Star Wars?

[beaker]

I just recently bought the "20-55 Gallon Reef Package" with the following:
20 Scarlet Reef Hermits
20 Blueleg Hermits
20 Turbo/Astrea Snails
5 Sand Sifting Cerith Snails
1 Sally Lightfoot
2 Brittle Stars
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
3 Emerald Crabs
previously to adding this package, i had about 5 urchins in there that were carried over from a failed tank. (serious algea outbreak) and a large green surpent star fish (about 10")
anyways, i came home from work today to find the surpant star only about 3" and my brittle star missing one leg looking 1/2 dead. The other brittle is nowhere to be found but there is star fish legs scatterd all over the tank.
who or what did this?

 

[michaeltx]

hpw long have they been in the tank?
and how did you acclimate them to the new tank?
what fish are in the tank?
and what are your water parameters?
all these questions will helop narrow the problem down from just here what I added heres what was there and this is what they look like LOL
Mike

 

[beaker]

I have a pair of clowns (percula i think), 2 green chromis, and a spotted hawk.
I acclimated them into the tank per the instructions provided to me by swf.com....i put the package in about a week ago, ive had the green star about 8-9 months. I am not sure where my water stands at the moment though, I need to run out and get another testing kit.
can bad water make a star fish loose his legs? lol.....its almost like someone chopped them off! he was fine this morning when i left for work.
-Beaker

 

[agro]

My serpent has done the same thing over the last 2 days. I have been having problems with some sps receding and softies randomly opening and closing. Also, I lost my urchins a week or two ago. Found out my stupid magnetic scraper was rusting under the pad. Pulled it out and put in fresh carbon 2 days ago, and the sps have already started to regrow, and the softies are fuller than ever, but the starfish lost his arms. Anyway, the first things to go in my tank were the urchins... and since yours look fine that's probably not your problem.

 

[michaeltx]

major swings can cause negative effects on them cause the tissue to detriorate and from my experiebce with brittle stars theres start with the legs but I dont know how fast it happens.
a swing in salinity is the main factor that creates this but ph can do it also along with alot of other water parameters as well.
ophirou is a board member that has a lot of knowledge about stars and might have another idea. but if there is nothing picking at its legs then I would think its some kind of shock that is taking its toll.
shock can take months to show up even though they looked good and healthy and then start down hill.
brittles are normally very hardy and can recover form some minor shock as long as its not to bad. the legs can regenerate if the shock isnt to bad.
keep an eye on them till ophirou can get on or someone else that will have a better idea. but the test results are going to be needed to rule some things out.
you might take a water sample to the LFS and have them test it for you till you get the test kits that you need.
Mike

 

[michaeltx]

not missing how long theve been in the tank but even in an established tank if there is a major fluctuation it can still have those effects.
but from the original post ( thats why the acclimation and swings mainly)
I just recently bought the "20-55 Gallon Reef Package" with the following:
I have never had any problems with my sallys or blue legs going after a brittle star but I guess that is possible. and never had a cb so.
just ideas though.
Mike

 

[spsfreak100]

Originally posted by Beaker
I acclimated them into the tank per the instructions provided to me by swf.com
If I remember correctly, Saltwaterfish.com advised someone to aclamate their Linkia Starfish for 30 minutes to an hour. If this is how long you aclamated your starfish, most likely the loss of limbs you're seeing is being caused by quick changes in water chemistry.
As you probably already know, all starfish have extremely sensitive hydrovascular systems which are very sensitive to even the slightest changes in pH, salinity, or temperature. Once the hydrovascular system is shocked by one of these quick changes, often times starfish will aprear to loose limbs. Most likely this quick change in either temperature, salinity, or pH happened a few months ago, and now the swing is taking affect.
There's really not much you could do to help the starfish out. It should be a slow death from hear on out.
Graham

 

[ophiura]

So let me clarify something here...
You had 2 new brittlestars, and one that had been in there many months....and suddenly ALL of them are disintegrating? (or one is completely MIA and the others are disintegrating?).
This is generally a case of shock, as mentioned. Any water changes, temp changes....anything recently? Generally this is not a predatory attack, and it is not normal for those stars to be in the open like that. Predatory attacks on healthy brittlestars result in the loss of an arm or two...the loss of most arms on multiple brittlestars is not indicative or predation but of generalized osmotic shock.
I would look for some sort of osmotic stress. For the new ones, acclimation shock was definitely a possibility...but since the established one is in trouble, seems something else is going on.
What are your exact water parameters, pH, specific gravity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate....tell us more about your system.
FWIW, this is not a guaranteed death. I have seen brittlestars come back from far worse. But in those cases the cause of the problem was addressed quickly and the tank was stabilized (or the animals moved) to ideal ranges.

 

[beaker]

well, im sure what im about to tell you all will clear everything up....to what the "shock" came from....
about a month ago, i moved the tank....broke everything down...into buckets and platic bag lined boxes....in the process of moving, i broke the sump i so scooped all the mud, bio balls, and culerpa into a bucket until i could make it to the fish store the next day to buy a new 10g tank and to the hardware store to buy panes of glass (i made a homemade one) it was in the bucket for 3 days because I had to make the sump in stages and wait for the glue to dry.
I have yet to test the water since I moved it. I am aware I need to do this ASAP.
I am sure this move was the shock that killed the green star in the long run. But why are the brittles dying off after only being in the tank for a week? I guess the water tests will tell. I will get a kit soon and post the results.
Thanks for all the help.
-Beaker
PS - If I were to go with a different method of filtration, what should i do that isnt really expensive?

 

[michaeltx]

the shock can take a couple of months to show up its not always instant.
as far as the filtration i am still p[layin around with that myself so I will leave that to others LOL
mike