Questions about star fish?

[chevyblue96]

Ok... I'm afraid I might of made a newbie mistake here....
I bought a Coral banded shrimp, and a sand sifting starfish.
Got them both in the tank (55g). Shrimp made himself right at home and I love him.
The starfish however..... Ugh! I bought it after reading about it online, talked to the woman who owns the store, was told he'd be great for my tank since I have some "dirt" on the top in places. THEN, I come on here and read about how it's most likely gonna die, etc.
I'm wondering if I didn't kill him anyway. I put him and the shrimp in the tank at the same time. Shirmp is awesome. Starfish however landed upside down, I turned him right side up. Then he sorta "stood up" on his tippy toes? Stayed that way for a few mins, then went flat again and hasn't moved since... it's been about an hour and half with no movement. Is that normal?
Gessh, I wish I would of read here about people's personal expirences with them before getting him. I thought I was good to go since everything I read said they were excellent sand cleaners :'(

 

[meowzer]

How old is your tank? How long did you acclimate it for and how did you do it?

 

[2quills]

They clean the sand alright. But in a 55G it may clean it a little too well by eating up all of the benificial organisms in your live sand. They are very sensitive to changes in envirornment. What are your water peramiters right now?

 

[chevyblue96]

My water is fine, and I did a drip with them for about 2 hours.
I realize he isn't what I want in my tank, and he'll go back tomorrow... that is if he isn't dead already. How can I tell if he's still alive? He hasn't moved still since the tippy toe thing he did?

 

[dmanatee]

Alot of starfish are nocturnal and dont realy move around durring the day. But they are a type of indicator species so if the water chemistry is off they are the first to know.
I would wait for more responces but if he is doing alright this evening, you might try putting some finly chopped frozen/fresh food in the tank after the lights go out. but I dont have that much experiance with the sand sifting star. Mines a serpent star, that goes bonkers for small pices of silversliders.

 

[chevyblue96]

Forgot, I havn't had the tank all that long, however it's been up/running for 1+ (probably closer to two years). I moved it, saving all the water, etc. to avoid the whole "new tank start up"

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyblue96 http:///forum/thread/383767/questions-about-star-fish#post_3358705
My water is fine, and I did a drip with them for about 2 hours.
I realize he isn't what I want in my tank, and he'll go back tomorrow... that is if he isn't dead already. How can I tell if he's still alive? He hasn't moved still since the tippy toe thing he did?
Well I was particularly curious as to what your temp and salinity are reading right now. That fact that you say it's doing the tippy toe thing sounds to me like it's in shock from being in the new environment. I doubt that it's dead as of yet.

 

[chevyblue96]

Temp. is at 78-79
Salinity is 1.023

 

[btldreef]

It will probably be fine for a short time. I had two sand sifting starfish in my 40G from its inception and they were fine. Yes, they will deplete your sand of good critters, but it's not going to starve overnight, or in a week. They are usually nocturnal and if they're messed with, they'll stop moving for quite some time, so there are no worries there.
If you're going to take it back, just make sure it doesn't get exposed to air.
If your sand is "messy", try some Nassarius snails and maybe even some Cerith snails, they'll stir up the sand well.

 

[chevyblue96]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/383767/questions-about-star-fish#post_3358733
It will probably be fine for a short time. I had two sand sifting starfish in my 40G from its inception and they were fine. Yes, they will deplete your sand of good critters, but it's not going to starve overnight, or in a week. They are usually nocturnal and if they're messed with, they'll stop moving for quite some time, so there are no worries there.
If you're going to take it back, just make sure it doesn't get exposed to air.
If your sand is "messy", try some Nassarius snails and maybe even some Cerith snails, they'll stir up the sand well.
Awesome! Thanks for the very useful advice! I'm going to see if the store will let me swap him out for the Nassarius snails. I was going to get some of those anyway, but waiting til I could get to the cheaper store (bigger city but farther away, so better prices). The ones at my close store were 18.99 per snail! But whatever, I'm just trying to get a CUC going good and don't want to chance this star....

 

[btldreef]

$18.99 per Nassarius! I'd never shop in that store again, LOL Let me guess, they have some fancy name for them too, like "Magic Carpet Snail" or "Fancy Nassarius Snail"
If I were you, I'd be printing out a couple pages from different online stores and showing the LFS what Nassarius snails go for, $18.99 is outrageous.

 

[chevyblue96]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/383767/questions-about-star-fish#post_3358740
$18.99 per Nassarius! I'd never shop in that store again, LOL Let me guess, they have some fancy name for them too, like "Magic Carpet Snail" or "Fancy Nassarius Snail"
If I were you, I'd be printing out a couple pages from different online stores and showing the LFS what Nassarius snails go for, $18.99 is outrageous.

Actually... Yeah, they were titled "Fancy Nasarius Snails"

They had spotted shells. I shop with that store mostly because it's the only one that has anything salt water within a 45 mins. drive from home (she's small shop, only has one 75g salt water tank.) and she usually cuts me a really good deal. She didn't charge me for the shrip at all

so I guess it sort of balances out maybe?
The other store in Conway has much bigger selection and LOTS better prices, but it's so much farther away!

 

[monsinour]

I have 5 LFS in my area but I choose to go to the one that is the farthest from my house for the customer service they have. It takes me about 45 minutes to get there. There is 2 LFS within 10 minutes of my house but I havent purchased a thing from either one. Didnt like either place and the customer service at the one was deplorable.

 

[btldreef]

I'm so thankful for where I live. I have more decent - good LFS's within 45 minutes of me than I can even count.

 

[chevyblue96]

I wish we had more to choose from, but this is horse/cattle country. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to order anything from online either.... Our mail people are.... well.... Yeah.

 

[monsinour]

well, you can check my post in the corals forum for my first online order experience. As soon as the money is back to "normal" and swf.com does one of them thar fancy deals, I will be placing an order here and making a post about it. Honestly, from what I have read, SWF.com will not do you wrong in any way shape or form. There is something to be said for word of mouth advertising. Its usually the most honest and sincere. Just about every post on these forums about purchases from SWF.com is nothing but rave reviews for the place. Besides, they have this kick-a$$ program for reward points for putting up reviews of things they sell. You dont even have to buy the items that you review from them. 5 reviews = 1000 points and those points can be used right away on super cool stuff. You know you could get a flame angel for free!

 

[btldreef]

This and one other site are the only ones I order from online ever. SWF stands behind their shipping, so you're very safe ordering from here. If the idiot mail people do something to it, it's not out of your pocket.

 

[chevyblue96]

"You dont even have to buy the items that you review from them "
Would that not create people doing "reviews" just to get points? What if they just make something up to get more points?
The big part of why I even bought this tank was to eventually get a coral beauty... It's my end goal. It's been an expensive learning process though for sure, even starting with an established tank!

 

[btldreef]

Yes, people do write reviews just for the points, but they're really loyal to the board members and it was an extra way for them to give back to us.
The review has to actually be meaningful or they'll delete it and you'll loose your points. It is a good business tactic, at least people have some knowledge of what to expect from someone who owns it, not just what the store tells you about it.

 

[chevyblue96]

Well, it's finally morning. Star fish still hasn't moved. Snow is starting to come down pretty heavy. Going to wait just a bit and then call the store to see if i can swap him for something else... *fingers crossed *