How to tell if my starfish is dying

[Reggie&Angie]

I heard that they melt but how long does this take? We have had the tank for around 15 years and somehow the temp got turned up and it was about 90 degrees. We got it back down over an hourish time period, but he is not moving much or maybe at all. Since he is normally always hanging on the side since we got him I don't know how to tell. He is just sitting on the ground of the tank. If you pick him up (we had to to move him until the water was adjusted) if he is upside down he curls that way and then goes back flat when you put him down. This is the first starfish or really first real pet we have had in the tank so I have no clue what to do. Oh, yeah he is new to us only about a day. Hes a chocolate chip starfish.

 

[Reggie&Angie]

Oh he started moving again and looks like he is better...just needed some time to get over the shock I guess. Stupid heater. lol

 

[Ted]

Well a temp spike can kill almost anything so hopefully you caught it fast enough. The other thing you need to know that starfish eats corals so you will have to decide at some point if you want corals or not. Cant have both with him.

 

[Reggie&Angie]

Yes it can it did kill a few snails and one of the damsels.

 

[Ted]

sorry to hear you lost some stuff. Dang heaters

 

[sen5241b]

I have a small piece of scotch tape on the dial of my heater to prevent it from getting nudged. One little bump against that dial can kill your whole tank.

 

[yote]

The thing about tank heaters,is normally when they decide to stop working right.9 times out of 10.their gonna stick on and cause the tank to over heat.
Thats why I like to run 2 smaller heaters.

 

[Reggie&Angie]

thats a good idea. I will have to talk to my husband about that. Makes sense.

 

[rwynn]

Yes it can it did kill a few snails and one of the damsels.

On first read I thought you meant the CC killed a fish...was like damn..ninja star!

 

[Reggie&Angie]

ROTFLMAO!!!! Nope but my cc did kill one of my snails today. I woke up and it was chomping away.

 

[rwynn]

Mine got banished to the sump area once I added my first coral. I compared him to other CC in the stores and he is massive.. I'm sure he could take out anything in my tank if he caught it.

 

[dcantucson]

I have heard that those CC Starfish are killers.