Do Serepent Starfish Shed?

[antkri]

I have a serepent starfish and he seems to be shedding for lack of better terms, his skin on the body is peeling off. I did a water change and he started doing this and I think my mushrooms died.
Did I do something wrong?
The salt was high so I added a couple liters without salt to bring it down to a normal level, but nothing drastic it went from .026 to .024
I am killing everything?

 

[blue dew]

I may be wrong, but from what I've read on this board and elsewhere, starfish are very susceptible to shock (osmotic?) from changes in PH. I know you have to acclimate them slowly when adding them to your tank, like in the 6-8 hour range. The sudden drop in PH may have had a drastic effect on them.
I believe the mushrooms may fare better since I don't think they are as sensitive. Mine have been through a couple mistakes and are still going strong. Sorry to hear that this happened.
Dew

 

[antkri]

HE has been in the tank for about 3 months and I do water changees monthly and do them the same way. I don't know why it would shock him now....Does anyone know if when they grow they shed their skin(hopefully)

 

[antkri]

Thanks Squishy,
I just tested the params. and all is fine Amon. is low is non-exsist, Nitrates are low Nitrites are low. IT is a 33 gal. tank, I do Supplemental feeding of clams to the star(cinqo) but yesterday he did not want to eat. The Salinity is lower than I thought it is about .023 to 0022, So maybe I shocked it. But raising the Salinity would proably shock it even more. The Mushrooms are dead there is no question. They are dissolving, the Polyps look withered, but still hanging in. I have about , I am terrible remembering things, 60llbs. of Live rock, I think and 3 fish ( yellow tail damsel, blue damsel and a green chromis) The fish look OK but kinda like they are gasping , I don't know. I also have a sandy starfish that seems fine, she has been out more than normal, but i think she is just looking for food. Also have some crabs and snails, the snails look to be on their way out also, however they have been arouns forever and it could be aage thing with them. They looked to be leaving me before the water change. I have regular, whites lights 2 of them and run them for about a total of 8-10 hours a day.
The only other thing I changed was I started adding Liquid calcium...humm now I am thinking...maybe to much???? about 1/2 tea a day for last 2 days nothing today......hummmmm
Maybe Its ME!!

 

[krishj39]

Alright, you've gotten some good advice, but I don't think anyone has specifically answered one of your questions. No, starfish do not shed, this should be considered a sign of stress and probably means your star is close to death. Hopefully you'll be able to get things figured out. Starfish are not the easiest to keep, even the most hardy serpents. If you loose this one, don't be scared to try again, but wait a while for your tank to age and become more stable (and give you time to learn more).

 

[antkri]

Well per advice I went ahead and took a water sample into the LFS...not so local about 30 miles away. The guy who owns it seems to know what he is doing he works for the henry dorly zoo reef center...anyways...the calicium was at 300 he said it should be at 425 but that that would not crash the tank... the trates and amon. were so low he did not even mention them, but the trites were med-to high range sorry I can't remember, but in the test tube they were hot pink!...not good, but he said that that should not make the whole tank crash he suggested that I do a 5 gallon water change to ease up the trites(I only have a 33 gallon tank)
and of cousr make sure I de-chlorinze (sp?) the water and make sure the salt is OK. Well by the time I track my happy a

back home I find one fish dead..(flushed him and said a pray I have had him for 9 months )
It gets better as I am crying on the phone to the hubbie cause the kids are in the background just freaking out... Another one swims to the top of the tank Opens it mouth really big and DIES! ...OMG So I call the LFS AGAIN! and we get talking cause he cannot understand why this is going on, the water levels were not that bad! So I tell him that I got the chlorine remover AmQuel + Plus that is really the only new product I have been using!
Whatever Oh so long sob story short...the AmQuel is not working !!!!!! I went and bought some other stuff from our local garden center(LGC) But I was to late the last fish had already died...Guess you can't put chlorine in a fish tank,....hun
Right now the kids hate me but if I can keep Cinqo alive I think they will forgive... Thanks for all your help today If this does not sound right PLEASE let me know
I am starting to hate this Anyone want to give direct advice e-mail me at huskergang@aol.com
Thanks---Kristin