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[clyde]

I vist my LFS from time to time

lets say, the 10 starfishes they get, I see maybe 2-3 dead each time, or whatever.

I wonder how many is collected, and PROPERLY acclimated at the importers, retailers etc.

For this question I ask is becuase starfishes isnt all that expensive 6.00 for a serpent to 9.00 for a blue lincka (mail order prices)

a blue lincka they say very delicate - and so on.

yet these starfish is rather cheap, like a damsel, is collectors grabbing thousands of these out of the oceans??

[MaryHM]

I'll speak from my experience. I import the following stars and here is my experience:

Blue Linkias- From Fiji- My customers rave about how good mine are because I slow drip them, not just throw them in. I lose maybe 2 out of 30. I used to lose about 20 out of 30 when I used another supplier out of Fiji. These stars are also available from Solomon Islands and Indonesia, but I only import them from Fiji.

Sand Sifting Stars- From Fiji- I practically NEVER lose any of these. Again, they are also available out of Indo and Solomons, but I only buy them from my Fiji guys.

Fromia sp- These come from Solomons, but I can rarely get them from there, so I import them from Indonesia. Two species. F. monilis is the bigger of the two. I imported 25 for the first time last week and didn't lose any. I think F. nico is the other species, it's smaller. I import about 40 every week and lose about 6 or so of those.

Brittle & Serpent Stars- I never lose any of these. They will drop legs sometimes, but always heal back up. Extremely hardy. I only import them from Florida.