Tile starfish

[gmeredith56880]

1. How long you have had it: 2 weeks

2. Current Lighting/Bulb Age: 4 t5 10k and 4 t5 actinic. 5 months old

3. Nitrate: 20ppm

4. Calcium: 460ppm

5. Phosphate: .25ppm

6. Alkalinity: 179ppm KH

7. pH: 8.0

8. Salinity: 1.026

9. Temperature: 78

10. Liquid or strip test kits: Liquid

11. Location in tank: rock work

12. Current amount of flow: HoB 55g filter, HoB skimmer, koralia 850 and koralia 1150?

13. Current tank dosing regimen:

14. Corals: zoas, colt, frogspawn, green hammer, star polyp, red mushrooms, Duncan

15. Tank Mates: 2 occ. clown fish, 1 scopas tang, 1 damsel, 1 neon goby, 1 clown goby, turbos, ceriths, nassarius, 1 flame scallop, 1 cleaner shrimp, nerites, 1 feather duster, 2 tuxedo urchins, 2 blue legged hermits

15. Explanation of problem: My girlfriend has wanted a starfish for awhile so I finally picked up a tile starfish. He has been in the tank moving around for about 2 weeks or so. I noticed the ends of his legs kind of looked like they were coming apart a few days ago, but I've never kept starfish so I just waited to see what would happen with it. I came home to this today:

It's like his whole leg is gone and part of his middle. Can anyone help me out? He is still moving his arms. Thanks


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[54seaweed]

I see a few issues I'll try to go easy lol

If I sound harsh I'm not it's just how I word things

1) You didn't mention how old your tank is or the size

2) your nitrates are on the high side 10 and closer to 0 is best for a reef

3) the sub straight is gravel stars and most SW inverts require a sand bed

4) The star fish you chose is not reef safe

5) your star probably ripped apart his tentacles in the gravel when trying to bury himself

6) As for your live stock clowns and gobys dig , Tangs tend to brush sub straight if they get a itch or stressed , gravel will cut them all up like swiss cheese

7) phosphate isn't to bad but try to get it more to the .03 level
water changes will help with both nitrates and phosphates

I would recommend you replace the gravel with sand asap

I would remove the star as he is going to die so he don't foul the water

I deeply suggest you read up on proper reef keeping as it seems you are quite new to the hobby so you get a better idea about reef keeping Oh and ask lots of questions as we all were new to this at one time or another

I hope I didn't come off too harsh as it's not intended
I just want you to see the NO NO's before the rest of your live stock becomes swiss cheese
don't be afraid to ask questions thats how we all learn

 

[carey]

Most starfish are extremely sensitive to nitrates so that could an issue. I had the same thing happen to one i had a few years ago, he slowly melted pretty much from the tips of his legs inward. It didnt end well. :-(

Looking at the picture he is probably too far gone now, I wouldnt kill it, but wait a few more days and if it gets worse then remove him. In those few days the melting of his legs might stop, but probably not. I just wouldnt take him out now and kill it since he is technically still alive. But thats just me, I get weepy about such things. lol

 

[Sniperhank]

Could have been exposed to air as well. Not proper acclimation to the tank could do it as well.

 

[gmeredith56880]

I see a few issues I'll try to go easy lol

If I sound harsh I'm not it's just how I word things

1) You didn't mention how old your tank is or the size

2) your nitrates are on the high side 10 and closer to 0 is best for a reef

3) the sub straight is gravel stars and most SW inverts require a sand bed

4) The star fish you chose is not reef safe

5) your star probably ripped apart his tentacles in the gravel when trying to bury himself

6) As for your live stock clowns and gobys dig , Tangs tend to brush sub straight if they get a itch or stressed , gravel will cut them all up like swiss cheese

7) phosphate isn't to bad but try to get it more to the .03 level
water changes will help with both nitrates and phosphates

I would recommend you replace the gravel with sand asap

I would remove the star as he is going to die so he don't foul the water

I deeply suggest you read up on proper reef keeping as it seems you are quite new to the hobby so you get a better idea about reef keeping Oh and ask lots of questions as we all were new to this at one time or another

I hope I didn't come off too harsh as it's not intended
I just want you to see the NO NO's before the rest of your live stock becomes swiss cheese
don't be afraid to ask questions thats how we all learn

I appreciate all of this. According to liveaquaria that star is reef safe. The substrate is a mixture of gravel and sand. I have took out a lot of the gravel since losing my star. I've got my nitrates down to 5ppm and am going to wait until my tank is a year or so old before getting another star. It's about 5 months old now. I have had the fish in for around 3.5 months and have had no problems and the goby is happy and healthy. Thank you again.


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[Sniperhank]

How big is the tank? Be careful with what starfish you choose in the future. Not so much as of what happened here, but that some sift the sandbed to eat and that ends up requiring a huge sandbed to survive.


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[gmeredith56880]

It's a 55g. Should be getting a house sometime next year and can set up my 125 finally. .


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[Ingy]

I cant comment on the star, BUT LOOSE THE FW PAINTED GRAVEL. It is not designed for saltwater tanks. The paint alone will cause problems. Plus it will trap debris and prevent the snails from being able to effectively hide. Please google Salt Water Aquariums images. You will not see a single pic with freshwater painted gravel.

Once its gone (I know it will be a pain because its too heavy to syphon with a gravel vacuum and too big for the hose backwards. Use an old garden hose) you can replace it with salt water sand around $1 / lb. Don't get live sand, you shouldn't need it. DON'T get crushed coral, also a detritus/debris catcher. Or if white is not your colour, you can use pool filter sand (PFS) from your local hardware store. Darker in colour, the least expensive and many people use it effectively with sand sifting fish etc.