Help with new marine life!

[Anonymous]

Hello again all,

I wanted to ask anyone who knows about my recent issue. I just barely received a shipment from LiveAquaria.com of 2 pacific conchs, 4 margarita snails, an electric blue hermit crab, and a tiger striped fancy serpent sea star. My tank specs are as follows: 29 G, 30lbs LS, 36lbs LR, Ammonia--.25/.50, Nitrite--~5ppm(before I just did partial water change, havent tested since), Nitrate--~40-80(again, before the water change).
Ok, that said, my dilemma is this: my sea star lost all his legs and isnt moving!!!!!! Im terrified!!! What do I do?!?! I called LiveAquaria, nad they set stick him on top of an algae or seaweed flake or something and leave him alone...
Anyone have any helpful suggestions? Its only been about 45 mintues since I put him in the tank, and I know I aclimated him pretty close to perfectly, since all the other guys are off and going about their business; eating, traveling, and generally causing enough comotion to look normal and ok.
Thanks

 

[psiico]

How long did you acclimate him for? Stars need slow acclimation procedures, preferably with a drip, they are very sensitive to changes in water chemistry. That's why he lost his arms, most likely, possibly stress from shipping but you say he lost them in the tank. If it survives it'll likely grow them back. I'd not only put it on some food, I'd also put it under an overhang or some other dark spot, they don't like being out in the light much. It may help alleviate some of the stress it's under. With no legs it won't be able to move much on it's own though so I'm not sure if it can survive.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, acclimation for starfish is best measured in hours. I guess just see what happens at this point. The ammonia and nitrite levels in you tank suggests that it is still cycling maybe?

 

[Johnsteph10]

. . .that's all good advice! Acclimate slowly/keep him shaded or even keep your lights off for a while...remember he just got shaken around in a bag for 100s of miles. . .not much fun. Your levels are a touch high...what are they after the water change..probably wouldn't hurt to do another 10% water change...

 

[Anonymous]

psiico: he/she lost his/her arms in the bag, way before he/she was even out of the bag, apparently. looks like over-stress or something. How do you know a starfish's sex?
Anyway, acclimated him for about two hours; crap... Not enough, huh? I thought he would be no different than the other guys; big mistake on that one, apparently...
Upon suggestion of my local mega-expert-guru, I placed him/her in a pseudo-sterile (pseudo in the sense that I dont have scientific equipment to verify a "sterile" designation, as far as exact science goes...) glass bowl of water at a SG of 1.023-1.024, and I was told to leave the water at room temperature because he wont be using much oxygen, such was the explanation offered. Hey, shes been doing marine tanks well near a quarter of a century if not more (dont know her that well), so I dont argue much...
Any comments to share? Possible reflections or insights on this strange and bewildering approach on my starfish's convalescence (that I am currently engaged in)?
Thanks

 

[vair]

How long did she tell you to leave him in this bowl? I have never heard of that.
He is going to need oxygen in that bowl.
IMO I would do the water changes place him back in your tank in a dark low flow area. Remember it will take some time it's not going to grow instant legs. The better the quality of water the better it's chances for survival.

Good Luck
Dave

 

[Inno]

It sounds like a mix of the star not adjusting within the acclimation and the ammonia/nitrates should not be detectable with inverts, as a matter of fact ammonia shouldn't be detectable at all regardless.

Most stars don't seem to recoup after such an incident, so watch for deterioration since you don't want it rotting in your tank either and creating more ammonia.

 

[Anonymous]

glass bowl of water at a SG of 1.023-1.024, and I was told to leave the water at room temperature because he wont be using much oxygen, such was the explanation offered.

I'm confused here- you transferred him out of the tank and put it into a container containing non-tank water? This would involve another long acclimation, if the specific gravity were at all different...?

But anyway, linkia and similar can be very sensitive; but I've put in brittle stars with around 2 hours acclimation and been fine. If it happened before it was even out of the bag I doubt it had anything to do with anything you did. Also retailers are often sloppy with acclimation also.

 

[psiico]

I'm no starfish expert, I just read a lot so I'll add a few guesses here.

If he lost his legs in the bag then that's shipping stress for sure.

I'm not sure they even have a sex, but I really don't know. The cuter ones I call her and the ugly ones I call he, isn't that what everyone does with cats? Lol.

The bowl might not be a bad idea because no one will bother him there. I wouldn't use a bowl, though. Try to get a 4 liter jar, like an empty deviled egg jar from a store or something. Fill it just to the part where the sides start curving inwards at the top. This will cut down evaporation, water will condese on the glass and go back in the jar. I'm doing some experiments with copepods at home and I found big jars better than fish bowls for this reason. Mark the water line with a piece of tape so you can keep it consistent as possible. And add an airline for circulation. I'm not sure if you should use a stone or not, the small bubbles might bother the starfish. And to keep the water quality high, change out 25% every day or two, just to be safe.

Once again, I'm no expert, but that's what I would do if I were in your situation.

 

[Anonymous]

The cuter ones I call her and the ugly ones I call he, isn't that what everyone does with cats? Lol.

Well, yeah, except you can usually notice a pair of balls, or lack thereof, on cat!

 

[psiico]

How's the star, by the way? Still alive? Does it have no legs at all or just stumps? Just curious to see how things are progressing.

 

[Anonymous]

Dead as a doornail: Never made it through recoup... How do you guys deal with your deceased? I cant make up my mind: I want to go through whatever dies into the river, so that they might make it to the ocean someday. I just hate seeing things die! Burying them seems out of place, and the hell if theyre going into the toilet! Not even the evil ones get that treatment! Oh man its so terrible to bear the death of life forms under your care and patronship!

 

[psiico]

I've only lost an emerald crab so far, him I just put in the garbage, down the chute. No river nearby, lol, and he was too big for the toilet.

Sorry to hear about your loss, funny how attached we can get to these little guys, isn't it?