Blue linckia starfish
- Thread starter Nick D
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They definitely work as harlequin food, and they're extremely unlikely to eat corals (though it does happen every now and then, just like with reef-safe fish), but they're not likely to be your best option for keeping harlequins at the moment - blue Linckias have a very poor survival record for most people/tanks, and harlequins are voracious eaters.
Most people use Chocolate Chip Starfish to feed harlequins, as Chocolate Chip stars tend to fair better in our tanks (and can often regrow chopped off/eaten limbs as a result).
That Linckia looks to be in great condition - very plump.I had a blue links for years. Kinda an expensive shrimp food. Too beautiful to sacrifice. But they definitely won’t hurt your any corals.
How many years have you had your star? Can you tell us more about your tank setup and any special care you give the star? Do you have any Asterina (Aquilonastra) stars, sponges, or tunicates your Linckia can get to?
The vast majority of these stars that I've seen die within ~8-13 months, so I'd love to know more about your system and see if there's something different about it that enables the star to survive/thrive.
To be clear I had one. I no longer. However I cared for this guy from 2014 to some time in 2018. Nothing special about the tank it was actually a new tank not "fully established". He even made it though a tank upgrade so two new tanks. Didn't have Asterinas, tunicates, or much sponge. I can tell you the only reason I purchased it was because I witness it feeding on the glass at my LFS. So I tried to feed for a while with no success. He survived for a while with me not certain if it was eating. Then one day I find him wrapped around this new fish food. Thats the last photo in my previous post. From that point I would take pieces of the fish food and press onto the glass, grab the star and hold him on it till he griped on. He would center himself and the expel his stomach and "eat" the food. The food company i think went out of business New Era Marine Grazer Rings but I did find another food that worked also. Can't remember whats its called, comes in powder form and you add RO water mix it and get it to a play-do consistency .Then Life happens feeding became scarce and husbandry lacking. I notice a bit of damage on one arm and within 2 weeks he was mush. The pictures below are time stamped from my IG with him in it.
Sorry that it's gone now; 4 years is one of the longest I've heard of so far, so it must have liked something about the tank - I'll have to see if I can look into those foods at all.To be clear I had one. I no longer. However I cared for this guy from 2014 to some time in 2018. Nothing special about the tank it was actually a new tank not "fully established". He even made it though a tank upgrade so two new tanks. Didn't have Asterinas, tunicates, or much sponge. I can tell you the only reason I purchased it was because I witness it feeding on the glass at my LFS. So I tried to feed for a while with no success. He survived for a while with me not certain if it was eating. Then one day I find him wrapped around this new fish food. Thats the last photo in my previous post. From that point I would take pieces of the fish food and press onto the glass, grab the star and hold him on it till he griped on. He would center himself and the expel his stomach and "eat" the food. The food company i think went out of business New Era Marine Grazer Rings but I did find another food that worked also. Can't remember whats its called, comes in powder form and you add RO water mix it and get it to a play-do consistency .Then Life happens feeding became scarce and husbandry lacking. I notice a bit of damage on one arm and within 2 weeks he was mush. The pictures below are time stamped from my IG with him in it.
Yeah, Chocolate Chip Starfish are known to eat corals - most people keep them in a separate holding tank or in the sump to feed the harlequins.
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