Blue Starfish Problem

[cayenneman]

Hey guys. I bought a large blue starfish 2 days ago. Got my tank all looking good before I eased him into the water, taking careful precaution not to let any air contact him. Anyway, yesterday morning he was creeping up the front glass slowly and by the afternoon, he was right against the waterline. Same thing this morning and when I came home, he was still there....hugging it tightly. I needed to add about a 1/2 inch of water so I did and about 10 minutes later, he had moved up to the waterline again. What's the cause?

 

[bjohanson1234]

What are your parameters?
Amonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
pH
Salinity

How old is the tank?

He could just be exploring or he could be trying to get out of a stressfull situation.

 

[dcantucson]

+1 BJ
I haven't had luck with Blue Starfish. Have tried several but failed each time. I would say it it trying to move to another suitable area because of stress.

 

[cayenneman]

Just tested it.

Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0
pH - 8.4
Salinity - 1.021
Mg + Ca - 2000
Ca - 500 mg/l

How old is the tank? The tank is almost six months old. 50 gallon.

 

[cayenneman]

I moved him to the back wall where there's a bit of algae and he does the same thing...just goes right to the top.

 

[yote]

You need to bring your salinity on up to 1.026.That'll be better for your star.
As for why he's staying at the water line,he's feeding on the microscopic waste and animals that float to the surface.

 

[Melosu58]

As for why he's staying at the water line,he's feeding on the microscopic waste and animals that float to the surface.

Precisely the right answer. There is nothing wrong with what he is doing. It`s there way of feeding off the surface. It`s OK if their legs are out but their mouth area cant be. They know what they are doing. I`m assuming you are talking about the blue linknia.

 

[cayenneman]

Thanks so much everyone...I'll true and settle down a little. Yes, it is a blue linknia, I understand that they're difficult to maintain but I'll give it a try.

 

[Melosu58]

Mine you see in the pic is 4 yrs old now. I have found that if you do two things you should be OK. 1) Do not expose to air and 2) Keep your water parameters crystal clear esp. nitrates. They do not handle high nitrates well.