Thats it i give up on sea stars.

[umbrellacorp]

So this is my third star fish to die. The first one was a little orange one.. havent ever seen one like it before, it was $30 from Warehouse Aquarium. I think it was dead by the time it was put in the tank. I drip acclimated it for an hour and then placed it in my tank. It wasnt moving, but i gave it the night to see if it was still alive. By the morning it hadnt moved so i assumed it dead.

Starfish 2, Chocolate Chip. Bought it, drip acclimated for an hour, and it did fine for the first two days, then the next day it had big pieces missing from it and hanging from it. It didnt recover.

Starfish 3, Sand sifting star. Drip acclimated for 2 hours put in tank. Immediately burried itself and was fine. Survived the night fine. The next day when i turned the lights on it came out and started going around the tank, so i thought great.. this one is going to make it. I left for the day and when i came home it was all shriveled up in the corner. It had almost one whole arm gone. You could see through to the inside of the arm. The other arms all had pieces missing.. i swear it looks like something was eating it, but im pretty sure thats not the case. I did have to do a big water change that morning, so im wondering if thats what did this one in. Everything else in the tank is perfectly fine *knock on wood.* My water has always been spot on perfect.

I know sea stars are very delicate but i had a knobby in my 24 gallon and it did amazingly well. Ive decided i give up on these things.. at least for a while.

Does anyone have any suggestions at all? Thanks.

 

[jennm]

Chocolate chips aren't coral safe - if you weren't aware. They're usually pretty bullet-proof.

The orange one - was it a red fromia? They can be delicate.

What are your other inhabitants? Could something be eating them or gnawing on them?

What are your parameters?

What are the parameters of the bag water they come in?

Somewhere in there likely lies the problem.

Jenn

 

[kirru]

I was gonna ask if he had harlequins...

parameters would be a good start

 

[jennm]

Well the other thing is, if they weren't handled right through the chain of custody (collector-exporter-importer-lfs), then they typically die with the end-user (hobbyist), but that's a lot of specimens to have that happen to.

If the hobbyist's parameters are vastly different from the dealer's, that can be part of the problem. Some fishes will eat sea stars - triggers, puffers and others, so will some inverts (like Harlequin shrimp).

Testing one's own parameters and comparing them to the bag water will give an indication whether extra time acclimating would be in order - ie if specific gravity or pH are greatly different from one to the other.

Jenn

 

[umbrellacorp]

Kirru;691513 wrote: I was gonna ask if he had harlequins...

parameters would be a good start

no no harlequins.. i would never have one of those since they only eat starfish, and i couldnt subject a poor starfish to be eaten alive. Everything i have is listed in my sig. I might have some hitchhikers in my rock that i dont know about.. maybe a mantis shrimp or gorilla crab.. but i havent seen them, and nothing else has been eaten. All my crabs/snails have done fine. *knock on wood*

Nitrate: 10
Nitrite:0
Alk: about 270
PH:8.0
Phosphate:0.1
Salinity: 1.023

I took my water to the store yesterday after the water change, they said it was spot on perfect also. Even though i check it myself, sometimes i like to have the store do it just to double check.

 

[jennm]

Well the other variable would be to ask the store(s) what they keep their parameters at.

Have you spoken to them about what happened? Perhaps they can shed some light on that too.

Jenn

 

[umbrellacorp]

JennM;691524 wrote: Well the other variable would be to ask the store(s) what they keep their parameters at.

Have you spoken to them about what happened? Perhaps they can shed some light on that too.

Jenn

the thing is, ive bought the all 3 from different stores..
first one was warehouse aqarium
second was from Blue Planet
third was from PETCO (i know i know)

BTW Jen - top come in yet?

 

[jennm]

Nope on the top... Can't believe it's taking this long for a silly little lid. But I am watching for it. Sorry... distributor issue.

Jenn

Edit: Don't know what else to suggest on the stars... the Fromia (if that's what it was) can be a bit delicate, but the choc... geez those things are usually pretty bullet-proof.

