adding water to main tank from starfish shipping bag?

[scuba_steve]

I read the the contientious marine aqaurium book and he said to add the water from the shipping bag that contained any starfish. He said in the book this is against everything he preached but you just have to trust him. There are supposedly theraputic reasons for it. Anyone read this? What does everyone think?

 

[danmhippo]

Never heard about it.

Ya know, there are those that swears by drinking your own pee is a healthy thing.

 

[Anonymous]

Never heard about it.

Ya know, there are those that swears by drinking your own pee is a healthy thing.

I have never heard of either idea. Scuba, what book are you referring to?

 

[Anonymous]

Hm - starfish waste has some kind of magical benefit to it? Maybe they excrete "Reef Vital" when they are stressed?

Sounds screwy to me but I'll try to keep on open mind in case someone can supply the reasoning behind it...

 

[scuba_steve]

ok ok ok

That comes from the book titled: The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists
by Robert M. Fenner


He has a section on Echinoderms and that is where he stated it.

 

[Mihai]

OK, the logic in the book is that starfish should not get out of the water - there is no way to get it in the tank without getting it out other than leting some water from the bag in the tank. Once the star is in the tank you don't need to dump the rest of the waste - the point is on avoiding getting it out of the water (very sensitive to salinity changes and, according to Fenner, getting it out of the water).

M.

 

[danmhippo]

Hmmm, should we sue marine parks around the country for cruelty to animals because they all have kids touching tank that can lift up the starfish to play with........


Hey, we could be very rich for doing this, Thanks to Fenner!


I have no doubt that starfish are very sensitive to change in pH and alk. But for a few seconds out of water? hmmmmm.......

 

[Anonymous]

dannyhippo, mayhap you should spend some time at Bob Fenners website: Wetweb A few of us here at RDO do volunteer work in the Frequently Asked Questions section over there.

I have met Bob Fenner, spent some time at his place in Hawaii. Trust me, he knows his stuff. The man is a walking encyclopedia of fish information, he's forgotten more stuff than I will EVER know

 

[mattstewart]

hippo, i think it depends on the starfish, for example you wouldn't want kids touching a blue linkia

 

[Mihai]

I agree - I think that it is starfish dependent but he didn't want to go in any specifics in the book; I assume he wanted to be on the safe side.

M.

 

[HClH2OFish]

I can't remember where, but I've heard/read the same thing. I've also heard to do the same thing in regards to frogfish. You leave em in the water to ensure they don't get any air into em, which is deadly....


Just my .02

 

[danmhippo]

frogfish? Or you meant puffer?

 

[Anonymous]

Sponges too, supposedly any exposure to air is curtains for them. I've never tried to keep one.

 

[HClH2OFish]

frogfish? Or you meant puffer?

Nope...frogfish..those ugly little guys that just sit in the tank and look like a rock.

They can have lotta probs if they ingest air...also if they eat something too big and it decays before they digest it (bleah)

 

[Anonymous]

Sponges too, supposedly any exposure to air is curtains for them. I've never tried to keep one.

That's true minime...they just puke if you get air into them.