First starfish....serious question

[dcombs44]

I just bought a red serpent star from my lfs who has yet to steer me wrong and has done nothing but help me.

The thing is, he said that starfish only need temperature acclimated like with 50 cent hermit crabs etc. he also told me i could pick it up out of the bag and place it in my tank...so me being the trusting customer that i am....i let the bag float for about 30 minutes, opened it and picked him and up and put him in my tank...then i started reading..out of order i know.


Everything says to acclimate with airline slowly and never touch with human hands and don't let it leave the water...

What are it's chances of survival?

 

[juanhunglo69]

I have a starfish from the persian gulf that I just brought back from Iraq. He made the trip on two different plane rides and was fine. I mixed water in the cooler that i had him in, a little at a time and floated the cooler in he tank. He is still living a month later, although I still am not sure what to feed him. I will post pics of him, a giant hermit, and a juggernaught crab that I brought back in the same cooler. I need an ID and maybe some help on what to feed the starfish. The hermit is no problem as he eats directly out of my hand. Yes he is so big that he has no reason to be scared of me.

 

[Monkeyfish]

I'd like to see pics of your crabs as well please.

 

[jelwyoming]

Depends on the type of starfish. In general, they need a very slow drip acclimation. I've drip acclimated a number of linkia's for hours and had them die. Do you know what type it is? Formia's seem to be a little more hardy. So your chances would be better.

 

[dcombs44]

red serpent star is all i know...he is doing fine so far...very active when food hits the water.

 

[jelwyoming]

Serpent stars are much more hardy. He should be fine if he's like that after a day or two.

 

[klhscooter]

My green serpent star is one of my favorite inhabitants....this shot was 2 months ago and he is even bigger now. He will need a new home soon...

 

[hypermikie]

I purchased a Red Serpent last week from Premium Aquatics...

I live locally so I was there when they bagged him. They simply reached into the tank picked him up and out, then placed him into the bag of water.

I am such a lazy acclimator of ALL things. I bag float for 15 minutes open bag allow water in, float additional 5 minutes and repeat. Then release to water.

Mine is fine, except for a couple missing tips caused by one of two FORMER inhabitants...

 

[jelwyoming]

You would never try that with a regular star fish. They wouldn't last a day.

 

[Monkeyfish]

From what I've read and from those I've spoken with - the generalization that star fish must NEVER be exposed to air is incorrect. There are sea stars that are exposed to air in their natural environment due to conditions of their natural habitat. The same goes for certain species of corals. Both get exposed to air when the tide goes out, leaving them high and dry for an hour or longer. I've seen pictures of starfish crawling among stony corals on a strip of land when the tide receded.

Personally, I try not to expose any of my marine purchases to air just to be safe, but there are some species of both corals (sarcophyton, zoanthids, some acros) and sea stars (protoreaster linkii and nodosus) that doing so for brief periods would have no deleterious effects.

 

[adam82]

i have a regular orange star fish and a brittle star fish. i floated both for 30mins and picked them out of the bag with my hand and placed them in the tank. they are both fine. i've had them for over a year.

 

[PufferFish87]

I would say that IME serpents are not as touchy as other stars however I would not reccomend not acclimating them.. I acclimate EVERYTHING except shrooms and zoas for @ least an hour pouring a ilttle tank water into the bag every 15-20 mins.. I would reccomend in the future AT LEAST an hour of acclimation for any star.. drip acclimation is usually best.. Some LFS's by me are great to.. but they dont always give the bes advice. I wouldnt go just by what the LFS says I'd check w/ us @ reefcentral next time w/ your puchases just in case because the info they gave you this time is not very good.... anyway.. I got a orange serpent star for only $10 from my LFS I thought it was a great deall.. Just curious... how much did you pay for yours?

 

[dcombs44]

I paid $25. It was fairly good sized. I've really had no problems with it since my lack of acclimation. I usually acclimate very well. I don't use the drip method, but I don't have any sps either. I use roughly the same method you use most of the time. Temperature acclimate for 20 minutes, then open the bad and add about a cup of tank water every 25-30 minutes or so for about 1.5 hours and then let the new inhabitant into it's new home. I do know that most LFS have zero knowledge and are only after your wallet, but I've found one that for the most part won't steer me wrong. They often cut me 2 for one deals, give me free top off water, etc. I think my success with the small amount of acclimation may have to do with the fact that our water specs are so similar. Same RO/DI water, same salt, same additives, etc, etc.