Liveaquaria Orange Sea Stars

[CStrickland]

Hi all,
I ordered the orange sea star from liveaquaria because they had it listed as an echinaster sp. and I had heard these were an easier star to keep. I received it today and the bag is labeled linckia. I wouldn't have bought a linckia.
http://m.liveaquaria.com/product/pro...581&pcatid=581

Just wanted to post this as a heads up for anybody else that might make the same mistake as me. I did't find any threads when I searched the forum before ordering, but maybe I missed it or didn't know what to look for. I think I got mixed up because there is another kind of echinaster called "common star" from other sellers that people have good luck with. So when I saw liveaquaria had an echinaster I got excited. I'm not sure why they would have it classified differently on the website and the bag.

[Calappidae]

Yeah it's linkia.



Livaquaria is VERY screwed up to be honest.. I don't mean to cause a mob over them but they are byfar one of the more misleading companies in the trade, almost comparable to petco except LA can keep their livestock alive and it's usually health (although I've had some DOAs from LA on several occasions... but ick infested tanks at petco and infecting your entire system is a lot worse then having a fish die before it even enters the system..)

Their Diver's den is honestly the main reason people buy from them.. the unique things they get in, is pretty good actually. They don't misidentify everything in DD (although I've caught them selling N. wenneraes labeled as O.scyllarus under the title "red peacock") however their main stock needs spoken up on..

Not to mention half the livestock names liveaquaria just made up.. liveaquaria is the only company that called fire shrimp, blood shrimp which resulted in everybody calling it that.. they even named their peacock mantis "clown mantis" even though nobody calls it that. (Fun fact, they sell G. ternatensis instead of O. scyllarus, I figured that out the hard way)

Whoops I'm ranting again...just gunna...click post quick reply..

[Bongo Shrimp]

Originally Posted by Calappidae

Yeah it's linkia.



Livaquaria is VERY screwed up to be honest.. I don't mean to cause a mob over them but they are byfar one of the more misleading companies in the trade, almost comparable to petco except LA can keep their livestock alive and it's usually health (although I've had some DOAs from LA on several occasions... but ick infested tanks at petco and infecting your entire system is a lot worse then having a fish die before it even enters the system..)

Their Diver's den is honestly the main reason people buy from them.. the unique things they get in, is pretty good actually. They don't misidentify everything in DD (although I've caught them selling N. wenneraes labeled as O.scyllarus under the title "red peacock") however their main stock needs spoken up on..

Not to mention half the livestock names liveaquaria just made up.. liveaquaria is the only company that called fire shrimp, blood shrimp which resulted in everybody calling it that.. they even named their peacock mantis "clown mantis" even though nobody calls it that. (Fun fact, they sell G. ternatensis instead of O. scyllarus, I figured that out the hard way)

Whoops I'm ranting again...just gunna...click post quick reply..

Just remember that the Liveaquaria side (not divers den) is a separate part of the company and all of the pics (possibly the info) comes from their vendor and the vendor at least tells them what species they think it is. I recently had an issue with them sending a fish that wasn't the species they said it was and they explained that that is the reason why it happens. For the record they took care of it with the typical amazing customer service and refunded me for the fish and said they would talk to their vendor. They themselves do not even hold the fish on the live aquaria non-divers den side. The fish come right from the vendor.

The divers den side is completely different and run by much more knowledgable people. They do make mistakes from time to time but no one is perfect. Sometimes I email them to let them know about a mistake and they usually thank me and fix it really fast.

[CStrickland]

I heard back from customer service, and Calappidae was right. They just make up their own names.

We have had our coral farm staff review the pictures you included, and they have let us know that these are the correct starfish. Even though they are not in the Linckia genus, one of the common names these starfish are labeled with is the Orange Linckia Starfish.

I'm not really sure what that means honestly. It sounds like they are saying the website is accurate and it's an echinaster, but the bag was mislabeled and that's a common mistake that suppliers make. Idk, it really looks like a linckia though.

