What happend to my Blue Linkia starfish?

[TheRookieReefer]

the hole does seem to be getting bigger. Very Slowly.

 

[BigAl07]

Thats what mine looked like when it first started "Dwindling".

Dont be shocked if it "Drops" a leg or two. It COULD heal and recover because they are capable of regrowing and entire leg if they are healthy.

 

[ReefLady]

here's the pic in case anyone else wants to see

 

[Reefmack]

How long have you had the Linkia? I recently lost mine after having it over a year. Since the right food often doesn't exist in a reef tank they eventually start shrinking (starving) and disintegrating as mentioned above. They supposedly don't last much longer than 6-18 months in most tanks. Mine started showing the same symptoms as yours, and rather than have it all disintegrate and foul the tank I had to get rid of it. It was one of those impulse buys before I knew better, plus the wife wanted it! I've seen them disintegrating in lfs tanks also - even less chance of getting the proper food in a barren lfs tank.

 

[miaskies]

Calcium issue has had me confused too.
At first I used tap water. for one 40-50% change.
Since then I have been using RO or Pre-Mixed water from my LFS.
Doing 1-2 20% changes per week since then.

I am using an API Reef Master Test Kit. (Test Tubes and Drops)

Honestly, I think you are doing too many water changes. A 40-50% change seems excessive and 20% twice a week also seems excessive. I did like a 25% water change after my tank settled in, like 3 weeks after i set it up. And I've done like 2 small changes to remove some nutrients since i was having an algae bloom. As of right now, I haven't done a change in over 2 weeks. All my levels are zero, but I don't have any fish in there yet, just corals.I run my protein skimmer and use carbon.

If you do not get a reading for ammonia, nitrite or nitrates over 10 ppm, I would lay off the water changes for a bit. Freshly mixed salt is very harsh to sensitive invertebrates and corals, as well as fish. When you are adding the replaced water I would add back slowly. I have heard that you can put some brine shrimp under the starfish and it will eat it. You may want to google your starfish and find out what it requires. I was looking at one of those for sale the other day, they are very beautiful, hope he gets better.

 

[BigAl07]

Honestly, I think you are doing too many water changes. A 40-50% change seems excessive and 20% twice a week also seems excessive. I did like a 25% water change after my tank settled in, like 3 weeks after i set it up. And I've done like 2 small changes to remove some nutrients since i was having an algae bloom. As of right now, I haven't done a change in over 2 weeks. All my levels are zero, but I don't have any fish in there yet, just corals.I run my protein skimmer and use carbon.

If you do not get a reading for ammonia, nitrite or nitrates over 10 ppm, I would lay off the water changes for a bit. Freshly mixed salt is very harsh to sensitive invertebrates and corals, as well as fish. When you are adding the replaced water I would add back slowly. I have heard that you can put some brine shrimp under the starfish and it will eat it. You may want to google your starfish and find out what it requires. I was looking at one of those for sale the other day, they are very beautiful, hope he gets better.

huh? Seriously? Freshly mixed Salt water is NOT harmful to anything as long as it matches existing water conditions. A water change is one of the best things you can do for a reef tank. It's like a fresh spring breeze coming into your tank. As long as both waters match I say go for it.

Linkia stars are still a big mystery. Some stars do eat meaty foods but I never EVER saw my linkia eat meaty foods.

 

[TheRookieReefer]

yeah i've tried to feed it frozen brine shrimp but have never seem it take any.

BigAl...I've heard you mention a few times about MAG. Is this very important that I test for this? What is it all about?

 

[BigAl07]

Mag and Calcwork in balance. Head over to
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/

and read some of these stickies.

 

[miaskies]

I've heard of people nuking their corals and killing their fish from adding mixed salt too fast. Only add it a little at a time and if the water u r pouring in looks cloudy in the tank, stop and wait a while. Salt that is not mixed well enough is abrasive to sensitive invertebrates, as well as fish and coral.

 

[BigAl07]

That only happens if it's mixed WRONG!!

A) wrong temp or PH
B) not allowed to dissolve thoroughly before adding to tank.

Clouds the tank? that's a HUGE problem.

ALL salt should be mix in a container, agitated and heated for no LESS than 24 hours. The salt doesn't dissolve quick enough to do it any quicker. It's not the W/C that harms the animals... it's the process that's wrong which hurts the coral.... W/C are GOOD!

 

[ReefLady]

I've heard of people nuking their corals and killing their fish from adding mixed salt too fast

True, I think this happens when people don't do water changes "properly". Properly meaning completely mixed and aerated overnight with a power head and a heater to match tank temp, salinity, and pH.
If you dump salt into cool RO, mix briefly, and add to a tank, yes, that could have negative consequences.

 

[ReefLady]

LOL, Al, stop typing what I'm thinking/typing. ;-)

 

[BigAl07]

LOL! Think faster

 

[ReefLady]

It's not the thinking that's the problem, it's my dyslexic thumbs that slow me down. ;-)

 

[dionysusjg]

I don't match the temp of my water changes, but I do 'drip' add them. Ie, I replace the water using a fast running drip mechanism.

 

[miaskies]

I want one of those blue starfish too, they are so cute- has anyone here kept them with success for any good amount of time?

 

[ReefLady]

We had our for about 4 years. That was in a fairly large tank (180g) w/+/- 225lbs of live rock. The less LR they have, the less chance of long-term survival.