Originally Posted by FishFatty
Ive been thinking about getting an orange linka starfish for a while, and I think I'm finally going to buy one. I just wanted to know why I never see pictures of these starfish in most peoples tanks on here...are they difficult to keep? I have a 75 gal. with about 85 lbs. of very established live rock. Let me know what you think about these starfish. Thanks!
Yes, they and all reef safe stars like Linckia and Fromia are difficult to keep.
Some considerations:
- Pristine reef tank, water parameters are critical (definitely post some to review)
- Minimum 6 months old
- These stars CAN NOT BE SPOT FED and rely entirely on mature live rock to feed, and lots of it...not just pounds, but surface area.
- They need very long acclimation times, upwards of 3-4 hours. If your LFS keeps these anything less than a specific gravity of 1.024, I really wouldn't bother buying one.
-They should be at the store at least a couple of weeks ideally, as they may show no signs of problems for a month after introduction, but often within days.
These are not easy animals to keep, and to be honest I would say it is marginal in your tank with the amount of LR. It might work, but it might not. They take about a year to starve (so no success unless they've been kept about 18 months).
This is true of ALL reef safe stars including the very small Fromia or Red Bali star.
