Red starfish is curled and not moving

[Alhely Ocampo]

Hello, I have been having my aquarium for 3 months now and have 2 clownfish, 2 shrimp, 4 crabs, 2 snails, 1 goby and I recently added a red starfish 4 days ago. This morning my starfish was active as always moving around the tank, sand and live rock.

However, when I got home from work today I found my starfish laying on its back curled up completely and not moving. I tried moving it a bit with the net but it was stiff. I checked the temperature, salt levels, ammonia, ph, nitrate, nitrite, hardiness, etc. Everything was fine.

What is wrong with it? Is it dead? Or is it dying? What should I do?


The first images are from when it was active. And the last image is from today.

 

[Josh]

What are you feeding the tank? Looks pretty empty so I'm wondering what the starfish has to eat.

 

[reefman]

give it some time. if is dead, it will start coming apart.

 

[Alhely Ocampo]

What are you feeding the tank? Looks pretty empty so I'm wondering what the starfish has to eat.

Im feeding them fish granules 2-3 times a day and frozen food once a week.

 

[Alhely Ocampo]

give it some time. if is dead, it will start coming apart.

Okay, thank you. I just don't understand what happened. Should I have been hand feeding it?

 

[rjl09]

Starfishes are usually hit or miss. You also may need a more established tank. IMO, 3 months is still too soon for a starfish. But I hope it bounces back.

 

[Alhely Ocampo]

Starfishes are usually hit or miss. You also may need a more established tank. IMO, 3 months is still too soon for a starfish. But I hope it bounces back.

If it died, ill wait till 6 months to get another. I'm guessing it may have not been eating as much as it should. ? How should I have been feeding it? Because I was just dropping the food into the tank as usual.

 

[Alhely Ocampo]

Starfish has now moved, its alive!!! but is not currently moving any arms.

 

[HarrisonP]

If it died, ill wait till 6 months to get another. I'm guessing it may have not been eating as much as it should. ? How should I have been feeding it? Because I was just dropping the food into the tank as usual.

In an established tank there should be bacteria film for them to feed on and they'll also eat whatever floats to the bottom that the fish don't eat

 

[Alhely Ocampo]

My tank has cycled completely. What does the bacteria film look like? I give them enough food so that the goby, starfish, shrimp and crabs get food at the bottom too.

In an established tank there should be bacteria film for them to feed on and they'll also eat whatever floats to the bottom that the fish don't eat

 

[tsouth]

My tank has cycled completely. What does the bacteria film look like? I give them enough food so that the goby, starfish, shrimp and crabs get food at the bottom too.

Think foods like "microfauna," that of which develops and grows over time as your aquarium matures with diverse and copious amounts of life from bacteria. I would encourage you to research keeping Red Linckia Starfish, like yours, and understanding that these animals are easily challenged by unstable aquariums. Here's a short excerpt:

The Orange Linckia is one of the harder to keep starfish, as they are very sensitive to changes in pH, temperature, and salinity changes. Because of this they are susceptible to bacterial infections that can quickly cause the decomposition of the leg portions of the Linckia. Care should be taken to inspect Linckia frequently for parasitic snails, which usually take on the color of it’s host. Remove them immediately upon detection as they suck out fluid and tissue. Linckia need a very long and slow acclimation period prior to introduction into the display aquarium. These starfish grow to 6 inches in size and should be kept in very large aquariums. Linckia starfish consume bacterial films, and sponges. Because of this, they should be introduced into well established aquaria of no less than 1 year. Diet If introduced to a large well established aquarium, very little needs to be done to supplement Linckias. Occasional offerings of clam, mussel or scallop may be appreciated but rarely accepted. The bacterial film that comprises the mainstay of the Linckias diet usually appears in abundance in well established and seasoned aquariums. Supplemental feedings of meaty foods is usually not enough to sustain them.

 

[Alhely Ocampo]

Think foods like "microfauna," that of which develops and grows over time as your aquarium matures with diverse and copious amounts of life from bacteria. I would encourage you to research keeping Red Linckia Starfish, like yours, and understanding that these animals are easily challenged by unstable aquariums. Here's a short excerpt:

The Orange Linckia is one of the harder to keep starfish, as they are very sensitive to changes in pH, temperature, and salinity changes. Because of this they are susceptible to bacterial infections that can quickly cause the decomposition of the leg portions of the Linckia. Care should be taken to inspect Linckia frequently for parasitic snails, which usually take on the color of it’s host. Remove them immediately upon detection as they suck out fluid and tissue. Linckia need a very long and slow acclimation period prior to introduction into the display aquarium. These starfish grow to 6 inches in size and should be kept in very large aquariums. Linckia starfish consume bacterial films, and sponges. Because of this, they should be introduced into well established aquaria of no less than 1 year. Diet If introduced to a large well established aquarium, very little needs to be done to supplement Linckias. Occasional offerings of clam, mussel or scallop may be appreciated but rarely accepted. The bacterial film that comprises the mainstay of the Linckias diet usually appears in abundance in well established and seasoned aquariums. Supplemental feedings of meaty foods is usually not enough to sustain them.

Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

 

[Timbo]

Agree with other posts that your tank is not established to support a starfish. In my opinion you should remove it and get it into a fellow reefers well established tank or bring it to a LFS. It will not live long in your tank.

 

[Josh]

You don't need to directly feed it, but it needs to eat some of the detritus in the tank, maybe some algae on the rocks and glass. If your tank isn't a little bit dirty it won't have anything to eat, so it won't move around very much.

 

[Alhely Ocampo]

My linkia has been doing well. Eating and healthy. thank you all

 

[Bon]

Hello, I have been having my aquarium for 3 months now and have 2 clownfish, 2 shrimp, 4 crabs, 2 snails, 1 goby and I recently

Starfish has now moved, its alive!!! but is not currently moving any arms.

My orange starfish was not curled up but stopped moving for three days, JHowever. he was not decomposing. I assumed he was dead, but then next morning he was on the side of the aquarium! Hasn't missed a beat since. No idea why he did this. My only starfish I have ever had. Tank is almost a year old.

added a red starfish 4 days ago. This morning my starfish was active as always moving around the tank, sand and live rock.

However, when I got home from work today I found my starfish laying on its back curled up completely and not moving. I tried moving it a bit with the net but it was stiff. I checked the temperature, salt levels, ammonia, ph, nitrate, nitrite, hardiness, etc. Everything was fine.

What is wrong with it? Is it dead? Or is it dying? What should I do?


The first images are from when it was active. And the last image is from today.