Blue Linckia Star dead/dying help!

[justin howley]

Hi all, noob here. First my background and stats...I have a Fluval Edge cycled, 6 weeks old. Have active sand, 5lbs of live rock, a green chromis (added at 4 weeks) three headed frog spawn, hammer coral, purple zoo colony and a peppermint shrimp. All are thriving, tank stats are all ideal salinity at 1.026, temp at 77 degrees, using 24 watt T5 about 5 inches above the top of the tank.

I bought a Blue Star, I wanted one really bad. I acclimated him by the book for 2 hrs because I knew of its sensitivity. I had him in the tank for 6 days. He was active for 5 of those days. Two days ago I noticed a small brown algae bloom. The Star crawled behind a rock out of the direct light and hung out there for a day. Now he is limp and his limbs have all drooped. He is barley holding on to the rock. A few of his feet move every so often but he looks bad. The Shrimp is waiting next to him, probably to eat him.

Is he a lost cause? What could of causes his death? My frogspawn has grown since I got it, and everything else looks good.

 

[nanchil]

Blue Linka star is one of the hardest start to keep and it requires very matured system. Good luck...

 

[Joker4132]

Am sorry to say but it looks like lights out for ya buddy. Those stars need a very large, mature, stable tank and even with that sometimes do not do so well. For a 6 gallon tank you have, it is very hard to next to impossible to keep all para's extremely stable required for your star and that doesnt even sttart with the feeding requirement. The only chance that star has of making it is in another tank.

 

[justin howley]

Man... I know they were tough to keep, but figured everything else is thriving. I feel bad for him. Oh well, live and learn. Thanks guys.

 

[Imbarrie]

Make sure to research all your purchases from multiple sources before you buy them. Not going to be the coral cop because a lot of us have been there before.

Just because one thing appears to be doing well does not mean you have a healthy tank.

 

[justin howley]

Yeah true. Well update, he is in the back corner of the tank on the sand up against the glass. I can see his little feet things moving, but he still looks bad. At what rate do these guys die? Anything I can do to dose the tank with something? If it does die, should I take it right out?

 

[NYreefNoob]

1 in a 100 make it if that long term

 

[KathyC]

Few make it because people don't provide a larger enough or mature enough tank for them as they don't do the RESEARCH required before buying a living creature.
Linkias have very well defined requirements and there is no way your tank can support pne.

The only chance it has to continue living is for you to get it to an established, large tank immediately.
Hope it is not already too late. :star:

Please research any animal you plan to put into your tank before you buy it.

 

[bizarrecorals]

+1 you do need a well established tank, a lot of it has to do with how they ship from overseas, ppl usually minimize the amount of room in the bag and water given to reduce weight/frieght, most star do poorly with a minimal amount of water which they're shipped in.

 

[masterswimmer]

At this point I'd say the best thing you can do for that linckia is to offer it to someone who has a Harlequin Shrimp. At least make a good meal out of it.

If the person who sold you the Blue Linckia knew what type of system you had before selling you the star, I would honestly never return to that person. If they knew, they were totally ignorant of the necessary requirements for that invert and don't qualify as capable for selling marine animals. Stay away from them (if they knew). And quite frankly, if they didn't know, then stay even farther away because the responsible person would qualify you as a buyer before selling you that type of invert.

Best of luck with your system. Hope to see you at the swap Sunday. Lots of great information to be had there.

Russ

 

[Imbarrie]

+1 Cannot be said any better or often enough.

If the person who sold you the Blue Linckia knew what type of system you had before selling you the star, I would honestly never return to that person. If they knew, they were totally ignorant of the necessary requirements for that invert and don't qualify as capable for selling marine animals. Stay away from them (if they knew). And quite frankly, if they didn't know, then stay even farther away because the responsible person would qualify you as a buyer before selling you that type of invert.

Russ

Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[BKLYN REEF]

sorry about the starfish. going to the swap?

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

Hi all, noob here. First my background and stats...I have a Fluval Edge cycled, 6 weeks old. Have active sand, 5lbs of live rock, a green chromis (added at 4 weeks) three headed frog spawn, hammer coral, purple zoo colony and a peppermint shrimp. All are thriving, tank stats are all ideal salinity at 1.026, temp at 77 degrees, using 24 watt T5 about 5 inches above the top of the tank.

I bought a Blue Star, I wanted one really bad. I acclimated him by the book for 2 hrs because I knew of its sensitivity. I had him in the tank for 6 days. He was active for 5 of those days. Two days ago I noticed a small brown algae bloom. The Star crawled behind a rock out of the direct light and hung out there for a day. Now he is limp and his limbs have all drooped. He is barley holding on to the rock. A few of his feet move every so often but he looks bad. The Shrimp is waiting next to him, probably to eat him.

Is he a lost cause? What could of causes his death? My frogspawn has grown since I got it, and everything else looks good.

we know your a newbie but to many people love this hobby and don't like to see people killing anything b/c they did not do research. So just ask questions here first b/c there are alot of people who can sterr you in the right place. Thats what MR is for, good luck