Red formia starfish

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

I got what i believe was a Red formia starfish from my lfs. It was doing great the first day and the second day it started to ooze this orange matter from its middle area. It's been a couple of days and it's moving around but still oozing the orange stuff. Is it dying? I'd it doing some weird digestion deal? Please help.

helen ann · Oct 23, 2016

Looks like it is extending its stomach

How long did you acclimate?

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

helen ann said:
Looks like it is extending its stomach
How long did you acclimate?

First i bag acclimated for temp for about 45 minutes and drip acclimated for an hour and a half

helen ann · Oct 23, 2016

From my understanding they need to be acclimated very slowly with a large amount of water over a 4-6 hr period as they are very sensitive to even a slight change of salinity. I am unable to advise anything more as mine didn't make it after this happened to me ... Sorry and sorry about your star.

I am sure someone with more experience with chime in shortly.

Griff · Oct 23, 2016

Same thing happened to me and it ended up causing a mini crash in my tank. It was only a 30 g system though.

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

Griff said:
Same thing happened to me and it ended up causing a mini crash in my tank. It was only a 30 g system though.

My tank is 75 gallons and I'm tempted to take it out but it's still moving around like nothing is wrong with it.

Steve Jones · Oct 23, 2016

This is my Tile Sea Star (fromia monilis). Been in the tank several months. I did a temp and drip acclimation for 6 hours. Stars are VERY susceptible to parameter changes. Is there plenty of food supply available? Are you sure it's a Fromia? Almost has the body texture / appearance of a Linckia.

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

Steve Jones said:
This is my Tile Sea Star (fromia monilis). Been in the tank several months. I did a temp and drip acclimation for 6 hours. Stars are VERY susceptible to parameter changes. Is there plenty of food supply available? Are you sure it's a Fromia? Almost has the body texture / appearance of a Linckia.

I was told it was a fromia. I'm not sure though. So maybe it's dying? Or not? Should i wait and see tomorrow?

Steve Jones · Oct 23, 2016

My recommendation would be to watch it closely and your parameters. Also try to put some meaty food nearby and see if it will go for it. Sea Stars tend to "dissolve" as they die and this may be the early stages. Yanking it out and trying to put it in quarantine will most likely kill it due to the shock acclimation. If it stops moving much at all and doesn't eat the meaty food and gets worse in appearance over the next 48 hours or so, I would say pull it and cut your losses so you don't have it wreak havoc on your parameters and cause other issues. You don't have any aggressive types in the tanks that might be "tearing" into it?

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

Steve Jones said:
My recommendation would be to watch it closely and your parameters. Also try to put some meaty food nearby and see if it will go for it. Sea Stars tend to "dissolve" as they die and this may be the early stages. Yanking it out and trying to put it in quarantine will most likely kill it due to the shock acclimation. If it stops moving much at all and doesn't eat the meaty food and gets worse in appearance over the next 48 hours or so, I would say pull it and cut your losses so you don't have it wreak havoc on your parameters and cause other issues. You don't have any aggressive types in the tanks that might be "tearing" into it?

Only thing in the tank are some emerald crabs, coral banded shrimp, average clean up crew (blue legs and turbo snails) and 2 extreme misbar clowns. Nothing aggressive

Steve Jones · Oct 23, 2016

Also - is the stuff coming out separating from the star and floating around and / or sticking to the rock? Or is it all one blob still attached to the star?

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

Steve Jones said:
Also - is the stuff coming out separating from the star and floating around and / or sticking to the rock? Or is it all one blob still attached to the star?

Seperating and sticking to the rocks. Does that means it's dying?

Steve Jones · Oct 23, 2016

Well, if it is the stomach as some have suggested then that's a bad sign that it's coming apart. Stars can release gametes when stressed - but that generally looks like white goo. And not as prominent. It may be creating the goo as a defensive mechanism to fight off whatever is ailing it. Like how we create pus for burns, etc. Most stars, if they aren't going to make it in a new tank die within the first week or so. I'd say it doesn't look good for this one. But all you can really do for now is watch closely and be sure it has plenty of food available.

Steve Jones · Oct 23, 2016

This link may have some insights - looks a bit similar to your issue. Kind of a hard forum to read though.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/linckiadisfaqs.htm

Griff · Oct 23, 2016

I would agree it's a fromia star. I also would remove it soon if you don't see improvement. Try again but make sure you drip acclimate for 3+ hours with a heater as well. I'd ask for a half gallon to full gallon of the water it came in and use a 5 gallon bucket to acclimate and drip till the bucket is full. After 3+ hours I would then Put a small Tupperware container into the 5 gallon bucket and move the starfish into it. Then place the entire container into the tank. Be sure not to expose it to air during any of this process. Not sure if air actually does anything to them but a lot of people say it kills them.

I'm no expert and the fromia is not an expensive fish but I was distraught when I lost mine. I'd wanted one for so long and I experienced the same thing your dealing with. My new system is not mature enough to try again yet but I'm going to try again in about 6 months. Good luck I hope he makes it.

One last thing I was told is if you lay him on a rock and he doesn't mold to the shape of the rock within 5 or 10 minutes he's probably lost. If yours is moving around the tank still maybe continue to watch him.

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

You guys will be happy to hear, my formia is still moving around and it's sticking it's guts back in. At least the ones left. I just gave it some mysis and i believe it's eating it.

Griff · Oct 23, 2016

jpontier212 said:
You guys will be happy to hear, my formia is still moving around and it's sticking it's guts back in. At least the ones left. I just gave it some mysis and i believe it's eating it.

That's great news! I hope he pulls through!

jpontier212 · Oct 23, 2016

Griff said:
That's great news! I hope he pulls through!

Thank you. My 6 year old really likes it. I'm hoping we can get through it

Steve Jones · Oct 23, 2016

jpontier212 said:
You guys will be happy to hear, my formia is still moving around and it's sticking it's guts back in. At least the ones left. I just gave it some mysis and i believe it's eating it.

Woo hoo! Glad to hear. Hope it works out!

Steve Jones · Oct 23, 2016

Here's a link to my "adventures" with my first starfish, documenting the process from receiving him until the present.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/adventures-in-starfishing.255063/

I would recommend that you drip acclimate for at LEAST 5 hours. I am not sure what Griff is referring to above - but, IMHO, you don't need 1/2 gallon of water from the supplier - just the water in the bag the star came in. Pour out enough water so that the starfish is just covered. Then drip in your tank water until that volume doubles. Then remove 1/2 the water so you are back to that starting level and repeat for at least 5 hours. I used a plastic drip acclimator - there's info and a link in my thread. Makes it much easier. Plus it acclimates directly in your display tank, in the bag, so you get direct temp and water acclimation at the same time. (As a side note, many go direct to the DT and not QT with stars as you risk having to acclimate the star twice. Twice as much chance to kill it. And stars can't carry ich, etc - so minimal chance of bringing that in).

I would strongly recommend NOT doing the tupperware step listed above. While the star won't bring in ich, etc - the water could. Just lift the star out of the bag after the 5 hours and place directly in tank. The "never expose to air" is a myth. It won't hurt to be exposed for a moment. Main thing is move it quick so there is no temperature effect of being in the cooler air. There IS always a chance that what little water is on the surface of the star could bring ich in. So weigh the risk accordingly. But if you place a larger container of water into your tank, no mater how many times you acclimated it / diluted it, it's still partially the supplier's water and more of a chance to bring in trouble.

I've not heard of the "mold to the shape of the LR" theory before. I placed mine on the sand bed and he crawled up on the glass and stayed there for 2 weeks before finally going onto the LR.

It's been 4 months and he's still doing well.