Another Linkia Thread...

[lanesreef]

I have been keeping an eye on my Blue Linkia star for about a day now. He seems to be 'melting' down the rocks. This a.m. I found him near the bottom. He was sort of crushing one of his arms. Well I moved him to see what was going on and he is dead. I have posted a picture of his bottom side and it looks like he dumped his guts?

<br>I have been reading and found mixed reviews, however, most say these stars are hard to keep. It was in my tank for 8 days. Seemed real well for about 4-5 and then died off. Could it have starved in only 8 days? I did a water test before he was added and again today and there was no real changes. Everything within normal limits.

Anyway I don't suspect any changes in the tank chemistry but maybe there is something I am missing. Nothing else has died off and I also have a sand sifting star who has been around a while. The tank is relatively new (2 months) and maybe there just isn't enough 'stuff' in there for him to eat yet. <br>

I have had problems with other inverts (BTA, Seabea anenomes) but I am more conviced that was a lighting deficiency more than anything. As far as I know the stars don't really rely on lighting for much of anything.

I really like the way he looked and consulted my very helpful LFS where I purchased him if they thought he would do ok (tank requirements, etc). I would like to get another (and had thoughts of adding a red one as well before this one died) Is there anything I could alter? Feed them? etc?

Well I am not sure if this is really a post of questions or more of a discussion but there it is.

[Rob]

Seth, this sounds like a classic case of improper acclimation. linkia seastars are one of the most difficult inverts to acclimate, usually require slow drip acclimation over the course of 2-4 hours, or more. failure to properly acclimate will result in what you see now.
This "melting and dumping" will happen within 1-4 weeks of introduction if acclimation not done right.

i personally recommend you not try to keep any more until your tank reaches 10-12 month. this is for 2 reasons. it gives your tank time to mature and be stable, but more importantly it give you time to mature as a hobbyist and gain more experience with these types of things