help with orange linkia star

[wilson]

iml ooking into it b4 i get interested in it.

does n e ove have n e info aobut that star. i want to get it for my 20 g fowlr that i am going to be having one or two false percs. and one other fish ( dunno wat) or tow if i only get one false perc clownfish

[PSU4ME]

they feed on a film that covers live rock....you would probably not have enough in your tank....but then again, who am I?

[sw_addicted]

We have an orange linkia star in our 120g he spends most of his time eating off the glass, I have caught him eating the sea weed in a clip for the tangs more than once.

[reefrunner]

Linckia require mature tanks with lots of LR, 100lbs minimum. I watched a blue linckia starve over the course of a year in my 20g tank. When I realized what was happening, I gave it to someone with a larger tank, but the internal damage of such long term starvation was probably more than it could recover from. Don't make the same mistake I did.

[wilson]

r there n e smaller stars i can have or is it just impossible

[Craig Manoukian]

Wecome wilson!

A 20 gallon is pretty small for a starfish. Why do you want one? Is there a specific cleanup activity you have planned?.

[wilson]

no specific activity i just think they look cool and are kinda of interesting to look at

[Craig Manoukian]

Maybe save this addition for your next and bigger tank, eh?

[mps9506]

Have you thought about a brittle star?
They are much tougher than linkia or fromia stars, although maybe not as pretty (beauty is in the eye of the beholder )
Since it is FOWLER, maybe a choc hip will do well in there. I don't really know the specfics on them though, except they are not reef safe.
There are some really nice looking brittle stars out there that won't munch on your fish, just stay away from the green ones.
The black brittle stars are great, but you may not see him often as they tend to hide in the rocks.
The serpent stars are very interesting also.
Mike

[Craig Manoukian]

My black brittle star was 10" across after only four months in my tank. In addition, he ate two Carpenter's Wrasses during his stay, very expensive meals. Being that a 20 gallon is only 12" wide I feel it is too smll and confining for most starfish. i have no idea how big the Chocolate Chip starfish get.

[mps9506]

wow Craig...
We have a black brittle star in the 75 and he has been there for around 4 years, I'd estimate him maybe 8 inches all the way across. Hard to tell because he is almost always in a rock somewhere, as in he finds his way INTO rocks. Then you see the arms come out and grab bits of food when I feed the tank.
Funny to see a rock and then tentacles start coming out of it like it has legs or something... Haven't lost any fish from in that tank.
I've seen some HUGE green brittle stars though, scary enough to make me think two or three times before picking those suckers up.
Maybe a red serpent star would be nice....
Mike

[cheeks69]

Starfish are very sensitive to ph and salinity fluctuations and often develop bacterial infections because it. I wouldn't recommend it for a small tank especially a Linckia like Kevin said you need a lot of LR and small tanks are susceptible to drastic swings because of the small volume of water. Also if you decide to get one I would recommend you let it acclimate for a minimum of 4-8 hours before adding it to the tank. JME
I have tried several starfish without success Good luck