Blue Linkia Starfish ?

[jcaquatics]

I'm looking for your thoughts, opinions, and experiences on keeping these. I think there are beautiful, but have heard mixed things on their survival in a tank. I know proper acclimation and a stable tank is key, but any other knowledge would be helpful. Thanks

 

[rick17]

i had one that died in a week if not less but i didnt know about the acclimation im going to try again soon

 

[jnfallon]

i have had one for maybe 6 months. seems to be doing just fine.

That being said, I have a LOT of live rock (750 lbs) and he (it) is always moving from place to place so I think he's an active scavenger, and isnt getting what he needs in any great quantities. Short version, I'd make sure he goes in a large tank w/ a lot of live rock.
\

 

[billsreef]

One of the tough parts about these guys is that you don't know how they were handled and acclimated along the way from the reef to your LFS. Even if the LFS and later you acclimate them perfectly, they could still breakdown in a few days to a few weeks from misshandling earlier on in the supply chain.

 

[Kigs]

i've had mine in a 29g for the past six months or so. i made sure it didn't touch the air, and didn't touch it with hands and whatnot. it seemed really sluggish and literally almost dead for the first month, but now it's always out moving around. like people have mentioned before me, they do need a large tank for longeivity, but idk. mine seems to be doing well at the moment. i'll just have to wait and see how long it survives for.

 

[pyro383]

I'm interested in 1 also.

 

[dnsheavy]

I have had mine for a few months now. It seems to move all over the tank. Last week it was gone...this week it is all over the rockwork again.

I am told that the Blue Linkia is the hardiest of the sea stars...


--Dave--

 

[Kigs]

hardiest = meaning tolerable? or hardiest as hard to keep? because i thought they were very hard to keep

 

[pecan2phat]

Actually, the Multiflora linkias have a better survival rate in captivity.
But as Justin said, you still need a lot of live rock for any linkia to do well.

 

[Spracklcat]

Ahhh.... funny story about me and a blue linckia. When I first started with this nonsense I got one, and it looked a bit, er, still in the bag, but hey, what do I know. I acclimated very carefully, added it to the tank, and waited. It moved a bit so it was half hidden behind the rockwork, then stayed there for a week or so before I decided it was time to give it a poke. The front part seemed ok, but it was hooked up to the rock, so I figured I'd reach around to the back and release it from the rock and see if it crawled around. So I reached behind the rock to grab the starfish...

and came up with a handful of rotten, necrotic, decayed, black and green stinky dead starfish.

Eew.

Christine

 

[mgny]

Hi Cindy, I have mine for a year or so. Picked him up from Tony ( Reef Exotics). He took the time to acclimate him slowly. Real cool starfish . Mike

 

[DEXTER SOLIS]

they too like to wonder off too close to power heads....good thing they regenerate limbs

 

[fishamajiggle]

i had a blue linka for a while and then i fed it to my harlequin shrimp.