help starfish deteriorateing

[alexbarker116]

help me what do i do? how do i save him? what is wrong?

 

[rjwilson37]

What kind of starfish is it? Starfish are actually very hard to keep with the exception to a sandstar, but the sandstar will rob your sand from needed live organisms unless it is a large sandbed. If the sandstar runs out of food from the sandbed, then it too will die off and sort of melt.

 

[alexbarker116]

it is a sand star what can i feed it to keep it alive?

 

[Dubbin1]

Alex we need more info. How long have you had it? How did you acclimate it? How long has your tank been set up? Have you tested the water and if so what are the readings?

 

[alexbarker116]

my tank has been up for three months
the starfish has been in there for about a month
i acclimated it for over four hours
i recently ran out of tests so i am waiting for some extra money to buy more

still what can i feed it and what will it eat thanks for all your help

 

[mystikdragon7]

You can try feeding him krill, or mysids. But if the star is already deteriorating then it is probabaly to late to save him. Stars are extremly sensitive, did you forget to top off your tank one day and then add all the water back at one time? Did you have a temp swing, or maybe something is nibbling on the star and making a meal out of it.

 

[fakename]

Alex: For many of the reef safe stars available, no one is sure what they eat and they usually starve to death over a period of months to a year in most tanks. If this is the case with your star (which it sounds like it is) there is nothing that can be done to save it.
Search this forum for quite a lot of previous debate about whether or not stars should even be kept in reef tanks.
Aaron