Indian sea star has been attacked... reading  – 1/04/08
hello WWM
<Charles>
I'm a novice in marine aquaria but seem to be doing quite well so far I have a nano reef aquarium, 58 litres.
<Okay>
I have 1 yellow tailed damsel, 1 humbug damsel, 1 blue damsel,
<A poor mix of Pomacentrids in such a small volume>
1 banded coral shrimp, 1 red legged hermit, 1 blue legged hermit, 1 purple coral
<What is this? Specifically>
and until this evening (3rd Jan 2008) 1 Indian sea star.
<A Fromia indica... or Fromia sp. at least, likely>
Now this is what my email regards I came home from work yesterday to find my sea star clinging to the spray bar with two lesions in two of its legs. I kept an eye on it for a while and it seemed to be moving around, slowly, but moving. Later that evening I checked up on it and one of its legs was missing and part of it on the sand at this point it was on the live rock and the closest animal to it was the blue legged hermit (which, may I add, I think is something else as it has black and blue legs rather than red and blue) but it wasn't attacking it at that point, although I assumed, that having powerful pincers, this was the culprit so I isolated it over night.
<Mmm>
In the morning the sea star was in the same condition but alive, then when I came home it was life less on the sand missing 3 whole legs an 1 badly damaged I think it is dead now as it hasn't moved at all. As the blue hermit was isolated and the red legged hermit is tiny I passed the blame onto the shrimp. I liked the sea star and it was the first animal in the tank and it was thriving I don't believe that water parameters are culprit, or reproduction, as there is nothing left of the legs. Can you help me with this, could the shrimp be culprit or maybe the damsels.
<Yes, either could be... or no culprit/predator at all>
Also is this common as I want to get a new sea star but don't want a repeat episode.
I thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.
Regards Charlie
<Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marind5_5.htm
Toward the bottom... on Seastar Disease, Fromias... Bob Fenner>

Decomposing Starfish... What is: Things I wouldn't keep in my reef tank... 12/31/2007
<Greetings! Mich here, apologizing for the very long delay.>
I seem to have a problem with decomposing starfish.
<Unfortunately, not an uncommon problem.>
I have a 72-gallon tank that has been set up for about 9 months. It has cycled very well, and has wonderful coralline algae growth. I have maybe about 20 pounds of live rock,
<I would consider adding more.>
along with a Firefish goby, coral beauty angel, blue damsel, royal Gramma Basslet, and tomato clown. As far as non-fish goes, I have a tomato anemone,
<Tomato Anemone?>
trumpet coral, a pulsing xenia coral, and an orange sponge.
<I personally would not keep the sponge... I have had such sponges up and die and take many tankmates along for the ride...>
I had a chocolate chip star in the tank for about 6 months, then about 2 weeks ago I noticed that it had a few white spots on its top. I immediately feared the worst and put it in my 10-gallon hospital tank.
<Hope you also use it to QT as well! Some reasons to here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QuarMarFishes.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quarinverts.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i4/quarantine/Quarantine.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quaranti.htm >
By the next day, all 5 legs were decomposing with large white chunks falling off,
<Nasty!>
yet the poor thing was still alive, and by the next morning it was dead.
<I'm sorry for your loss.>
I looked at my fish very carefully and none of them showed any signs of anything, so I figured that perhaps the starfish got a
small cut and got infected, as starfish tend to do.
<A possibility.>
I left my tank alone for about a week and a half and continued to keep an eye on my fish. They still showed no signs of any sort of disease,
<Good.>
so 3 days ago I bought a blue Palau starfish. The first day was fine, the second day it looked a little cloudy so I immediately separated it. This morning I found it dead and halfway decomposed, all of the blue flaking off. I'm at a complete loss of anything that would cause this. Please help!
<Most starfish brought into the aquarium industry are doomed. They are very sensitive to osmotic changes, such as variations in salinity, and often die from osmotic shock. Starfish generally don't do well in captivity as the diets of most species are poorly understood, if known at all. I would highly discourage from purchasing any more starfish... IMO A red brittle star (Ophioderma squamosissimum) would be a similar but much better choice. Red brittle stars generally fair well in captivity, are good scavengers and unlike the green brittle star (Ophiarachna incrassata), are not predatory on fish.
Cheers!
Mich>

Dying Starfish 12/20/07
I have a 60 gallon tank and yesterday I can home and noticed my Red African Starfish had bites taken out of it I rushed to the fish store where I had bought it they said that they have know clue as the what caused it because all of our fish seem to be fine with starfish. Since The pet store wouldn't take it they suggested we put them in breeder tanks that's float on top of the water, since it was still alive and would just grow back, this morning I woke up to find my starfish in the same spot and looks like he is decaying the its looks like mush can you please tell me what's going on?
<Unfortunately, many of these types of star fish are just very difficult to care for. Too little is known about them and what they need in captivity. I wish I could help you, but the reality is that we just don't know. It could be starving to death, but that's just a guess. In any case, I doubt there's much you can do to help it. However, to give it any chance at all, I'd take it out of the floating breeder and put it back in the tank (or better yet, in a refugium if you have one).>
Ashley Davis
<Best,
Sara M.>