Typical Noob Question

[sen5241b]

There is a beautiful blue star fish at the store the size of my hand. My first marine tank has been operating for two months and has two fish and other smaller critters. Is the star fish out my league?

 

[reeffreak]

Linkia sea stars are super difficult.I myself wouldn't even try one.You would really need a well mature tank,very stable conditions and IMO,your system isn't big enough for one.They are pretty though.

 

[McCrary]

Linkias are out of almost everybody's league, they just don't seem to do well. When they occasionally do well in a person's tank, it is usually a very large SPS tank that has parameters very close to that of the ocean and has been running for some time.

 

[daugherty]

i have had a few of them but they are hard to keep alive i first on i had got eaten by a choc chip star and the other died when my tank overheated and the third one that i had did not make the acclamation. i would stay away from them.

 

[yote]

A lot of the reef keeping pros wont even try linkias.Nobodies even 100% sure of what they feed on.And from what I've read on them,99.9% of them end up starving to death.

 

[McCrary]

Yea, thats why they typically do well in larger more mature systems. There's enough of whatever they feed on to keep them going.

 

[Bifferwine]

Linkias rarely live longer than a few weeks. In anyone's tank. Like others have said, no one has figured out what they eat. I believe that until we learn more about them and their needs, they are one of those animals that should be left in the ocean and not even sold.

 

[nudy6969]

thats nice of ur lfs, selling people animals that are going to die. all the rats want is money.

 

[Bifferwine]

I've seen linkias sold in every fish store I've been in and on every website that sells animals. It's not unique to any particular LFS.

Where there is a demand, there will be a supply. Fish stores wouldn't sell them if people researched them properly before they bought them.