quesions marble starfish, porc puffer, vol lion

[gravismaximus]

1. hi all, couple of questions for you. first is about my marble star i dont know if its spliting or dying but it dont look good. about 2 months ago i noticed a slit starting from the outside of the body going in towards the center. the star seems to be trying to pull its self aprt at this cut because it will fold itself over and walk while holding the other part of it still. last night i moved him because of doing a water change and he is now in 3 different pieces. all of which seem to be able to move. i have just a 1 arm and 2, 2 arm parts. they respond when touched by curling the tip up. is this just a nerve or is it really still alive? should i take it out? i did a water test and my nitrite level is high .2ppm (wow) is he dead poluting the tank? but hes not mushy or falling aprt when touched. HELP!
did a 20gallon water change last night.
2. next question has to do with my recent order (last week), i got a porc puffer and a vol lion from here. the lion didnt eat for 3 days after geting him and woke up to find him dead and the puffer nibbling on his tail.
the puffer does seem to be interested in all the fish if they get close to it, and it starts acting like a puppy wants to bite everything. not attacking but more of playful chasing because it never swims fast to keep up if the other fish wants to get away. but regaurdless if they dont swim away after 3-4 sec the puffer will give them a nip, as if he is trying to figure out, whats this!. all the other fish seem to not care anymore and just swim away from him befor the nipping happens, but back to the lion, never saw him even try to take a pot shot at the lion, not even a nip at a fin. the lion seemed to be very defensive would turn his fins at any fish that came within 9 inchs of him. and they all seemed to understand stay far away! ive heard of the puffers nipping fins but what do you think about a puffer killng a lion outright. i am leaning towards starvation. i do observe the tank a lot, and after the lights go out till 1-2 am, i like to watch what hapens . but i cant stay up looking at it 24-7 so i cant rule out an attack. both fish where about 3.5 inchs in size. love the personality of the puffer but i started a salt tank 18months ago for the single reason of getting a vol. what do you think try again or is it doomed to end up with one of them dying within days. i watch videos of tiggers, puffers and vols all the time on utube, so i know it can be done. but do you think this puffer will let it happen. does this sound like your puffers normal behavior. thanks for the time and sorry its so long.
75gal DT, 55gal refuge/sump

 

[saxman]

Fromia stars aren't the most hardy stars in the world, for sure. I'd say its on its way out. Was it eating prior to this? How long have you had it?
Your volitans didn't starve in 3 days, or even 3 weeks. It likely had something or "just didn't make the trip" well. That being said, a 75 gal is too small for a volitans, and is definitely too small for a Diodon puffer, so hopefully, there's an upgrade in your future. If you keep the 75, you'd be better off with a Russel's lionfish (Pterois russelii), which are often sold as "red volitans". Russel's lions are basically a volitans in a smaller package, with care being identical, and they look very close to P. volitans.
I highly recommend QT-ing your fish, esp. when you get a new lion. This way, you can get it eating and conditioned as well as weaned onto dead food. Your problem may come when adding a new lion to an established puffer's tank, even tho it is a Diodon sp. puffer.
What else do you have in the tank ATM?