[DebsSisterFlo]

Yep, I've decided I'm going to try it. Since our club has the group buy going in this friday I'm figuring I'll just order one and see what happens. I don't run my skimmer so there should be plenty of icky stuff for him to forage for? I do have to clean my glass and I've read that is a good thing for sea stars. I did a search and saw that some people have had luck with them, and some have not. Some put them in tanks that are only a couple months old, and smaller tanks than mine... well we'll see what happens! I know I have to drip acclimate him for hours...

 

[afbengochea]

good luck jess

 

[afbengochea]

any reason why the orange?

 

[DebsSisterFlo]

well, they're a tad bit tougher than the blue, and it's only $20 where the blue is not in stock.
My lfs has the red/orange stars, but I know he only temp acclimates them and then tosses the critters into his tanks! He told me he does this because the shipping bags are so toxic from the fish being in them and fouling the water that they need to be removed asap... I'm not going to take a chance with his stars.

 

[afbengochea]

good to know about the difference of the 2. I wouldnt mind having a blue one but im not ready for it just yet. Once its done aclimating it, are they able to be exposed to oxygen?

 

[Brent Cone]

Good luck! Jess! my Red and my Blue ones bit the dust, the biggest problem they go thru is when their shipped & the salinity differences from where they came from and the salinity to the water their introduced, the orange ones are sposed to be more hardy but i had bad luck with both, i wish you luck!
Brent.

 

[DebsSisterFlo]

that is a very good question, but I have seen them (at that lfs) lift stars out of the water... I'm assuming it wouldn't hurt them, but would someone who knows please chime in?

 

[whatevva]

I have an orange and a blue. All I can say is sloooooooooowwww acclimation. Test the alk and salinity of the water he comes in, and drip until it matches yours. I spent a good 4 hours on each of mine and they're both very healthy. My orange one lost a leg for some reason and it grew back. Good luck! For me, I think this is one creature that I would prefer to pick out myself. I've seen too many of them come into the LFS with black tips on the legs.

 

[afbengochea]

hey butch, when you are moving it into the water can it be exposed to air?

 

[whatevva]

hey butch, when you are moving it into the water can it be exposed to air?

Both of mine were exposed to air, both at the LFS and here at home. It doesn't seem to be a problem.

 

[cats&fish]

I bought an orange linkia from Saltwaterfish.com. I don't know if it really is a linkia because from what I have heard they are very hard to keep and require a very specific diet. I have had mine since March of this year and he is doing great! I am not really sure what he eats but he sure books around the tank all the time. Mine actually has black tips on his legs that look like they are part of the coloring. They don't look like rot or necrosis or anything like that, is it not supposed to be black? Anyway, I just have a 55 gal with about 60-70 lbs LR. I have a live sandbed that is now about 1.5 to 2 inches deep (need to add more sand soon). But, he will "walk" all over the sand, the glass, and the rock all the time. I have seen him move into crevasses in the rock and I didn't know how he got in or how he was going to get out but he did! He doesn't bother my corals (I only have some zoos, mushrooms, and a gorgonian right now). Just thought I would share my story too. Don't know if it is a linkia (like I said above) but he was advertised as one and he is doing great!

 

[ShirleyM]

What Butch said... VERY SLOW acclimation. Get the pH, the sg, the temp all the same very very slowly. They'll fall apart otherwise...

 

[partobe]

I bought a blue and an orange not realizing they are said to be difficult. I only took an hour acclimating them and they are fine. Sometimes when I do water changes they are at the top of the tank and I expose them to air not realizing it and Ive had no problems. Good Luck!

 

[thekid55]

does the glass need to be clean all the time.

 

[DebsSisterFlo]

I thought they liked the stuff on the glass... ?
when you drip acclimate... how fast of a drip does it have to be? like a leaky sink drip, or? Stupid question I know, but I really want to do all that I can to give the star the best chance to start out in my tank...

 

[thekid55]

o i thought you said they like clean glass. never mind. i think after i get more rock im going to get one or two

 

[ShirleyM]

You can use the drip method like you said... we add 1/4 cup at a time to a 2-gallon container and then check pH and water temp and sg. We spent a couple hrs, had a blue linkia live for a couple few years. He was on the glass a lot eating whatever was there. We lost him (disintegration of rays) when our water went south -- higher in nitrates/phosphates. Don't know if that's why, but that's when it happened. He was fairly large when we got him, and quite plump. We had two little tiny orange stars -- one died upon entry to the tank (probably too quick on acclimation - we didn't know much then) and the other lived longer, but disintegrated within a few months.

They are beautiful and really cool in the tank - I hope yours lives a long time. I wouldn't get a "skinny" one.

 

[greenbean36191]

hey butch, when you are moving it into the water can it be exposed to air?

There's no reason starfish can't be exposed to air. In fact, you'll often find Linckia exposed during extremely low tides. This myth probably came about from someone grasping at straws to explain why they kept killing these things. The same is true of the myth that touching them with your bare hands kills them.

I don't know if it really is a linkia because from what I have heard they are very hard to keep and require a very specific diet. I have had mine since March of this year and he is doing great!

A good portion of "Linckia" stars in the hobby probably aren't really Linckia, but they have similar behavior and body shapes. Unfortunately, you aren't quite out of the woods yet with your star. It can take about 18-24 months for these guys to starve to death. As with most inverts, they don't show outward signs of decline until it's too late.

 

[partobe]

wow and I thought I had done so well. I will have to keep an eye on them.