red sea starfish

[babybads]

I just got my first red sea starfish.. But it doesnt look good . it has a film coming off it and the "legs" are curling up on themselves.. and it has only tried to stretch out since I put it in the tank and yes it was acclimated to my tank

 

[PSU4ME]

Sounds like its not doing well but I think the worst thing you can do at this point is "try to help". It can definitely be stressed from the acclimation but bottom line is - he's in the tank. Let him be and only pull him if you know he's dead. I introduced 2 and thought they were both goners..... Both came around.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

I read somewhere that starfish were for advanced fish keepers... is that so PSU4ME?

 

[Joeys Tank]

I wouldn't say that stars are for advanced keepers but they will benefit from established tanks. The one thing that advanced keepers bring is that they will not put 7 starfish into a tank and think all will be fine (pointing at myself with three months experience)

 

[Choff]

I'm 0 for 3, but my issue is I turn my pumps off to feed and the stars like to hang out under the euro brace. Pumps go off and they are left out of the water. Im assuming this is their demise. Everything I read said to keep them from air exposure.

 

[Joeys Tank]

My basket star loves to do this also. For a very difficult star to keep in a tank, the little bugger sure is stubborn (it will be a very sad day when he decides to give up the fight).

 

[sirrealism]

Joey, How long have you had the basket star. They can be very hard to keep as it is very hard to keep them feed. This seems to be the problem with a lot of the High end starfish. "Not including brittle starfish" Starfish seem to starve to death over time. Linkas are the worst as i have seen them live for 6 months and then start falling apart. I know that basket and linkas can be kept but they need to be feed properly. I have been in the hobby for 20+ years and have tried linkas a couple times and failed each time. I dont know if I would consider myself an advanced reef keeper but starfish in general are not easy.

 

[Joeys Tank]

I have had the basket star for 3 months now.