Need Advice

[bbaum33]

Hello, I am new to this site, let alone this hobby. I have read, and heard many positive things about the people on this site, so I will give it a try. I have a 75 gallon FOWLR tank, and it has been up and running for about 2 months now. The thing I need advice on is about a week and a half ago I purchased a marbled star fish, and it was in the tank for about a week until one morning I saw the middle of it torn apart. I talked to my LFS store, and they said it could not have been any of my fish, or inverts. They suggested a gorrila crab or a bristle worm, but i have an orange linka starfish in my tank that is doing fine, and is still alive; along with my fish and inverts. Does anyone one have any advice of what could have killed my starfish?

 

[scsinet]

Welcome to the boards! There are a few things here...
First, from the sounds of it, you are talking about a Fromia sp. star... is that right? These things can be tough to acclimate, and require a well established tank, which you absolutely do not have at 2 months. They are more delicate than Linka stars.
Starfish can disintegrate weeks after being acclimated poorly. It's possible that acclimation could be your issue.
The LFS suggestion of a hitchhiker is quite possible, especially given the age of your tank. It's possible, even likely, that a hitchhiking baddie in the rocks could go unseen for this long. You need to spend some time watching the tank at night with a flashlight.
Starfish tend to regenerate, so a tear in the center or even a lost arm can heal over and the starfish can continue to live, so don't remove him unless he is disintegrating.
A 75 may not provide enough food to support two starfishes. The Fromia star is a voracious scavenger, and may quickly consume all of the food in the tank, particularly a new tank. They'll probably be okay in your tank, provided you feed them supplementally with algae sheets.

 

[bbaum33]

Thanks for taking the time to help me out on this situtaion. I really appreciate it. If you go to the inverts page on this site it is the starfish listed as the "Marbled Star." The things is that I purchased the tank from a guy who had it torn down for 2 days, he sold it to me with sand in it, and the 50 lbs of live rock he had in it. It also came with all the filtration system that had been used on it for about a year or so. I do not know if that can have a part in the establishment part of the tank, but just stating. There was a hole through the middle of the center of the body. I picked him up to see if he was stiff when I purchased him, but all his arms were limp. The other starfish I have is significantly smaller. It is orange with black on the tip of each leg, but he seems to be doing fine. I have been waiting a couple hours after the lights are out and turn them back one real quick to see if I could spot something out of the oridnary, but I have not found anything yet.