Blue linckia starfish

[DalPal25]

My LFS is asking $30 for a blue linckia. I feel like I may have been overpaying since I recently spent $120 on a pair of bonded phantom clowns. I just wanted to check with the forum about pricing. I've seen prices for both of these species for far less online. It's a great store and haven't had any problems with them! Just want to hear any thoughts about this.

 

[jerseypete]

Online is usually cheaper price. But then you have to pay overnight shipping. Which is $$$.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

How big is it?

Seems a little high for online retail but for a LFS it seems pretty competitive.

 

[Nihilus]

Those things go for about $15 around here. (LFS)

 

[DalPal25]

How big is it?

Seems a little high for online retail but for a LFS it seems pretty competitive.

Only caught a glimpse of it but my guess (which could be way off keep in mind) was between 6-7 inches if it had been stretched across its whole body. All its arms were bent though.

 

[iLLwiLL]

I paid 26 for a big one like that ... diddnt last more than 3 days in my tank tho

 

[DalPal25]

I paid 26 for a big one like that ... diddnt last more than 3 days in my tank tho

I've heard that they're hard to acclimate and take care of... Does anyone have any tips on taking care of them?

 

[Roboson]

They have a very high tendency to melt. It's thought that they need sponges and other filter feeders (who die in our tanks) in their diet to be truly healthy. They can do well in systems that are also conducive to sponge growth.

 

[radiata]

MY SPIN ON BLUE LINKIAS

You need to acclimate them for hours. I usually acclimate one for at least six.

I've managed to keep them for a few years. I don't know about the sponge thing (I have lots of sponges*) - I'm more likely to agree with the belief that they graze on "bio-slime". (I wish they would graze on hydroids.)

Orange Linkias are not as fragile as Blue Linkias. I can't speak for Purple Linkias - I've never owned one and I rarely see them. And when I do see one, it has been quite large.

There was a theory going around several years ago that Blue Linkias would melt down if they were handled with bare human hands - something about amino acids on your skin. I don't believe there were ever any studies done on it - but I like it when I see someone taking one out of a system with a plastic bag on their hand.

If a Blue Linkia is going to melt down, it will usually do so within 7 to 10 days of being introduced into a retailer's system. So, if you want one, only buy it from a retailer who has had it in their system for longer than that (the longer the better). Needless to say, don't buy one on-line - you have no idea if they got it in yesterday or a month ago.

FWIW, I will only buy a Blue Linkia from one retailer in my area (NNJ). They've been in business going on 40 years, and they know who they can safely buy Blue Linkias from, and who they should avoid. And, when I ask how long they've had one in their shop, I trust their answer.

* One of the best comments I've had on my show tank was from a science teacher in NYC who I was selling a group of Poison Dart Frogs to. He was setting up a vivarium in his classroom. He was actually impressed with the diversity of sponges I had in my tank. It turns out that he was spending his summers in Panama working on his PHD in sponge taxonomy. None of the sponges he saw were purchased by me - they were all from live rock I had purchased from many sources many years ago.

 

[Tahoe61]

I've heard that they're hard to acclimate and take care of... Does anyone have any tips on taking care of them?

Larger established systems with a lot of rock work. No one can nail down what they eat specifically but diet is thought to consist of the bio-film found on established rocks. There is documentation of Blue Linckia eating Asterina stars BUT I would never encourage any hobbyist to acquire a Linckia for that purpose.
I would love to have one, but it's one of those invertebrates that has a poor long term survival rate in the majority of hobbyist tanks.

 

[DalPal25]

Wow! I'm very impressed by all of the help I've gotten in this thread, you all answered my questions AND gave me more information than I asked for and enjoyed reading all of it, thank you all so much. I'm so glad I found this forum. Not to change the topic of this thread but are there any species of starfish with a better reputation for surviving in an at home aquarium?

 

[luke33]

15 bux here, 30 is pretty salty

 

[Tahoe61]

I keep a Red Formia that is nice and fat and healthy. Formia is a smaller specises of stars, Red are one of larger Formia types though.

 

[DalPal25]

I keep an Red Formia that is nice and fat and healthy. Formia is a smaller specises of stars, Red are one of larger Formia types though.

That's awesome, I always felt like that species is the best looking anyway

 

[MaccaPopEye]

I don't have one in my tank but I am lucky (mostly haha) in that I don't have any (decent) marine LFS around but I live in northern Australia and very close to one of the best collectors in Aus and he sells to the local public at great prices due to our lack of LFS (and because he's a great bloke). But when I asked he said that he would sell a blue linka star for $20AUD. Not sure how much they are retail in Aus though but he only had massive ones at the time I asked him.

 

[Steve Jones]

Added this guy to my tank a little over 3 weeks ago. Can't agree enough on the slow drip acclimation. Mine was 5 hours. So far he's eating algae on the glass and back wall. Have only seen him on the sand bed or rock twice in all that time. Here's a link to my thread on him...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/adventures-in-starfishing.255063/

 

[Jenz]

Was at LFS in Oz yday; Blue Linkia $30 AUD; so suspect a bit rich compared to retail price in US.
Just as a question for future reference; a number of the stars were on the top water line; is that a gd thing or bad thing? Just remember when first started in FW when the snail population started migrating to water line it wasn't a gd sign :-/

 

[FishLover01]

Chocolate Chip Starfish are easy to keep. Unfortunately, they are not reef friendly.

 

[gig 'em]

As for the price, it really just boils down to the overhead your LFS has to pay to keep the store running, the price of the wholesaler they get their livestock from, the prices they pay for shipping and fees, and how many casualties they realize with each shipment. All these factor into the price of livestock they charge for. A business has to stay afloat while making a profit, I'm sure they wouldn't be trying to charge you more than necessary, especially with the competition of low-cost online retailers.

There's a price we pay for the convenience of a LFS and the time and knowledge they invest in their customers. Online retailers can have cheaper prices because they typically don't have to maintain a store front and can service more customers and deal in bulk. Yeah LFS prices are higher, but you get to see fish before buying them and talk face to face with knowledgeable store employees.

As for the linckia, make sure you have a large and stable reef tank. There's a pretty low survival rate of those starfish in the hobby an I've only seen one tank keep them successfully for an extended amount of time.

 

[radiata]

Oops - I missed a rotation in MY SPIN ON BLUE LINKIAS...

Twenty odd years ago I knew a guy who had a part time marine specimen importing business. (Meet a shipment at the airport on Sunday night and stay up late acclimating. Catch up on sleep on Monday night. Fax availability lists to customers on Tuesday night. Make deliveries the following nights.) Anyway, Frank had a load of tanks set-up in his basement.

One of those tanks got a few hours of direct morning sun. As a result, it had a large clump of hair algae in an upper back corner. A Blue Linkia moved into the clump and lived there for five years. (The Linkia was still there when Frank moved to Florida and broke down the system.)

I don't know how to interpret this data. Do Linkias eat hair algae, or maybe other algaes? Do they eat copepods in the hair algae? Do they eat copepod eggs in the hair algae? Do they capture mysids? Can they directly metabolize sunlight? Your guess is as good as mine.

Kind of makes me want to set up an algae scrubber and suspend the loaded algae screen in my tank, as opposed to just cleaning the screen and recycling it...