New star problem?

dkoucky

New Member
I setup a new tank about 2 months ago, with water tests okay I bought some snails and hermits to clean up a little and be my canaries. When they were okay I purchased a red knob star, the next morning he was looking very pale and generally bad so I had a friend hold him for a couple of weeks. I then put a Niger trigger in the tank and he is doing very well. I re-drip acclimated the red knob and put him back in today. He is secreting some mucus already about 1 hour in, should I be worried?
 

meowzer

Moderator
YES...the star is dieing......you can not add a star to a new tank.....I also think the trigger would make a snakc out of the star.....and your inverts too
what size tank do you have? equipment? Live rock?? Have you done any research at all on SW tanks? read the top threads in the new hobbyist section too....
 

dkoucky

New Member
It is a 45 gallon with no coralsl it is setup with live rock, protein skimmer, dsb, and fluval 206. Also the trigger is small and came from a tank w/ a chocolate chip who he never bothered. The tank is through its cycle for sure. Ammonia nitrates and PH check out salinity is 1.026 on the refractometer using RO from a system that sustains a 200g reef tank that I definitely trust.
So do I need to get the star back to my friend for a while and check for something that would harm him but not the trigger? Is it possible he is just in shock and sending some mucus from stress sort of like a coral might when it is moved?
Thanks!
 

meowzer

Moderator
stars are very hard to acclimate to a new tank.....moving it from tank to tank is not a good idea.....BUT your tank is not mature enough to sustain a star
also a 45G will not be able to keep that trigger......you need at least a 180G tank...AT LEAST......
 

dkoucky

New Member
I guess one more move for him in the morning then, back to the tank he was doing okay in... The trigger isn't permanent but it is pretty small and I think I think I should be able to look at it for at least a couple of months before it needs a new home.
Is that a Bengal in your profile? I cannot get the pic to get very big on here...
 
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