There has been a murder

[Tiny Tears]

Hope someone can help me.

I bought 2 star fish 7 days ago.

One was a large red one, about 4" from Tip to tip(mr Wu). One was a small tan coloured one. 1.5" tip to tip.(mrs Wu)

I asked where i bought them, how to feed. I was told they eat algae, and detrius on the floor of the tank.

I was not convinced about this, so when i fed the fish brine shrimp, i tried to "trickle" some over the starfish tips, (that were sticking out of the water).

Today i awake to find Mr Wu, totally covering Mrs Wu. It was on the front glass, so i could see poor Mrs Wu suffering.

I though at first Mr Wu, was just being friendly, but when i tried to push him off her, she disintegrated. Clearly she had been partially eaten. I dont feel good about this....or Mr Wu.

This time it is too late, but can anyone tell me where i went wrong? Did i not feed enough?

Also, should i remove what is left, or just leave her to be fully eaten?

I think Mr Wu should go back to the shop. Any opinions on this?

My Tank;

55 gallom

Berlin Style

FOWLR

8 weeks old

10 water changes/per hour

Rigorously skimmed

1 damsel

1 Niger Trigger

4 snails

1 Cleaner shrimp

1 scarlet shrimp

.....And ONE starfish

[Tanzy]

How big is your trigger? It's not very aggressive but it can feed on your shrimps.

Starfishes can disintegrate when not acclimatised properly to the water. They are sensitive to changes in salinity. They don't eat algae and pick about in the detritus to eat bacteria. I think you might have a red linkia and a fromia star. It takes a long time of starvation to kill them.

[Tiny Tears]

Thanks for the reply Tanzy.

The salanity may be an issue. It had increased slightly, due to not topping up evaporated water. I'll keep an eye on that.

So, no need for extra food for the remaining one, from what you say.

I do have one smaller shrimp. I do not know the name of it, so i did not list it.

He is missing as of yesterday, and there is disturbed sand where he used to hang out. Does not sound good does it.

Anyway, thx again for the input.

[Tanzy]

Be wary of the trigger, it can get nasty.

[Tiny Tears]

ok, thx. (he is about 2" long at the mo'. I notice he is getting a lot cockier).

I am about to try and attach an image.

If it does not work, someone please tell me how.

[Achilles Tang]

OK... what you have there is not from the Fromia or Linkia species of starfishes which are reef-safe.

These are not.

I would say the large reddish one is very much like the chocolate chip starfish.... (can you take a photo of the top?). The smaller one is greyish brown at the top and very flat right?

The diet of different starfishes could range from herbivorous to carnivorous. Some will be very happy to eat fishes, sponges & even corals.

[Tiny Tears]

Here you go!

Yes, the smaller was flat on top, with an interesting design in the centre.

Can you tell from this picture if the big one is a chocolate chip starfish?

Should i take him back to the shop? I am quite happy to, as i am not sure what he will try next.

I stuck some shrimp under his suckers this morning, so he wont eat anything else he should not.

[Achilles Tang]

Oh... the big red one is the African/Horned seastar.

Omnivorous.... eats other inverts too.

[Tiny Tears]

Well, he'll be going back to the shop then!