linka stars

jessie

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Mar 3, 2004
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my woman would like to have a blue linka star. i have been looking and one lf said that they have a very poor survival record. another says that they have been doing great. has anyone had them. i think its always better to go with the people who have had them instead of the lfs IMO. i have an orange one but i havnt had it very long. so far it seems to be doing fine. any help would be appreciated.
 
You don't say what size tank you have- if it is anything less than maybe a 125 (give or take- no absolutes here) and loads of live rock then the one linckia you already have is plenty. They survive only on the biofilms that coat your rock and glass, and one is usually hard pressed to find enough to live on.
 
its a 135 gallon, and it actually only has about 120lbs of rock in it right now. so if i uped my LR to about 200LBS, do you think that it would be enough to have 2 linkas in it? my fiance would really like to have a blue one to, but i wouldnt want to have 2 that wer just starving to death. thanks for the help!
 
I have a blue linka

ive read that they take a while to acclimate, and that "do not touch them" because they are easily bruised and dont recover well.

my tank is running since may and i got the star in the start of july...it appears to be doing fine.......i have a 75 gallon tank with l00 lbs of nice live rock.

I find it all over the place, hangingout on the glass near the filter/skimmer, wrapped around rock or generally just hanging around.....

besides that star i have two sand sifters, some hermits and snails and currently just a sailfin blennie and a foxface rabbitfish.

im pretty much a novice that likes to read alot........my opinions for what they are worth...

dont overstock your tank, this appears to spell disaster for your tank and its inhabitants, maybe you can sell your other star back to the lfs? and then get the blue linka.

sue
 
I've had good luck with mine in its initial months with me, but I don't for a moment think it's because I did anything particularly right- I just tried to pick out a healthy one locally.

They ship poorly, acclimate poorly- by the time they land in an aquarists tank they've already been through the wringer. Then they often get plopped into a too new tank with less than adequate food- they have it tough, so I wouldn't advise pushing the occupancy numbers.

And knowing that it takes them up to six months to starve to death means judging success is very difficult. I've had mine a brief few months also, and that is way too short a time to pronounce it a success by any standard.

I don't think anyone really has the answers on this one.
 
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