Please help!!!

[mdl91881]

On sunday I got a serpent star and 4 blue legged hermit crabs

Woke up on Monday morning and the starfish was dead!!!

it's a relativly new tank 5 weeks old
5 damsels

amonnia is 0
nitrite is 0
nitrate 20
ph 8.2
salinity 1.021
temp 80 F

what did I do wrong or are these starfish hard to keep?

Please help!!!

everything else in the tank is fine.

 

[Anemoneman]

More info is needed. What kind of serpant star (color, size, species, etc.).
Recent additions/changes to tank (water change, temp change, chemical additives, etc.)

 

[mdl91881]

no new changes besides the starfish and the crabs
no chemicals
no "hardware changes"

I was just starting to build a clean up crew with the crabs and starfish

Not sure on the kind of serpent star
it's base is about 1" diameter
it is a dark gray color and has black bands on it's arm

 

[Toomanyfish]

Well I can't say what killed your star, but your salinity is rather low to be keeping one. These guys really do much better at 1.025. Also make sure to acclimate slowly to your tank. Otherwise they have a tendency to "fall apart" from the sudden shift of salinity.

Sorry about your serpent star!!

 

[mdl91881]

thanks!!!

how should i go about raising the salinity

 

[Anemoneman]

Replace evaporated water with full strength saltwater until you reach your desired specific gravity. You are measuring specific gravity, not salinity, by virtue of the units (1.021, 1.025, etc). SP is temperature dependant where salinity is not. NSW levels are usually 1.023-1.025 at 82-84 degrees.

Mark