[bgentry5517]

I have a purple starfish. I don't know the exact name for it? It has 5 legs. I don't know if it's dead or what. It has been in the same place for the last day. I just added it to my tank 3 days ago. I moved it around a couple of times when I was rearanging my tank and now it hasen't moved. I don't know if it's sick or just staying put for now. He's been on the sand and normaly it was on the glass or rocks. can someone please let me know how I can tell if it's still alive or sick?
THANKS

[rlcline76]

Perhaps a fromia variey???
How did you acclimate it? Any signs of stress like decay?
How old is your tank?

[bgentry5517]

my tank is well established. I have had it active for about a year. everything else in the tank is doing fine. i acclimated it for about an hour and half. at first it seemed very active and now it's just laying on the bottom of the tank. there is a bubble at the end of one of his legs! other than that there is no sign of stress or decay yet? the only thing that was wrong with my tank is the tempeture spiked to about 81 degrees for about a day. I just don't know if the starfish is still alive?

[rlcline76]

It may have needed a little extra time to acclimate...or maybe it is just hanging out on the sandbed.
A bubble? You are going to know if its leg starts disentegrating (sp?). Are you noticing any parts of his "skin" like little beads of it at different parts of your tank?

Becky

[ilovemash]

also if your ammonia lvls start to shoot up allof a sudden it may be a good sign something bad has happened

[rlcline76]

if it is a linckia, that bubble you may be seeing could be coloration. May have stressed out with the temp spike or may have been stressed before that. It could take a few days after acclimating before things start going down!

[Krazy]

Was the starfish exposed to air ?

I've been told that if they are exposed to air they will die slowly, or if they've been touched by human hands (I dunno if this is true or not though, only hear/say)

I hope its fairs well for ya though, them purple ones are very nice

[e_baer]

I touch my stars all the time, especially my sand sifting, same with my horshoe crabs. Everytime Someone is like "OOooooooooo!!!!! a FISHTANK!" Im like "look at this!" Then i dig and fin them. They do just fine, none have died.....athough, I was missing my one sand sifter, so i got a new one. But that was a while ago.

[Six-line Wrasse]

Starfish shouldn't be exposed to air, that is correct.

As for touching them. Well, that's more hear-say and such then anything else. I've handled plenty of orange sea stars and other starfish, as well as some brittlestars and I've yet to hear of a problem with any of them. Common knowledge says to wash your hands before and after fussing with your tank or its livestock.

[Krazy]

Originally Posted by Six-line Wrasse

Starfish shouldn't be exposed to air, that is correct.

As for touching them. Well, that's more hear-say and such then anything else. I've handled plenty of orange sea stars and other starfish, as well as some brittlestars and I've yet to hear of a problem with any of them. Common knowledge says to wash your hands before and after fussing with your tank or its livestock.

I was pretty certain on the air exposure part, but I wasnt on touching them..

Thanks for clearing it up