Starfish Troubles

[NemoUrchin]

I have received my fish starfish (chocolate chip) as soon as I got him he went to the glass almost immediately. I tried to feed him yesterday and he fell beak down into the sand. I know they are not supposed to fall beak down because of oxygen and now I am worried. He won't even try to climb the glass anymore and he has moved but not as much as he was doing before he fell. Am I being overdramatic? I just worry and want to make sure nothing bad happened.

 

[Sk8r]

this is not good. Your salinity should be 1.024 and should never vary because of evaporation YOu need a topoff unit to maintain that. Your alkalinity should be about 8.3 on the dkh scale. If you don;t have a test, Salifert is a good brand and easy to use. Other useful numbers are in my signature line, below. Your temperature should be about 79. I doubt oxygen is your problem. More likely it is one of these other numbers.

 

[NemoUrchin]

My salinity, ammonia, ph, nitrite, and nitrate are all good. I do not have a tester for magnesium, calcium, and alkalinity. I doubt that is the issue as my fish, shrimp, and urchin have not died in the 2 months I have owned them. I am really just worried because I know falling beak first can be bad for starfish. Would a one foot drop into the sand beak first kill it? If so how long would it take to die? He has probably moved about 2 feet tops back and foward in the last 36 hours ever since he fell but he still won't go back on the glass... that would normally not be shocking but the first thing he did when he joined my tank was get onto the glass and didn't leave until he fell. When he was on the glass he would constantly be moving now there is a lot less movement especially from his feelers which were super active at first now they are barely moving. I just ask because I hope he is just being lazy and not about to die.

 

[ohioreef]

What kind of starfish? How old is your tank?

 

[Sk8r]

Choco chip, 2 mos. Good on the low nitrate, but ph doesn't count much in saltwater. Get a dkh test and track alk instead.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Info: https://www.fishlore.com/Profiles_Chocolate_Chip_Starfish.htm

 

[Sk8r]

Nemourchin: to clarify, drip acclimation is about salinity, not staying in bag water. If you need to change salinity on a critter that was shipped overnight (if that is the case), you are best off putting him immediately into water of salinity and temperature equal to the bag he came in, and adjusting that salinity to the desired level at the rate of .002 per 10 minutes. That way they are not exposed to toxic ammonia generated by the release of co2 from the bag. Read the sticky on acclimation deaths for an explanation.