Usually if they die, (stars in general), it takes a few days to a couple of weeks and they start to fall apart. The notion that they are dying within 24 hours is really odd, at least in my experience.

Jenn

 

[umbrellacorp]

yeah.. the sand star was totally messed up.. really bad. but he was still alive. There was no way he was going to make it. I mean.. its like the entire outside of his arm was just eaten off or something. I could actually see through it to the inside where his tentacles were. It looked so bad. Poor thing. He was still alive but just barely.. i knew he wouldnt make it so i just euthanized him.
And i agree on the CC those are very hearty. The other ones the store got at the same time died though as well. So i know that one wasnt my fault. The others they had just like.. melted into goo.
Im thinking about trying a small brittle star.. they're reef safe arent they?

 

[jennm]

How long had the stores had them before you bought? It's always a good idea to let them be in the shop for a while to make sure there's no latent issue that shows up a little while after the fact. That may be a factor too - refer to my earlier comments about things as they pass through the chain of custody. All it takes is somebody along the line NOT to do it right...then days/weeks later, the damage becomes evident.

Jenn

 

[kirru]

i have a TON of micro brittle stars that are every where in my tank. gave 3 to my older sis for her 90g and boom... she had as many as I do.. afaik brittle stars are reef safe.. they do tend to get really big sometimes

 

[umbrellacorp]

the first one.. they had for a couple weeks.
second they had just gotten them in like a couple days earlier.
third she said they had about a week.

 

[kirru]

JennM;691531 wrote: How long had the stores had them before you bought? It's always a good idea to let them be in the shop for a while to make sure there's no latent issue that shows up a little while after the fact. That may be a factor too - refer to my earlier comments about things as they pass through the chain of custody. All it takes is somebody along the line NOT to do it right...then days/weeks later, the damage becomes evident.

Jenn

I learned my lesson early on about this with a store in Savannah that charged out the wazzooo.. and offered no explanation... no advice either, so i never went back unless i had too.. then i moved back to atlanta and i have been ok ever since.

 

[umbrellacorp]

Kirru;691536 wrote: I learned my lesson early on about this with a store in Savannah that charged out the wazzooo.. and offered no explanation... no advice either, so i never went back unless i had too.. then i moved back to atlanta and i have been ok ever since.

yeah.. majority of LFS in Atlanta seem to have competent employees.

 

[miami dolfan]

I had the same issue with blue linkia stars. they would do fine for about a week and then would be missing chunks of flesh and then die. I blamed my rainbow wrasse, but now, I can't be sure.

 

[hammcd]

if 3 didnt live...not sure id try a 4th..just my opinion of coarse...

Edit: *course

 

[smoothie]

I think it's in the acclimation and life of the tank. Give it til xmas and a) you will have a great establishment for one to feed from and b) you can put it on santa's list for you

 

[irahmatulla]

I have gone to the store that Kirru was talking about, they will sell you stuff still floating in bags on truck day, however I had a red fromia in a previous tank with less than par parameters. I am curious what you may dose your tank with, or over what length of time you purchased these. Not necessarily how long you had them, but how long in between each purchase. Possible some untested chemical got into the tank that snails/crab/shrimp are resilient to, but stars, being fairly sensitive already fell victim to.

 

[acroholic]

I bet your Sally Lightfoot killed them.

 

[umbrellacorp]

Hammcd;692027 wrote: if 3 didnt live...not sure id try a 4th..just my opinion of coarse...

Edit: *course

yeah thats why i said im giving up for a while...

Edit:

Acroholic;692082 wrote: I bet your Sally Lightfoot killed them.

do you really think so? the sally i have is pretty big.. and before i left i noticed it standing over the star and picking around.. but it looked like it was just picking at the sand. Are sally's known to do this? The ammount of damage done in 6 hours just cant be from water conditions. I mean.. it was perfect in all aspects when i left. Then i come home about 6 hours later and it is a total wreck.