Star Wars meets the Blenny

[bdacamel]

Ok so i purchased a black brittle star and it arrived yest. Very cool looking creature but when I got home today I went to feed it and noticed one of its legs was gone! I moved on to feeding my chromis and i realized i was missing a fish! My lm blenny usually would trail my chromis and eat their poop but it was gone! I lifted all my rock and he is no longer in my tank! Could the 4 inch star have gotten into it with the blenny? I want to keep the star but i really liked the lm blenny.
SO... pros and cons of starfish vs blenny. Am I going to keep losing fish to the star? I was told it was a great scavenger and a great addition. WTF!!!

 

[flower]

Brittle stars (except the green brittle, and only after they reach 8 to 10 inches) are safe with your fish. The only thing they eat are the dead or dying.
If the star is missing a leg, and the blenny is MIA.....???do you have damsels in the tank???? I had an anemone eat 2 LMBs of mine...So I had to get rid of my beautiful fish eater. Bad water parameters will also cause a star to lose it's legs

 

[bdacamel]

THanx for the response
well I don't have any damsels. Maybe the star is going thru some shock in its new tank? But I cant explain where the lmb is. Unless he jumped! but Ive had him for a solid month and he has been fine. Maybe he jumped cuz he didn't care for the star i cont buy it.. my dogs have eaten a crab before that escaped and the guilty look on their faces is clear as day lol,. i just don't know.
As for the water quality... I'm next to nothing on phos's, nitrates are a little high (20ppm) salinity is 1.0245 and ph a steady 8.2 with buffers. Maybe the temp and salt levels are different than its used to? when they drop an appendage can they lose just less than half of it or does it all fall off? Could nitrate be the cause? or shipping?

 

[bdacamel]

THanx for the response
well I don't have any damsels. Maybe the star is going thru some shock in its new tank? But I cant explain where the lmb is. Unless he jumped! but Ive had him for a solid month and he has been fine. Maybe he jumped cuz he didn't care for the star i cont buy it.. my dogs have eaten a crab before that escaped and the guilty look on their faces is clear as day lol,. i just don't know.
As for the water quality... I'm next to nothing on phos's, nitrates are a little high (20ppm) salinity is 1.0245 and ph a steady 8.2 with buffers. Maybe the temp and salt levels are different than its used to? when they drop an appendage can they lose just less than half of it or does it all fall off? Could nitrate be the cause? or shipping?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by bdacamel http:///t/394635/star-wars-meets-the-blenny#post_3512447
THanx for the response
well I don't have any damsels. Maybe the star is going thru some shock in its new tank? But I cant explain where the lmb is. Unless he jumped! but Ive had him for a solid month and he has been fine. Maybe he jumped cuz he didn't care for the star i cont buy it.. my dogs have eaten a crab before that escaped and the guilty look on their faces is clear as day lol,. i just don't know.
As for the water quality... I'm next to nothing on phos's, nitrates are a little high (20ppm) salinity is 1.0245 and ph a steady 8.2 with buffers. Maybe the temp and salt levels are different than its used to? when they drop an appendage can they lose just less than half of it or does it all fall off? Could nitrate be the cause? or shipping?
Hi,
Nitrates over 20 would cause stress to the starfish, they and shrimp are very sensitive to the water conditions, you should have a clear 0 on phosphates. The limb will grow back if the star lives long enough, if it's legs keep falling off it is going to die.
If the LMB were sick or badly injured, the eaters of the CUC will feast on his body until he it's gone, and deep in the rocks you would never see it....I have never had a blenny jump, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
You shouldn't have to buffer to get the PH right, something is off, or your PH would be steady. Also, if a rock shifts, it could crush a starfish leg and case it to fall off...I had that happen to a Linkia starfish once.