Weird things happening with Starfish

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ironman58

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Hey y'all, I don't know what's happening with my Blue linckia starfish-I had him in the tank for about 6-7 months now and he was very healthy and active until a couple of days ago. His arms just 'fell off'-Now I have 5 seperate arms climbing the rocks and the glass. It's like each arm is it's own animal. They are definitley not "dead" but the center core is just lying on a rock, looking like it melted. it's like some kind of science fiction movie! What's happening???
 
Has your salinity changed drastically? Have you checked your other parameters?
 
i wonder if its a defense mechanism like a lizzard. i have never heard of it before though. take photos and post. you could be the first to see it in capitvity. do some research on the web. we'd love to know more.
 
Iron man my blue link did the same thing..Congrats!!!..You have new baby starfish now..All if fine in your tank dont worry..Thats how they reproduce
 
christopherjay;211040 wrote: Iron man my blue link did the same thing..Congrats!!!..You have new baby starfish now..All if fine in your tank dont worry..Thats how they reproduce
Click to expand...

Apparently!! They're crawling all over the glass and rocks-I'll post a picture soon, it's pretty cool!!!
 
I thought the blue linkias usually ended up dying by starvation -- do you find that your baby linkias grew up into larger linkias?

If so I would love to get one, but only if I knew that it would get enough to eat and thrive.
 
Ypu are a very lucky and skilled aquarist then. The HUGE majority of Linkias end up dying in less than a year in our aquariums. Self fragmenting is not a reproductive scheme for these animals, but typically a stress induced reaction. Good luck.
 
Ill try to raise one in my multitude of tanks if you want. T have an orange one that has done well.
 
I would be interested in trying a blue linkia. Can anyone tell me what is involved in keeping one successfully? How big do they eventually get, and are they pretty much reef-safe?

Thanks,

John
 
I just found some good information on the web about them. Are there other starfishes that are considered easier to keep? I must admit, that blue color is quite a draw!
 
Here are the pictures:
http://home.comcast.net/%7Ega0358/Pictures/star1.gif" alt="" />[IMG]http://home.comcast.net/%7Ega0358/Pictures/star2.gif" alt="" />[IMG]http://home.comcast.net/%7Ega0358/Pictures/star3.gif" alt="" />

the first picture shows the two under the rocks, they move slightly, but pretty much stay under the rock, The second picture is of what's left of the original, my urchin's checking it out, and the third picture is of the 2 most active 'limbs' that crawl all over the glass. I know it looks bizarre, but as long as they're moving around, I guess they're alive...
 
Dr. N,

If you are asking me, it's a 30 gal biocube with lots of rock and has been up for a year.
 
DrNecropolis;211405 wrote: How big is the tank? How much rock? How long setup?
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The tank is 46 gallons with about 120 lbs of rock-I set it up Christmas week last year-Greg at Optimum helped me set everything up and everything seems fine-I read high nitrate levels but I took water samples to Greg at Optimum and Josh at SWC and they both said my water's fine. What a CrAzY hobby!!!
 
Either way...A 46 or a 30 isnt big enough to support a Linka in the long term..They needs ALOT of surface area on rock to feed...Alot of lbs isnt all there is to it...It has to be surface area. 150lb in a 46 just doesnt seem like there would be enough cubic inches exposed where they could slide across. They also need a very stable tank with no surprises..They are known to be a good Litmus Test..If something started to get out of level they would probaly be the 1st to show signs of stress..Such as falling apart

One species that is better off left in the ocean IMO.
 
Ironman58;211400 wrote: Here are the pictures:
http://home.comcast.net/%7Ega0358/Pictures/star1.gif" alt="" />[IMG]http://home.comcast.net/%7Ega0358/Pictures/star2.gif" alt="" />[IMG]http://home.comcast.net/%7Ega0358/Pictures/star3.gif" alt="" />

the first picture shows the two under the rocks, they move slightly, but pretty much stay under the rock, The second picture is of what's left of the original, my urchin's checking it out, and the third picture is of the 2 most active 'limbs' that crawl all over the glass. I know it looks bizarre, but as long as they're moving around, I guess they're alive...[/QUOTE]

How long have they been like this? It looks like "pre-death" to me.
Click to expand...
 
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