Fromia Star disintegrated

[mandown123]

Hi guys

I got a fromia necklace star last week. I did a 3 hour drip when I got it, he looked ok for a few days, then started to disintegrate. It really started to go down hill rapidly in the last 2 days and his arm fell off and the others were melting. I removed the star to avoid problems associated with his decomp.

Questions -

Does anyone have any idea what happened?
Is a 3 hour drip not long enough?
What can I do for next time, and is it even worth trying another starfish?

I hate to have stuff die on my watch, and this was particularly disturbing since he just melted so quickly. Don't want that to happen again.

My salt is 1.025 and eveyrthing else in the tank looks pretty good, despite bad aiptasia I am trying to fight with Filefish.

 

[ming]

I would never dip starfish, they're already extremely sensitive to many things, let alone 3 hours...

 

[mandown123]

Drip not dip

 

[NL146]

I read somewhere that it's possible for the fromia starfish to "disintegrate" even after seeming ok either because they didn't acclimate well or because of shipping stress.

 

[ming]

Oops, sorry, misread.
Its possible it was already stressed when you got it, or it may be a parameter with your tank.
A few things to note:
It should never be exposed to air
Make sure during acclimation, the temp is steady
They need a well established tank to forage for microfauna. Larger the tank the better.
I'm sure there's more things, but I can't remember at the moment

 

[mandown123]

Is that true about the exposure to air? This star comes from the shallows I read somewhere, I would think it would get exposed to low tides naturally.

I don't think it was an issue with starvation. He declined within a week so it seems more likely what you guys are saying about stress it seems.

 

[ming]

Not exactly the same, but still Fromia species
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+528+580&pcatid=580

It should never be exposed to air while handling.

These guys say almost the same thing
http://www.freshmarine.com/marble-sea-star.html

Do not expose the Fromia species to air. Any erratic changes in the oxygen level in the environment may be fatal for the Marble Sea Star therein. Therefore, keep the Fromia species under water even while handling it.

 

[mandown123]

good find.