Red Starfish Unexplained Death, Help!!!!

[erifish3]

So i leave for work yesterday and do my routine checkups on both my tanks before i leave, everythings great. I get home about 8 hours later and my red starfish is barely clinging on to the glass, looks like something ate right thru him. He was ripped almost in half. I'm at a loss because there is no fish in the tank (12g), its all coral, 1 anemone, and 1 snail. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[coralreefer]

is it a linkia star? if it is, the tank might not have been mature enough for it, as they need tanks 1 yr +
could you post pics, that would definitely help

sorry for your loss btw

 

[spanko]

are you having any Sg changes in your tank? I know starfish are supposed to be sensitive to that.

 

[erifish3]

Its exactly like the red starfish they sell on this site. I have a picture of how i found him (graphic), before and after.

 

[coralreefer]

looks like a linkia star. could you post your params and tank age?

 

[erifish3]

Tank is about 5 months old. Will do testing when i get home later on tonight. Any ideas what caused this?

 

[coralreefer]

linkia stars need a mature tank, 1 year+. that could have been the problem. they are also hard to keep

 

[erifish3]

Why does it look all chewed up? That's what has me confused.

 

[coralreefer]

well when they die, they sort of "melt"

 

[erifish3]

Interesting. Learned something new. Thanks

 

[coralreefer]

you said you had an anemone right? that could have eaten it but its unlikely

 

[erifish3]

Yeah, I doubt it too, starfish stayed attached to the glass and anemone is about 10 inches away.

 

[sepulatian]

Check your SG. It looks as though he suffered from acclimation shock, which can take a month to kill the star. The SG should be at 1.026. The acclimation should have been a slow drip for 4+ hours. Unfortunately, with such a small and new system, the star would not have made it in there anyway. If you want a star for your tank think about a serpent star.

 

[erifish3]

He was in there for 3 days.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by erifish3
http:///forum/post/2992364
He was in there for 3 days.
What is your SG (refractometer test) and how did you acclimate him?

 

[erifish3]

Won't be able to test till i get home. I acclimated it for about 2-3 hours.

 

[erifish3]

SG is 1.024