What about a Linkia?

Hi all its bland (as you can see) and I love Starfish. For awhile now I have been waiting for the right moment with my tank to get a Orange Linkia Star. I have a 29 Biocube and I was planning on getting one now while my LFS has them (which is rare) and so far everything is perfect but I would like you guys opinions on me getting one for the tank (by the way it's a reef tank). Also if any of you have one it would be nice to hear about your expierience with one and it would be cool if you could post a picture of it. Thanks!

 

Linkia stars are hit and miss. They don't ship well so getting a healthy specimen is rare. They need an extremely stable environment and ph, alkalinity swings will do them in along with temp swings as well. I've been successful with my blue linkia for 2 years+ and I supplement his diet twice a week with fresh squid.

 

I'm lucky because in my town we have a LFS called Triad Reef Critters (I think they have a website) they carry every thing from Yellow Tangs to Bamboo Sharks to Six line Wrasse to rays to Humuhumus to Flounders and they will ship things to store for you if you dont have it, so shippings out of the way. Right now I have a Serpant Starfish that im trying to get rid of because of aggresive behavior and I have had him for a while now and he is doing fine, so I think he might do well if that one did well. With that said how is your expierience with yours.

 

Totally different than a serpent star. That would be comparing xenia to an acropora. If your tank is mature to provide food and you can keep a very stable environment then go for it. Just remember that a 29 gallon is different than a 75 gallon so be prepared to supplement feedings. I love my blue linkia and it's always out. Very cool addition to the reef for sure

 

i had bad luck with an orange one, very delicate creatures

 

Great! Do you have any feeding or care tips?

 

We know way more about acropora than linkias though lol. Honestly i would never attempt one in a biocube. Ever. If you like them so much, do them a favor and save their life by not putting it in your tank. Too small. Not mature enough. It's a death sentence. If you have your heart set on a star, get a fromia sp. a little more forgiving though I still wouldn't recommend one. If you don't have a reef tank, chocolate chip stars are great.

 

Good advice. I have seen them in smaller tanks and they did pretty well but I might end up waiting anyway. Never heard of a Fromia, are they common in the trade? I don't buy online I get stuff through a dealer in the next town over that is happy to put in special orders for me from a wholesaler (Segress Farms, Sea Dwelling Creatures and a few others I can't remember).

 

Looked it up and I recognized them but do they attack fish and small inverts.

 

Just curious, where do you do your research? Fromia describes a genus, containing atleast 9 species. The most commonly available species, F. monilis and F. milleporella, are about as reef safe as stars get, though some there are some rare cases where the latter consumed corals when not provided enough food (this would probably happen in your tank given the size).

Which fromia species did you look up?