keep them in small plastic containers when I acclimate them which is a shitload of fun when dealing with the toxic flower urchins and long spine urchins, lol.

 

[jart]

Thanks to everyone who replied and offered advice.

Regrettably my beautiful starfish didn't make it. Bit down for a bit. Here is some of the story just for completeness.

* I think Link starved to death and was likely starving for a while before I got him. I mistook his frequent movement around the tank as health.

* After my post, and after reading your advice, I moved Link carefully into my sump, making sure that he was never exposed to air. Put him in the chamber where my live rock covered in small sponges was. He cruised around for two days and there were noticeably less sponges all the time. That was the upside. The downside was that despite this apparent eating Link's "wounded" leg continued to deteriorate. I concluded that his leg wasn't being eaten by an external party as he was alone in the sump.

* On the third day in the sump I came downstairs in the morning to check on Link. A second leg had "exploded" and 80% had disintegrated into a white mess in less than 6 hours since I had checked on him before going to bed.

* My girls and I miss seeing Link around the tank. Was always fun to check him and see what interesting shape he was making that day.

* I won't make the mistake of having another large starfish again without making sure my tank has sufficient food to keep it healthy.

Thanks again for the advice and wisdom shared.