Offical Starfish (Fromia) Thread

[ReefWreak]

Hey I think I IDed the starfish as a Linckia Guildingi, because it looks solid and almost short-haired and fuzzy, like mine, except mine is very orange.

 

The Complete Book of the Marine Aquarium says that they are scavengers who eat small sand-dwelling organisms, detritus, and other organic matter. I've got plenty of liverock, and even about 3/4 of my tank's inner footprint is just sand bed, so he should have plenty of grazing room. I've also seen hundreds of 'pods swimming around my tank on some rare nights. I believe he eats those, as per the description given above.

 

He still sits in the top corner of my tank, with his top arm laying paralell to the water line, almost where I could be dried. I really want him to feel like he's in a natural setting, and want him to not be miserable in my tank. Stupid sounding, I know, but I feel terrible if I'm just cooping him up and the LFS tank, where he was milling around their tank all the time, held him just fine.

 

He has not stuck up his tentacle for food, and I fed mysis shrimp this afternoon, and there are about a dozen that will still fly around my tank, because my fish didn't eat all of them, so if he needs food, there will be some.

 

Let me know if there is anything else in perticular that I should be looking for.+

 

[EDIT]

 

I talked to the owner of the LFS, and he says that it probably comes down at night when I'm sleeping so that is why I never see it scouring the bottom. ::shrug::

 

Thank you

Edited October 10, 2005 by ReefWreak

[BelowH2O]

I forgot to add in my above post that after I took my sandbed out, the Fromia became much less active. Since I never saw it eat anything I put in the tank this probably took out a considerable amount of its diet.

[apophis924]

I have NO idea what these things eat . I got mine a year ago. my tank is skimmerless and sumpless. 3 gallon a week water changes. with IO salt. I only add kalk. He moves a lot. on the glass and rocks. What ever it eats it is something natural to the tank and nothing I am feeding it. At anyrate I think it is luck, hell when i got the thing I just dumped it in the tank /since it arrived on my lunch break i had no time to acclimate it.

[fluidimagery]

I feel like an idiot. Another one of my spontaneos buys at the LFS, in the frag tank they had a few of these guys crawling around and I thought it would add some color. I asked the employee what kind of star it was (not knowing much about them) and he said it was a Linkia and said it would be fine in my NC12dx turns out that he's a fromia milleporella. Not knowing a lot about these guys I acclimated for only about 45 minutes with the bag in the tank... slowly adding water to it. I took him out an put him on the sandbed, then he climbed up to the position on the rock that's in the pic and didn't move very much. I noticed tonight (2 days after acclimation) that his arms were starting to curl over, don't know if this is a sign he's not doing so well etc. So I took him off the rock he was on and sat him in the sandbed where he took off up the glass and he's not hanging out at the top of the tank... arms completely out but the one is curled around the surface, so I took some flake and crumpled it up and layed it on his arm.

 

I'm reading over this post about 5 hour acclimation times, killing zoos etc so I'm nervous now. I guess there's not much I can do other than return him. I'll keep a close eye on him.

 

[Withers]

Bump.

 

Does anybody still have theirs? I just picked up this gem from the LFS yesterday. Here's hoping he does well.

 

 

[Argent]

I have a starfish in my tank - but I haven't a clue what he is. He's about 3" in diameter and I've had him now for about 5-6 months.

 

[Withers]

That looks like a linckia, but I've never seen one colored like that!

[Umpa]

I wish I had read this thread a few weeks ago

 

I Have just got one, Mine is a Formia Indica and I acclimatised it over a 2 hour period using a salifert syring and slowly added my tank water to his bag. I also adjusted my tank water to his first to stop PH shock, the salinity was slightly higher in my tank - his was 1.022 and mine was 1.025, My nitrates are at 5 whilest his was at 50ppm.

 

The tank hes now in is a Juwel Lido 120ltr, it has MH 14k light and has 2 Korralin 2300lph powerheads in it. I kept the internal filter, heater, sponge & powerhead.

 

I have a sump its not vey big, and is just a place to stand my PO4,NO3 reactors and the skimmer,its fed from an overflow box and returned via a 1200ltr powerhead.

 

I have quite a bit of live rock (about 20KG) and have 2 Clowns, 1 Royal Gramma, 1 Fire Fish, 1 Manderin, 1 Cleaner Shrimp, 1 Blood Shrimp, about 6 Spiny Astrea snails & the Star Fish.

