Starfish Died

G

guitareefs

Premium Member
I'm very sad to have seen little pieces of my red reef star's limbs. As some know, I set up a 24 gallon aquapod for my parents as a gift and everything has been growing and thriving, and my parents loved the red starfish and yesterday, it lost one limb, and today, my mother told me it was just all torn apart. I was sad...but I have a question about starfish. What causes them to die and fall apart like that? I've had many sand stars and they do well, and when it comes to other stars like linkias and now this red reef, they just fall apart. Why?

Thank you
 
I would say there not as hardy for one... they are a little difficult to acclimate... a nano might not support a larger linkia star. or any tank, especially if its not well broke in...and aged some...
 
Randy,

Sorry to hear your loss. I always thought star fish such as the blue and red linka do not do well in our tank. The water temperature are usually around 55 to 60 degrees.

My father once told me that when he was on the sea fishing, he would catch many fish and ocassionally pull up some corals by accident where there were lots of blue and red linka. When I added one in the tank, he told me that it won't survive due to temperature. It is just a matter or time before they fall apart.
 
Yeah, I asked a friend of mine if the star would be ok in my 24 gallon for now, and we both agreed that it would be fine, it was so tiny, so it looked perfect for the 24 gallon. I was planning on finding it a new home when it got growing, but I just have never had much luck with linkias. In my first tank, 55 gallon, I had one, and it just disappeared. In my 200 gallon tank, it just fell apart. I hate that cause they are so beautiful. I guess I'll stay away from them for now. What do they feed on?
 
Hi,

Most of the issues with these are due to incorrect acclimation, you should acclimate over hours not minutes for starfish in general. Water quality also plays a role, high nitrates will cause the same issue that you described. If you see something not right in your tank, grab enough so that you can run test on and then start water changes and refresh the carbon if you are running it...oh yea running carbon is a good thing and could possibly save your tank if a lil something gets in there by mistake. imo

Cheers!
 
I've been wondering why they just die off like that. I didn't know if it was from feeding (not getting what they need) or what. Now I know acclimating (lack there of) is the major problem. I mean, I've had him for about 3 weeks now. I guess I was just frustrated because my water quality was good and it's been in the tank for 3 weeks. Then one day it just starts crumbling.
 
@randyeric wrote:
I guess I was just frustrated because my water quality was good and it's been in the tank for 3 weeks. said:
So what are you calling good water quality, Ammonia, nitrates zero and nitrates below 10ppm.........Where is your SG, PH and temps running at??
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This started happening yesterday and I got my water tested at the fish store the day before and everything checked out fine. I've never done my own water tests, I don't have a test kit, I go to my friend who works at the lfs and he checked everything from nitrates to salinity and the salinity was a hair bit high, so I did a water change with RO. Sorry, I can't tell you numbers of the test. I just let my friend do the test and I go by the color range on the strip. The temp is a little warm. That may have been what happened. I'm still not sure. I just know the water was good, after bringing down salinity just a tad.
 
if you are having temp floats and he adapts to high salinity and you bring it down say 2 points abruptly it could cause your issue.
or if the ro was colder and it dropped the temp quickly with it it could cause it. they dont like ANY abrupt changes.
the Vietnam Japan sea blue linkias are from colder waters and cant take high temp for long also...
 
The best thing is to get your own test kit's, get quality kit's like Salifert for critical stuff like Ca, Alk and Mg. For salinity...budget for a refractometer, hydrometers are not accurate unless you have the glass type. For Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate you can use some of the common test kit's, test strips are pretty much useless imo...they are unreliable but will give you a ballpark figure but do you want to make changes based on a ballpark figure or an accurate reading. Another thing to think about is...what do you do at 1am when your tank doesn't look right, do you call your friend? If you have your own kit's then you can start testing/correcting immediatedly.

Cheers!
 
Rapid death like that is usually Salinity or Temp changes etc.... they are VERY sensitive to Salinity and when they go, they dissolve a bit at a time.
 
@DaveJ wrote:
Rapid death like that is usually Salinity or Temp changes etc.... they are VERY sensitive to Salinity and when they go said:
More like a double whammy..improper acclimation coupled with rapid SG changes etc. Another reason to document everything you do to your tank. If issues arise after a change, then you can check your log and see if it could be related. Excellent post and responses. :D


Cheers!
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@bimmerzs wrote:
budget for a refractometer said:
Very true! I know that there are some people that will show that a hydrometer can be accurate. But it is generally accepted that they are not. When I had my swing arm hrdrometer, if I had the level at 1.025, the tank was really at 1.032. I would always keep the arm at 1.021 if I was changing water.

ANywho...get test kits and a refractometer.
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Will do. Thank you guys. Here I was thinkin I had a good hydrometer. Honestly, I usually have a weird feeling about equipment for marine aquaria that is cheap, but again, I've got a lot to learn. Mine was the Coral Life Deep Six hydrometer. Anyway, thanks for the info. I'll def. need to spend the extra money now to help keep stable my future (near future :) ) reef.
 
Randy: Other than the common Sand Sifters, I really don't think you will have much luck keeping any kind of sea stars long term in a small tank, especially if it is not well established. Most starfish, especially the Linkias need a well established tank with lots of micro fauna and lots of sponge material which is required in their diet. However, if you decide to try again you might want to look into Fromias. They are much easier to keep than the Linkias, and some are just as pretty, if you're looking for color.

Fromia

Cool Fromia

Might want to check with Dane. I think he had one of these in his store the last time I was in.
 
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