new starfish = dead sailfin??

[MarineFlake]

I purchased 3 new starfish and a piece of coral while I was away on business in Milwaukee, WI. 2 sand stars, 1 about 3" the other about 6". The 3rd star is an orange linkia about 4". I also got a great deal on a fairly large piece of Pipe Organ (white) coral. I place them all in the 29 'frag' / qt tank. Day 2 I find my sailfin blenny doa on the sandbed looking like something sucked the juices out of him. I am truly clueless. I have never heard of a sand star 'attacking' other fish and I am not familiar with the temperment of the linkia. One of these buggers nailed my Sailfin though who was only about 3" - 4". Anyone have experience with starfish (Not chocolate chip, etc) turning carnivore??

 

[steve-s]

Sandstars are carnivors, they will not aggressively seek out fish as prey but they will definately feed on any dead ones. If you found the star on/near the fish, it would be coincidental.

What other fish are in the tank and have you added/done anything else in the tank? How long have you had the blenny?

Cheers
Steve

 

[MarineFlake]

Blenny was in tank about 3 months. However, wife claims blenny was not active while I was out of town for the week. I suspect she underfed the tank while I was gone and that lead to his death. Case closed as far as I can tell..

Thanks

 

[mjvincent]

Hope she doesn't read these posts...

However, wife claims blenny was not active while I was out of town for the week. I suspect she underfed the tank while I was gone and that lead to his death.

 

[seaham358]

IMO the fish is not going to starve to death in a week... Water quality issues??
IMO there is no need to QT starfish either..... The linkia will starve if it is not in a mature tank. And do NOT touch the linkia with your bare hands... The oils from your skin will kill the star.

 

[MarineFlake]

If he didn't starve, then its a mystery. I haven't found anything re killer sand stars. Still not sure about the linkia and its aptitude for hunting. The tank gets a 5G wc every 2 weeks, params are all in line with the exception of ca, it was running about 500PPM due to some experiements with seachem reff complete. (Which may also mean elevated mg levels.) However, ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, etc all good. Corals are doing great, crab, snail perc clowns and CBS all happy as well. New stars are active and happy. Only d00d unhappy = 1 dead blenny..