 

After reading this thread I must say that its taken the wind out of my sail, I dont usually lose livestock, but I figure this just might.

 

I'll keep you posted

 

Ump..

[Withers]

I guess I forgot to update this thread. I lost mine after about 8 months. It just up and died one day.

[Umpa]

I guess I forgot to update this thread. I lost mine after about 8 months. It just up and died one day.

 

did you ever feed it anything ?

[Withers]

did you ever feed it anything ?

 

They don't take prepared foods. Actually nobody really knows what they eat.

[dtfleming]

Glad I look through this thread. thought about getting one. I have a green brittle in my tank now that comes out anytimes I feed my tank, and he hasnt bothered anything yet.

[Owen28GT]

VicSkimmr :: Do you mean that one night it was fine, and the next day dead on your tank floor?

[Withers]

Basically. It wasn't dead when I removed it but I can recognize when a starfish is past saving. It had started to melt.

[geekreef_05]

hum.. melting eh?

 

thats interesting b/c i would assume that 8 months would mean it starved to death.

 

but melting implies that it was stressed somehow and died.

[Withers]

hum.. melting eh?

 

thats interesting b/c i would assume that 8 months would mean it starved to death.

 

but melting implies that it was stressed somehow and died.

 

They usually last about a year, regardless of tank size, which is also odd. Maybe it just takes them that long to starve to death?

 

I'm not sure what caused mine to melt. If I can find a smaller one (mine was full grown when I bought it at 3"), I might give it a shot.

[SeeDemTails]

I know they eat asternias, my blue loved them. I would watch it eat several a day. After they were gone though, it also melted away.

 

 

We dont order them to the shop anymore, and I dont plan to keep them again.

 

The odd colored linckia above is called a comet linckia.

Edited April 11, 2008 by SeeDemTails

[Withers]

I know they eat asternias, my blue loved them. I would watch it eat several a day. After they were gone though, it also melted away.

 

 

We dont order them to the shop anymore, and I dont plan to keep them again.

 

The odd colored linckia above is called a comet linckia.

 

That might explain why I currently have an outbreak of asterinas, haha. I would think that if the answer was that simple it would be common knowledge though. Are you sure that's a fromia? The last thing I read about them suggested sponges or some type of microalgae, but it wasn't conclusive.

[Umpa]

They don't take prepared foods. Actually nobody really knows what they eat.

 

Well I have been told they eat algae, and you can add water to pellets and squish it in to blobs and stick it on your rock.

 

Thats what I'm going to try.

 

Ump...

[JumpstartRN]

I have a sandsifter (impulse buy #1, #2 was the anemone that I returned) I'm trying to find a home for him now because he isn't sifting as much anymore and my tank is wayyyyyyyy too small (yeah I have learned a few things on here). He has probably depleted my sand bed so I am hoping my neighbor will take him and my ginormis turbo snail who has done such an outstanding job of cleaning that he too will be on a diet soon! I think he eats some of the frozen anemone food that I mix into the sand out of guilt.

[beeker]

as far as i can tell from having my formia star for almost 2 months now he graze's on every type of algea there is in the tank, i've tryed to feed him krill and pelet type food without getting him to eat any of it, i noticed that he'll clear the glass at night time and during the day he's normally grazzing the LR eating patches of algea off of it...i just hope i can grow enough excess algea on my LR weekly to support his appetite, but so far he's been doing good

[snatchbak]

I bought a orange linckia and it lasted only about week and a half.

From what I understand its all a hit or miss.

So, I decided to try a red Fromia star. Acclimated him for 3 hours or so, just like the linckia.

Hopefully it will last for atleast a year so I get my moneys worth.

I also have a big brittle star that I've had for about a year. I'm thinking of taking him out so there's more food for the fromia. I'm also thinking of taking out some snails.

Any suggestions?

[Parker0824]

Here's mine, just got it today. Anybody know a good technique on feeding them prepped foods?

 

[kentmoney]

Bump.

 

Does anybody still have theirs? I just picked up this gem from the LFS yesterday. Here's hoping he does well.

 

 

 

 

Such a shame, its gorgeous! Anyone had more luck in recent time?

[TerraIncognita]

#7 year bump.

 

anyone keeping fromias who’s active rn?

GF starfish obsessed and this seems like the best bet if I’m gonna try