Reef Discussion

[Josh M]

I have a 2ft cube that's about 1/3 full of LR just wondering if this is suitable for a blue linkia as I've always wanted one but have heard there a bit finik....... And now that my tank is maturing about 12 months old now I'm looking at adding the more sensitive things I want :-)

 

[Luke]

Hi mate ,
I would say a 2 foot cube isn't big enough for one , long term anyway
Others may disagree tho .

 

[MagicJ]

Might be just OK for a while, especially a small one, but these grow up to 30cm so it would not be a long term option.

They are difficult to acclimatise and definitely need stable water conditions.

 

[Josh M]

Righto well I'll cross that off for a while then are there any nice looking stars that would suit my tank ?

 

[brendore]

IMHO most species of Linckia are not suitable for many aquariums. I've seen far too many perish as many don't get their nutritional needs from closed habitation. Your best of looking for Fromia species which will be suitable for your sized tank, in particular F. indica or the Orange/Red Starfish. Nardoa species are also suitable.

 

[Josh M]

The hard part with getting less common stars is actually getting one that is correctly identified !

 

[brendore]

This is true for alot of inverts. The Orange or Red Stars (Fromia indica) are easily identified as they are basically orange to reddish in colour usually with black lace like pattern, and commonly sold at around 4-5cm diameter. Nardoa's are usually sold just as "Nardo Stars" with many of the species available being suitable for aquariums. Most common ones include the Pebbled Star, and another one confusingly called the Orange Starfish (Nardoa novaecaledoniae) which looks alot different from the Fromia species being a greenish centrally, with orangish tips to the arms, overlaid with light coloured bumps (in fact most species of Nardoa look like this only with variations in colouration). For your tank I would definently search out F. indica. They are usually pretty common in most marine shops, or ask them to order a couple for you. They normally grow to about 10cm diameter, with exceptionally large specimens reaching 15cm.

 

[Josh M]

Cool thanks for the info man I'll keep an eye out

 

[brendore]

Oh and one more thing.. Stay well away from the Green Brittlestar. They look cool being forest green with black spines, and the move around alot, but they can turn into killers especially bigger ones ;)

 

[Josh M]

Yeah I found that out a few years back sneaky $@#! Would arch up under Rock and wait for fish to sleep then snap em up had 4 b&w damsel just diss appear till one day I seen a tail hanging out of its mouth :-)

 

[brendore]

Yeah they sure are cunning little things! :mad:

 

[Josh M]

uh aah not so little ! my one tip to tip was probably 30cm....bear in mind i was way newb when i bought it and it was big cool looking moved around lots and best of all cheap !