z6joker9
03/17/2004, 11:49 PM
OK, the thought has never crossed my mind to buy a blue linka, as i've always heard they are hard to keep. If you do not care to find out why I have one in my possiesion right now, but would still like to help answer my questions, scroll down to the three stars (***)
However, I work at a petsmart, and we only sell freshwater fish. many people bring in fish they cannot keep and we adopt them out to other people for free. I've picked up a few fish from time to time with this method, mostly african cichlids.
Today a co-worker with a new salt setup came in with purchases he made while in memphis, a two hour drive from us. I've been trying my best to direct him to a good start, but he is eager and selectively listens to my advice(as do most customers, but that's another story). Among his purchases, he had a blue linka star. I was upset knowing a LPS sold it to him when they knew he had a new tank. They at least told him to acclimate it for 3 hours, but to him that means just let it float in the tank. I explained they are extremely hard to keep, and the more I told him about it, the less he wanted it. He offered to give it to me, knowing my tank has been set up for a year or two and is much more stable, and I took it figuring it would die otherwise, in his month old 55 gallon tank with 10lbs of live rock....
***
NOW, it's sitting in a bucket, drip acclimating. as i said, i know NOTHING about them other than they are hard to keep. I fear it has been exposed to air while in the bag during his trip at some point, but i cannot be sure. It seems to still be alive, as he slightly moves every now and then, but if I had to guess, I would say he's seen better days.
What do i need to keep him alive and healthy? from a search, i found a little relative info, but some conflicting. Some say they need target feeding, some say not, and some say no one knows what they eat. Anyone have a more definite answer?
How long should he acclimate? should i throw a heater in the acclimation bucket, since it may take a while and since they are not the same right now? The tank is currently 80 degrees, while his acclimation bucket water is 72. I would not guess the drips from the tank will raise it a full 8 degrees.
Any help or advice would be greatly apprieciated!
However, I work at a petsmart, and we only sell freshwater fish. many people bring in fish they cannot keep and we adopt them out to other people for free. I've picked up a few fish from time to time with this method, mostly african cichlids.
Today a co-worker with a new salt setup came in with purchases he made while in memphis, a two hour drive from us. I've been trying my best to direct him to a good start, but he is eager and selectively listens to my advice(as do most customers, but that's another story). Among his purchases, he had a blue linka star. I was upset knowing a LPS sold it to him when they knew he had a new tank. They at least told him to acclimate it for 3 hours, but to him that means just let it float in the tank. I explained they are extremely hard to keep, and the more I told him about it, the less he wanted it. He offered to give it to me, knowing my tank has been set up for a year or two and is much more stable, and I took it figuring it would die otherwise, in his month old 55 gallon tank with 10lbs of live rock....
***
NOW, it's sitting in a bucket, drip acclimating. as i said, i know NOTHING about them other than they are hard to keep. I fear it has been exposed to air while in the bag during his trip at some point, but i cannot be sure. It seems to still be alive, as he slightly moves every now and then, but if I had to guess, I would say he's seen better days.
What do i need to keep him alive and healthy? from a search, i found a little relative info, but some conflicting. Some say they need target feeding, some say not, and some say no one knows what they eat. Anyone have a more definite answer?
How long should he acclimate? should i throw a heater in the acclimation bucket, since it may take a while and since they are not the same right now? The tank is currently 80 degrees, while his acclimation bucket water is 72. I would not guess the drips from the tank will raise it a full 8 degrees.
Any help or advice would be greatly apprieciated!