Of course, they are "sorry for any confusion," so that makes me feel much better

[Calappidae]

Those images are 100% Linckia.

[SS_Sean]

Originally Posted by Calappidae

Those images are 100% Linckia.

Yup....

...and for the record, LA was bought out by Petco.... so, yeah. Expect things to get worse.

[Calappidae]

Originally Posted by SS_Sean

Yup....

...and for the record, LA was bought out by Petco.... so, yeah. Expect things to get worse.

Can't wait to see them realize what a mistake that was when suddenly all their livestock goes poof from a couple PC employees.. Hey maybe too poorly managed industries will crash at once! This could be a blessing in disguise

[gone fishin]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...2OQvYWkTgBW.97

And Petco was just bought out.

[e048]

Liveaquaria don't you mean petco?

[CStrickland]

No I meant liveaquaria, as I bought it from liveaquaria.com

Everybody knows they got bought by petco, everybody knows petco sucks. Whatever. Liveaquaria were never that great anyway. After I posted this I found a thread from like 2006 when Liveaquaria used to post in here, same issue about the stars and the same bs runaround answer. They do it on purpose cause they know that even a noob dummy like me with basic google skills will likely know better than to try to keep a linckia.

I like the website pics and tank size rec's but this omg petco stuff is old drama. They were never all that special and they aren't that much worse since the buyout.

[MrsReefK]

Hey CS, out being a pure newbie, why wouldn't you buy a linckia?

[CStrickland]

Originally Posted by MrsReefK

Hey CS, out being a pure newbie, why wouldn't you buy a linckia?

My tanks been up a year, but I don't think it's got much diversity of critters. I've only got a couple inches of sand that I regularly vacuum; my rock was all diy or mined base rock, it's only seeded with stuff from coral frags and a few algae I bought here and there. I see a pod or bristle worm rarely, I think because my wrasse eats them. So overall it's not the kind of tank that's crawling with a variety of tiny life. I figure that the odds that whatever linckia eat is present there are slim.
For example, I'd feel better about the linckia if I saw an asterina ever.

On top of that I really like changing my scape around, or messing with my plumbing, trying carbon dosing for a week and then forgetting for a few days. I don't feel like it's stable.

I like my tank this way, it's fun for me to play with and I'm not interested in seeing a lot of small wormy things, but I accept that with this approach I'm limited on some things. I really dig my Duncan's and acans and zoas but I'm not trying to grow sps, y'know? It's just not what I would set up if I wanted to make a nice home for a linckia, but I had the idea that a common star might be happy and got mixed up that I was buying one because this was labeled an echinaster. So now I feel bad.

[MrsReefK]

Originally Posted by CStrickland

My tanks been up a year, but I don't think it's got much diversity of critters. I've only got a couple inches of sand that I regularly vacuum; my rock was all diy or mined base rock, it's only seeded with stuff from coral frags and a few algae I bought here and there. I see a pod or bristle worm rarely, I think because my wrasse eats them. So overall it's not the kind of tank that's crawling with a variety of tiny life. I figure that the odds that whatever linckia eat is present there are slim.
For example, I'd feel better about the linckia if I saw an asterina ever.

On top of that I really like changing my scape around, or messing with my plumbing, trying carbon dosing for a week and then forgetting for a few days. I don't feel like it's stable.

I like my tank this way, it's fun for me to play with and I'm not interested in seeing a lot of small wormy things, but I accept that with this approach I'm limited on some things. I really dig my Duncan's and acans and zoas but I'm not trying to grow sps, y'know? It's just not what I would set up if I wanted to make a nice home for a linckia, but I had the idea that a common star might be happy and got mixed up that I was buying one because this was labeled an echinaster. So now I feel bad.

CS, great explanation. Thanks for explaining as that makes sense! I am envious of your go with the flow tank ways. Keep it up!

[CStrickland]

Thanks