Star fish help

[Drew]

I wonder if someone can help me, I'm new to keeping a marine tank and have got white spot in my tank, I've been treating my fish with a copper treatment for three days now and am currently waiting another week before removing the copper from my tank using a poly filter, while I have been treating my main tank I have removed my 4 hermit crabs and starfish into a sperate tank so they don't come into contact with the treatment as it kills invertebrates, however now my starfish isn't moving and has become tangled up, his body is rigid and still has some moving tentacles, some are falling off. The tank he is in is a 20l tank (small I know but all I have) the tank has two filters added with a bit of poly filter added and Tmc bio pearls in both to keep the nitrate down and an air pump running into it, the tank also has some live rock in it. The tank levels are currently:
Ph: 8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
No2: 0ppm
No3: 5.0ppm
Temp: 24.2 degrees
Salinity: 1.024
Phosphate: 0.25ppm
Calcium: 460ppm
KH: 196.9 ppm
Any advise on what to do would be much appreciated

 

[Bifferwine]

Why did you treat the main tank with copper instead of moving your fish and treating them in a different tank? You should have removed the fish from the tank and treated them with copper in a quarantine tank. The polyfilter won't remove all the copper. It is likely that you have trashed your rocks and sand, as those absorb the copper and will leach it back out into the water over time. That is why copper ruins live rock and sand, usually permanently. I am doubtful if inverts will be able to survive in your tank after this.

The water parameters in the starfish's tank sound fine. Is he getting enough to eat?

 

[foxymoxy]

as i have learned starfish are very sensitive and require a tone of food...small tanks are no good for starfish, which can cause them to spontaneously dissolve and fall apart

as bifferwine had pointed out copper can be absorbed by the rocks and pretty much everything else due to the way chemical bonds are formed...the most common reason why copper is leached back into the system is due to erosion of the rocks (this rule also applies for iodine/iodide...even though it is naturally found in the environment (such as copper) in large quantities it can prevent bacterial colonies from prospering)

copper is considered to be the best treatment for parasites, but must never be used in a main tank...it would be best to remove the fish, because without a good bacterial growth it can be harmful to any aerobiotic species...you will more than likely will have to start over...

 

[little_fish]

+1 everyone

Starfish are also very susceptible to bacteria infections, which can be brought on by poor water conditions and temperature changes.

Another problem with starfish is that they can die if they are exposed to air without their choice.

 

[Drew]

Cheers for the help I'm hoping the star fish is going to survive I've moved him to one of my friends tanks which has been established for a long time and seems to be doing ok so far

 

[foxymoxy]

Cheers for the help I'm hoping the star fish is going to survive I've moved him to one of my friends tanks which has been established for a long time and seems to be doing ok so far

glad to hear ya did the right thing for the star fish ^^