Dead starfish

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Kshupe

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
Messages
28
I recently bought a pink tile starfish that looked great. He was very active and colorful. This morning I woke up to a dead starfish that looked as if it had been attacked by something :( the only thing I know of that could have attacked it are my hermit crabs but I thought they were compatible. What's going on here? One leg was detached and he has another spot on his body that looks like it was chewed.
 
I forgot to mention this is the second time this has happened. I had an orange linkia until about a month ago but I thought water conditions were what killed him. My params are perfect now and this guy is tore up in the same way. Is it possible there is a hitchhiker in my live rock that is responsible for this?
 
Did you by any chance expose him to air? This will cause him to have problems and die.
 
I never exposed either one to air, but it seems he is still alive after all. His suckers are still moving around like he is trying to move, but it doesn't seem that he is able to move much if at all. I'm going to move him to a hospital tank until I see if he's a goner or not
 
I believe i have read that starfish can disentigrate in poor conditions. Maybe thats the "chewed" spot
 
I also have a knobby star in there and he is doing just fine. I dont think poor water conditions are the culprit
 
fromia starfish are extremely hard to keep. the odds of them living in closed systems long term are very poor.
 
I'm just wondering what killed him so quickly. He died within 24 hours and params were fine. Coral beauty seems to be picking at him though..
 
the coral beauty is picking at him because he's dying. it could have been something to do with the collection, the acclimation at the holding facility, at the lfs, at your house...you'll never figure it out.
the best advice i can give is to not purchase these beautiful starfish and they will stop collecting them. i have only seen a few people who kept them long term, and by long term i mean a year or so.
 
Alright. Probably should have done my research before i purchased. He is a beautiful starfish though, it's a shame they are so hard to keep
 
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