starfish died after 3-4 days??!!

[bms]

ok so i bought my gf a starfish to put in her 40 gallon aquarium and it died in 3 or so days. i dont remember the exact species but it was small and orange and had tiny tiny black spots almost not noticeable. the LFS we got him from was our first time visiting but had some amazing corals and all kinds of fish and inverts so we thought it would be a good place to buy from. when we asked the guy what they eat he said "nobody knows what they eat just put him in the tank and he will survive off of what is in there". i dont know if this is correct and i was a bit skeptical about the whole thing but she really really wanted it and after him telling me how easy they are to keep i didnt think it would be too hard for her. well we got him home and the first few days he was all over the place. going all up and down the tank walls and everywhere, seemed healthy as an ox. next thing i know she says he died. all of our nitrates/trites/ammonia/pH were all in range. any ideas? maybe he died from starvation? any tricks to keeping starfish? the tank is an established tank and is about a year old. thanks for any advice.

 

[nw2salt08]

First off...sounds like a bad LFS. They should know what kind of star and it's requirements. I would do some researching on my own and be very cautious if you were to shop there again.
Secondly, starfish can be touchy when acclimating. How long did you acclimate before putting it into the tank?
I have a brittle star and they're pretty hardy. I love mine. He's got long arms that extend out of the rockwork when I feed. Can be very interesting to watch and I get a lot of compliments/questions.
I noticed you're fairly new to the boards so .... Welcome!

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Nw2Salt08
http:///forum/post/3096658
First off...sounds like a bad LFS. They should know what kind of star and it's requirements. I would do some researching on my own and be very cautious if you were to shop there again.
Secondly, starfish can be touchy when acclimating. How long did you acclimate before putting it into the tank?
I have a brittle star and they're pretty hardy. I love mine. He's got long arms that extend out of the rockwork when I feed. Can be very interesting to watch and I get a lot of compliments/questions.
I noticed you're fairly new to the boards so .... Welcome!

The LFS is correct..they nor the books really know what they eat. It may have gone a very long time wihout food by the time you even bought it. It was active because it was hungry and looking hard for whatever it eats.
Serpent and brittle stars are good for part of the CUC, but you won't see them much because they live in the rocks completely....I bought a knobby red star years ago...it lived for over a year and a half. SWF says not reef safe but I had no trouble at all. I had two but one got cut in half from a rock slide...even then it lived for about 3 months. So they must be pretty hardy, maybe try one of those. Here is a picture of the one I had in a 55g...