Linkia starfish

[yakfishin]

I saw where a local marine store advertised that in their shipment they had some Blue Linkias. I have 220G aquarium that has been running for 6 years now with excellent water parameters. I thought I would go the store to see what they looked like and arrived to see a customer purchasing the last one. This store has always kept good care of their stock. It's the store I always go to for purchasing delicate fish because I have never had an issue with the fish later having ich or anything in quarantine. So I was shocked when one of the store employees reached in and took the rock out of the tank the linkia was attached to. He did so to see if he could take the starfish off, it was wedged in a gap, without doing damage. He placed the rock back in the tank and then told the person he could either purchase the starfish and they would call him when the starfish came out, or he could purchase both the rock and the starfish, or he could break the rock to get the starfish. The customer chose to have the rock broken. So once again the starfish was removed from the water, this time for 2-3 minutes while the rock was broken. I had thought I had remembered that starfish don't do well when being removed from water. I really believe this was probably the fault of a new employee who wasn't aware of their sensitivity to air. But who knows. Which leads me to my question. I really loved the look of the starfish, but the stores in my area get them very infrequently and they are sold off fast. Also, if this is the way they are perhaps handled, I'm scared to purchase one from a local store. I'm thinking I might be better off ordering one online and seeing what condition it arrives in. I don't have money to throw around, but it's not like taking a risk on ordering a $250 fish without seeing it first. What do you all think.

 

[bohannbj]

LA is selling them 8 bucks a piece for a medium. I bought 5 yesterday for my harlys and to see if I can get them to breed. From my experience with stars and other things, they are not so sensitive to adverse conditions. Remember that a lot of starfish inhabited waters get exposed to air during the tides without any ill effects. I think most of the times people experience a problem is due to a combination of factors, not just exposing them to air. It's just like disease. Almost all your fish will be exposed to a pathogen no matter how much quarantine you do. If your water quality is good then they should have an immune system to knock it out. It's never just one thing.

 

[yakfishin]

Thanks for the information. Did the linkia arrive ok? I was thinking of ordering from them but started to look for perhaps an online vendor on the east coast where they wouldn't have to ship as far. I guess when shipped by airplane, they get here fairly quick. I live in VA as well. Thanks again.

 

[greenbean36191]

Sea stars have absolutely no problem with air exposure.

They have two main problems- starvation due to being in small tanks, and poor acclimation. That poor acclimation can happen anywhere along the chain of custody between the ocean and your tank, so buying from the best store in town and acclimating carefully when you get home is little protection. Since it takes a few weeks for acclimation damage to become apparent, the only way you can ensure that you don't buy a doomed star is to buy one that's been in the same system for a few weeks and still shows no wounds, discolorations, mushy spots, or sunken areas. Buying one that just came into the shop or sight-unseen from an online vendor is a complete craps shoot.

 

[Humu Humu]

I was talking to a store employee who had a dedicated starfish tank. He took several stars out of the tank to show me them and discuss. When he placed them back in, he turned them upside down for a few seconds. He said it gets any trapped air out.