Starfish
- Thread starter stephmcmellon63877
- Start date
kbuser92
Breeder
Can we see actual numbers for NH4, NO3, NO2, PO4, pH, temp and salinity please? "Fine" can be a wide range depending on who's speaking and about what. Also, what all do you have in your tank, how large is it, how long has it been running, how long have you had your sea stars, what kind of maintenance and dosing, if any, do you do?
salt_for_brains
Alabama Reefer
As Kyle said, the more detailed information you can provide the better it can be diagnosed as to what could be going on.
stephmcmellon63877
Reefing newb
We have a 60 gallon tank. We have 2 starfish, 2 clownfish, a crab and a shrimp. But my crab ate my shrimp :(. It's been running for about a month. I've had the stars for about 2 weeks. We haven't done any maintenance yet. But I'm not at home at the moment. I will post the numbers when I get there.
kbuser92
Breeder
That's an aweful immature tank for sea stars. They usually prefer much more stable and clean water and if I remember correctly, nitrates can cause huge problems, even in small amounts. Let us know exact numbers when you can, though, and we can help more.
stephmcmellon63877
Reefing newb
I'm sorry! I'm new at this. What is an immature tank? Ph is 8.2. Ammonia is 0 ppm. Nitrite is 0 ppm. Nitrate is 0 ppm and the salt is 30.
kbuser92
Breeder
30 ppt? That's really low, I shoot for 35.5 in my tank, or about 1.026-1.027 specific gravity. When I say immature tank, I mean one that is new and young and still very unstable. That's how they all start off. A mature tank would be considered a year old give or take or older.
Are you using tap water?
Are you using tap water?
stephmcmellon63877
Reefing newb
The 30 is right in the middle. When should I wait to get starfish? The fish and crab is doing great! And what kind of food do the starfish eat. I have one more in there and it seems to be doing fine. Yeah, I used tap water. Of course of the people at the pet store didn't say anything to me about not using til it was to late and I had already filled the tank.
bwilhite
Reefing newb
That looks kinda like a Chocolate Chip Starfish. the diet the Chocolate Chip Sea Star can consist of chopped clams, shrimp, and squid. Adults will eat soft corals, sponges, tubeworms, clams, and other starfish.
stephmcmellon63877
Reefing newb
It is a cc starfish. And I think I have been starving my poor guy. The pet store people said that the bloodworms would feed all my creatures!!
bwilhite
Reefing newb
- Some ways to get it to eat is place the food in the sea star's path and wait for it to crawl over it. This really isn't the best method because generally speaking it can't always find it, or some other tank dweller eats it first.
- Pick the sea star up and put it on top of the food. This works pretty good, just be sure not to damage the animal when you handle it.
- Most likely your chocolate chip star fish will come to the surface of the tank, and bend backward with a couple of arms on the surface of the water. Place the piece of food on top of it gently and it will move it with tube feet to its mouth.
Barbara
kbuser92
Breeder
+1. You can always start doing your top off and new water changes with RO/DI water now. I unfortunately had to start mine with tap because there was nowhere close to get water and my landlord wasn't fond of a plumbing modification...a big problem with tap is the use of copper in your home, slowly leaching out. When your water evaporates and you top off, you're only adding more copper until a water change will bring it down, but only slightly since there's copper in there, too. Short term you won't notice problems, but long term it can cause all sorts of issues.
However, I will say that I agree with starving and will add that bloodworms are not a very good choice at all. Can you get frozen food from any fish store around you? Mysis shrimp is one of the most popular and cheapest, along with all sorts of blends for carnivores, herbivores and everything in between. I would suggest finding some and trying to feed that. Good luck!
However, I will say that I agree with starving and will add that bloodworms are not a very good choice at all. Can you get frozen food from any fish store around you? Mysis shrimp is one of the most popular and cheapest, along with all sorts of blends for carnivores, herbivores and everything in between. I would suggest finding some and trying to feed that. Good luck!
kbuser92
Breeder
P.S. Chocolate Chip stars are not reef safe. Just in case you want a reef later on. :)
stephmcmellon63877
Reefing newb
Well my starfish died :( does the shrimp have to be frozen? Will my other fish still it from the other starfish?
kbuser92
Breeder
I would take him out ASAP. And yes, the mysis you buy should be frozen. It will only get thawed before feeding. You will probably need to feed your fish first and try to spot feed your stars.
Sorry to hear your loss, its always sad when you lose something. One thing I try to do is make it a learning experience and turn it around into a positive.
Sorry to hear your loss, its always sad when you lose something. One thing I try to do is make it a learning experience and turn it around into a positive.
stephmcmellon63877
Reefing newb
I don't have any place to put the other starfish. What do u think?
Sakura2282
Reef lover!!!
Are you feeding the remaining starfish? That one is also a CCS, right?
bronson
Reefing newb
ive got a small 10 gallon reef tank and i wanted to know is there a small reef safe starfish for it.ive got asterina starfish and micro brittlestars that were hitchikers but would like sumat else
Sakura2282
Reef lover!!!
A 10 gallon is a very small tank and I believe any other kind of starfish different to the ones you already have in it, will slowly die. But, you can try some shrimps instead.
bronson
Reefing newb
ok.have sexy shrimps and a cleaner shrimp.will forget bout the starfish.just wondered cos my hitchiker starfish are doing well and multiplying
