chevydragtruck
Member
something ate the legs about half way off my sand star....I'm kinda thinking it was a brittle star I added a couple of weeks ago...I put it in my QT what are the chances of it surviving? is there anything I can do for it?
sand sifter star
- Thread starter chevydragtruck
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ophiura
Active Member
No, in all likelihood nothing ate the legs off this star. It is a classic sign of one of two things:
1) if you have had this star about a month OR have recently done a water change, then the star is suffering from acclimation stress/osmotic shock. They are extremely sensitive to changes in salinity, pH, alk, and water conditions must be pristine, including a specific gravity between 1.025-1.026.
2) If you have had this star >6 months, perhaps 9-12 months, it is starving to death, as most eventually do.
The arms breaking off, and the general appearance of disintegration is characteristic of both situations. Unfortunately, removing it from the main tank is the worst thing to do for it, because you needed to acclimate an already very stressed animal to a new system, for at least 4 + hours. Otherwise, it makes things worse. Putting it back in the main system will probably double the stress. If the star was healthy, and this is an osmotic shock situation, then it might regrow the arms if the shock was not too bad.
Unless you have harlequin shrimp, a big hitch hiker crab, large wrasses, triggers, eels, etc...nothing ate it. Certainly not all the legs. If the brittle was involved, it was because the star was already dying and it was cleaning up, which is what it is supposed to do. Never jump to the "brittlestar ate it" conclusion, as many do, because you will likely overlook the real cause.
IMO, do not add another sand sifter to the tank. They only really do well in very large systems (long term) and are not recommended for a functional DSB because they eat the desirable critters. This is what the majority of people find will happen, eventually.
What are your water parameters?
1) if you have had this star about a month OR have recently done a water change, then the star is suffering from acclimation stress/osmotic shock. They are extremely sensitive to changes in salinity, pH, alk, and water conditions must be pristine, including a specific gravity between 1.025-1.026.
2) If you have had this star >6 months, perhaps 9-12 months, it is starving to death, as most eventually do.
The arms breaking off, and the general appearance of disintegration is characteristic of both situations. Unfortunately, removing it from the main tank is the worst thing to do for it, because you needed to acclimate an already very stressed animal to a new system, for at least 4 + hours. Otherwise, it makes things worse. Putting it back in the main system will probably double the stress. If the star was healthy, and this is an osmotic shock situation, then it might regrow the arms if the shock was not too bad.
Unless you have harlequin shrimp, a big hitch hiker crab, large wrasses, triggers, eels, etc...nothing ate it. Certainly not all the legs. If the brittle was involved, it was because the star was already dying and it was cleaning up, which is what it is supposed to do. Never jump to the "brittlestar ate it" conclusion, as many do, because you will likely overlook the real cause.
IMO, do not add another sand sifter to the tank. They only really do well in very large systems (long term) and are not recommended for a functional DSB because they eat the desirable critters. This is what the majority of people find will happen, eventually.
What are your water parameters?
fishfreek
Active Member
I agree with Susan. I tried one in my 45g a few years back (before i knew better) and about the same thing happened to mine. At first it did well, but after two months it took a turn for the worse. It depleated my tank of worms and pods from my sandbed and shortly died of starvation. I would not suggest getting one of these unless you have a large (150g or bigger) mature tank. A tank like that could possably support a sand sifter. HTH
chevydragtruck
Member
ok, well, I guess I learned something today! the star has been in my tank for about 1 1/2 months.........yes I did a water change about a week ago..........hmm what else?
ph 8.1
ammonia .5ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 5ppm
salinity 1.023 1/2
ph 8.1
ammonia .5ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 5ppm
salinity 1.023 1/2
ophiura
Active Member
WOW! What is with the ammonia? How long has the tank been set up? That is, in all likelihood, the problem right there. Hope you get that under control ASAP! But probably best not to try another star. It can recover, if otherwise healthy, but the water conditions really need to be pristine.
spongebob square pants
Member
I must be lucky. I've had my sand sifter in a 55 for about a year. It was one of the first additions to my tank on the advice of LFS.
chevydragtruck
Member
.5 PPM on amonia? I didn't think that was to bad...........it barely reads on my test kit............the tank has been setup for about a year and a half.
ophiura
Active Member
Well, generally ammonia should be 0. I suppose if it is basically a faint trace on your test kit, then it might not be a problem. But for some of the test kits I used, a reading of .5 would be quite bad indeed! If you recently fed, and then took an ammonia reading, it is possible to see a faint trace. However, if it is chronic, there might be another problem, eg, your test kit may not be too accurate. Always worth the occasional run to the LFS to double check the results against their test kits, which tend to 'turn over' quite rapidly due to constant use.
chevydragtruck
Member
true, I haven't taken in any water since I got my test kit........do they "go bad"? I have been using the same test kit since I got my tank......I test about once a week, or when anything doesn't look normal. if I remember correctly, I tested about 45 min to an hour after feeding......I didn't know that would have such an affect.......when is a good time to test?
ophiura
Active Member
Yup, they can definitely go bad. In fact, some whole batches can be bad from the start. So, wouldn't hurt to get a reading from the LFS, just to see if yours is still working well.
I would probably test the water before feeding. Some people will test a few times over the course of a day, to check for changes in things like pH, which often vary. However, if you buffer, for example, you want to be wary of pH and alk readings within 24 hours of that, because they can be a bit wacky.
I would probably test the water before feeding. Some people will test a few times over the course of a day, to check for changes in things like pH, which often vary. However, if you buffer, for example, you want to be wary of pH and alk readings within 24 hours of that, because they can be a bit wacky.