Reef Discussion

[Dean Lovett]

On the weekend I purchased a sea star, probably against my better judgement.

I have read a bit in the past day about them and apparently they can be quite hard to cater for....

In the worse case scenario I am nervous that it is going to die, and disintegrate and cause an issue in my tank... Is this a possibility... like if it were to die would it cause a big drama in my 63L tank?

What can I do to:

• Ensure its survival.
  
• Ensure its good health.
  
• Ensure that it is in good health.
  
• Ensure that if is does die, to prevent it from affecting the rest of the tank?

 

[ReeferRob]

The main thing with stars is to make sure they expel ALL air they might have ingested. When I get them in, I place them upside down while they're being acclimated. Other than that, they're pretty tough in my experience. Make sure that if you see ANY sort of white slime or decomposition you remove it right away, once it starts, it doesn't stop.

 

[Sam Parker]

Low and stable temps :)

 

[MagicJ]

This is just my opinion ...

I would see if you can return it - I don't know how big the star is, but I doubt that a 63l tank would be able to support it for any length of time. And don't be misled by the fact that it might still be alive in a few months time - unfortunately, the majority of stars tend to gradually starve to death over many months, until they eventually succumb.

How did you acclimatise it?

At the very least you need to immediately put some sort of guard around your heater. The star probably won't crawl onto it when it is on, but it will when it is off - then, when the heater turns on it will get burnt.

 

[Dean Lovett]

Well, the heater in the back compartment in the tank, so it can't get onto it.

I am really apprehensive about it to be honest... apparently right now it is hanging out near the torch coral.... do they eat corals?!

Also, the guy at the shop said "Just chuck it in" :@:@:@

But i placed it into a container and slowly added some of my water to it.

 

[MagicJ]

Well, the heater in the back compartment in the tank, so it can't get onto it.

OK, from this picture it looked to be in the tank

 

[Dean Lovett]

OK, from this picture it looked to be in the tank

Oh, thats not my tank....

 

[Dean Lovett]

T

OK, from this picture it looked to be in the tank

This is a link to my tank here: http://thereefuge.com/g/my-nano-tank-journey.392/

 

[MagicJ]

My mistake, sorry

 

[slin1977]

What do they eat?

 

[Rob]

I will follow along with interest, I have only had one small orange star a few years ago, probably lasted about 3 weeks, mine was impossible to remove from the sand as although it looked intact as soon as you touch it it was sooo mushy. My star did travel around a bit when first introduced, i should of known when it stopped moving and stayed in the top corner for a few days it was on its way out. i did not aclimatise mine just chucked it in... I know now that was bad :eek

 

[Dean Lovett]

I will follow along with interest, I have only had one small orange star a few years ago, probably lasted about 3 weeks, mine was impossible to remove from the sand as although it looked intact as soon as you touch it it was sooo mushy. My star did travel around a bit when first introduced, i should of known when it stopped moving and stayed in the top corner for a few days it was on its way out. i did not aclimatise mine just chucked it in... I know now that was bad :eek

With accumulation that's what I was told to do as well!

But my plan is to just keep a really really close eye on it... so much so that I am prepared to leave work early "sick" to come home and monitor it haha

 

[ReeferRob]

I need a picture to tell you definitively what they eat because there's a metric shittonne of different "red starfish" out there. Most eat algae, hydroids, clams, benthic tunicates and yes, corals.

I've had differing degrees of success with Blue Linckia starfish. It all comes down to how they're handled at the source. I would stick a small pieces of shaved clam under a leg once a week and that one lasted about 3 years. No smart ass comments from the peanut gallery about the shaved clam!! :D