Sick Starfish

[hdghog13]

I jus bought a red sea star yesterday- I spent about 45 minutes aclimating him with both the temp and salinity. Today he has barely moved, and there looks like there is something growing in the middle of him- it kind of looks like a purple blob! He wasn't the fastest moving thing to start with, but he is only moving his legs and not much. I used Immuno-Vital marine when I put him in. He is my first sea star- is he sick? What should I do if he is?

 

[steve-s]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com

I jus bought a red sea star yesterday- I spent about 45 minutes aclimating him with both the temp and salinity.

Sea stars are one of the most sensative inverts you will keep in the hobby and need several hours of slow >>drip acclimation<< to properly adjust from one environment to another. What you are seeing is most likely the beginning of necrosis from acclimation shock. I hope your star recovers but....

I used Immuno-Vital marine when I put him in.

IME, products like this have no real benefit and prey on the unaware (akin to snake oil ). I would suggest that you not bother with them in future. As long as your water specs are fine and fish are properly introduced to a >>quarantine<< before the display and inverts (which do not need to be QT'd) are acclimated for the proper amount of time, you should have less problems. There is no "magic bullet" additive that can take the place of these two important steps.

Cheers
Steve

 

[tamren]

Steve,

My starfish just died a few days ago for no reason. I had it for 1.5 months before it died. I didn't do any acclimation at all, but after a day, I put it in the main tank, it moved around, eat well. A fews days before it died, I fed it with quite a big chunk of krill, but small enough for it to swallowed in an hour. A few days later, I found it in pieces of skeleton. I don't think it was being sucked into my pump, cuz' I saw it once attached right on the pump suction. It could passed it easily.

All water spec are find. (no fish in my tank, only one pepper mint shirmp, a few snails, one anemone, a few colt corals).

 

[steve-s]

Sorry for the loss

Believe it or not, acclimation shock is not always immediate and can take several weeks sometimes before the animal gives out. If you attempt this in future, make sure the acclimation period for inverts is several hours.

Cheers
Steve