New star fish not doing good

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Scatcat

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 1, 2005
Messages
348
Location
TX USA
Well, I don't think my new red star fish is going to make it. It lost a tip of it's leg yesterday and now it's legs are curled up. Poor thing it was so pretty and not shy at all.

Rachel
 
is it the red one with all the black dots on it
they dont seem to move well but if they make it through the move thier just fine
if you try again make shure you acimilate them very slow like 2-3 hours and dont take them out of water
 
Water quality is where is should be I don't remember the exact reading I did it this morning and left it at home.

And to answer your question yes it's red with black dots and that's what my LF guy said. I just hate it I want things to live not die. He was cruising around the tank I thought I got lucky.

Rachel
 
Nitrate, po4, water temp, any sudden change in sg or o2. They should also never be exposed to air. Predator? If you have a QT, nows the time before he goes somewhere you can't get him and croaks. Then you will have a bit of a mess.

GL!
 
We recently bought a star just like yours and within a day it disintegrated and died. These guys are very fragile...sometimes in shipping or at the LFS they aren't acclimated very well but it doesn't show up until you get him home. We acclimated ours for like 8 hours...
 
I don't know what to think now he's moving around and there is this red stubby thing coming from the lost tip. I went to my LF store today and had him test the water just in case and everything is perfect. I wish I would have wrote down the numbers of everything. I did a 10g water change and I'm hoping for the best.

Thank you for all the advise and concern. I can tell you no one else in my life cares. LOL, they just look at me when I talk about my SW tank.

Rachel
 
I have one of those stars and he is doing great. Sometimes he does curve his legs like he is in a show ready to kick up a leg! I think they are hardier than you think. Just give him a little bit and see if he comes around. Mine is in a 2 1/2 month old tank for at least a month now and doing well. They don't move around all that much. we did not put him on the tank glass like at lfs, we put him on the rock since we figured he would feed better there and still in perfect condition...here is a pic, I figure same kind??
 

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I don't know mine doesn't have that button thing in the middle. He also has black dots on him. He's still alive, he's losing his leg and he has these red things growing out of it now, maybe he's regenerating. I don't know, it looks painful to me.

Rachel
 
I've had it 4 days now I used the drip method unitl the bag was full then I gently slide it out of the bag and nto the tank as not to expose it to air. I placed it on the rocks.

Rachel
 
Scatcat said:
I used the drip method unitl the bag was full
How long did the process last and was the bag only filled once? Did you temp acclimate before releasing?

Cheers
Steve
 
The process took about an hour. I put the bag in the tank opened it and let water drip from the tank that I collected in a pitcher from above. Poor thing it looks like it's losing another leg now. Did I do it wrong. I wasn't sure how to do it.

Rachel
 
Acclimation of these types of invertebrates should be done at a slow drip rate (1-2 drops/sec) over several hours. Sea stars in particular need about 4-6 hours to properly acclimate slowly enough so as not to shock their systems. Acclimating too fast is usually one of the main reasons for their otherwise poor condition when added to a tank.

It is actually a very common mistake so I would not beat yourself up about it. It may not make you feel better but it is the truth. :wink:

Cheers
Steve
 
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