linkia starfish

[tracereefer]

i recently saw a stunning orange linkia starfish at my lfs. i’d love to take it home, but i’ve heard they’re tough to keep. any tips on keeping these pretty dudes alive? what do they eat? will they knock over corals? tips and tricks plz! thanks

 

[Phycodurus]

from my experience, make sure the specimen has zero skin abrasions. drip acclimation is a must. i constantly hear “do not expose it to air when transferring” but mine will occasionally hang out at the water line and “feel” the surface like other starfish are wont to do (i think it’s skimming the surface for organics?)

a well-established mature, stable tank will go a long way. i believe they eat primarily bacterial film and microfauna off the rocks, but i’ve read of people spot-feeding them pieces of krill or shrimp occasionally.

i don’t know them to knock over corals the way a turbo snail or a cowrie might do. mine tends to hide a lot (and i hardly have any fish in my tank at the moment). make sure you don’t have fish that will potentially harass it (like toby puffers).

also be aware that linckia can host parasitic snails so watch the LFS specimen closely before purchase and during acclimation.

good luck with it if you take the plunge! :)

 

[FiveGallonSea]

I love Linckias. Around here and even online anything but blue is impossible to find. I'd pick up a red or orange in a heart beat. I've had my blue a couple years. He is pretty interesting to watch he can fold himself into any kind of position in crevices you would never think he'd fit in. I don't feed mine anything. I've actually never fed my stars, but my tank is relatively mature so I think they find stuff on their own. If you're picking up from your LFS and not having it shipped just make sure you slowly drip acclimate to the salinity of your tank. Stars do NOT respond well during acclimation even if you do everything right. It's a coin toss if it will do well, but as stated above make sure his skin is perfect. NO gashes or white spots. Another thing you can ask is for them to put the star upside down. A healthy star will try to right itself quickly a sick one won't. Keep us updated.