Chocolate Chip Star Fish

[liaw]

Hello, I have had my chocolate chip star fish for about a week and he has been super active up until the past 2 days and I noticed he has this orange stuff hanging out of him
Now the lady at the pet store I got him from said I don’t have to feed him anything special he will just sift through the sand and eat algae off the glass then I researched he is a meat eater so I went and got him clams
Does he have a chance at surviving ?
water parameters are great and the temp is great and salinity is perfect

 

[liaw]

These are the pics of him

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! I'm not sure about the starfish, but we're glad you're here!

 

[Bo.]

Welcome! I'm hope you get the answer you need

 

[liaw]

These are the pics of him

This is the whole aquarium
I put him on top of his food in the pic

 

[CMMorgan]

I have never had that type of starfish ... hopefully someone will jump on and help you out. Welcome to the salty family!

 

[jtp7004ft]

Welcome!

 

[Billldg]

Sorry, don’t know a lot about starfish.

@ReefSquad

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

My buddy just returned one after being told it was reef safe.. it did a number on about $500 in zoa frags.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! You'll love it here!

I'll start by asking how old your tank is. Majority of sea stars sift through the sandbed and eat microorganisms such as copepods, which new tanks have a very little amount of. Mature tanks are often better for starfish simply because any food populations take time to establish. Chocolate chip stars, like any star, will always benefit from being fed meaty foods. Without proper food, stars slowly deteriorate and perish.

Starfish are also extremely sensitive creatures. They need perfect and stable parameters. In a new tank, this is hard to achieve. Could you post your ammonia, nitrates, etc.?

How did you acclimate the star? Many reefers lose their starfish due to poor acclimation.

In short, starfish unfortunately don't survive long in new reefs, and require a certain amount of care and expertise to thrive. I believe any one of the above reasons could be why your starfish is doing poorly, but hopefully things turn around for it.

 

[Arabyps]

Welcome. Research tells me these are not reef safe. In a new tank FOWLR will likely starve. Good that you are trying to feed him.

Chocolate Chip Sea Star, Protoreaster sp.: Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates

 

[count krunk]

They will munch munch your coral. I recommend never buying starfish, especially not in a new tank.

 

[dyno]

Your chocolate chip starfish seems fine to me. It seems like the orange material is just excrement. When you have to worry is when the body turns white and starts to decompose, by that time unfortunately it is too late. I love starfish, I keep a variety of brittle stars, orange and purple linkias, and have tried every species out there. Obviously acclimation is the most delicate part of introducing a starfish into your tank, a slow drip over several hours is best. Once thing I would like to share with you is Protoreaster species are voracious eaters. They do scavenge the tank but that is not enough. I place clams on the half shell on the sand and place the starfish on top to eat. You will be amazed how much some starfish need to eat, especially Protoreaster and Brittle star/ Serpent star species.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Your chocolate chip starfish seems fine to me. It seems like the orange material is just excrement.

To my knowledge, stars don't have an excretory system, but the waste actually diffuses out of pores on their feet.

 

[JL15219]

Welcome to the community....sorry I don't have any experience with this

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello and welcome to the channel.

 

[Sosuke]

The picture of the orange stuff may be its stomach but does not appear to be it, and I haven't been able to witness mine go to the bathroom so I am not sure what is happening. I have had an orange chocolate chip starfish for about 2-3 weeks now and their care is pretty basic. I give mine a chunk of LRS sometimes a small clam every couple of days and nori. I would take it back to the store because they can get to a foot long and do not favor newer tanks.

 

[liaw]

My buddy just returned one after being told it was reef safe.. it did a number on about $500 in zoa frags.

They are not reef safe
Luckily I only have live rock

 

[liaw]

The picture of the orange stuff may be its stomach but does not appear to be it, and I haven't been able to witness mine go to the bathroom so I am not sure what is happening. I have had an orange chocolate chip starfish for about 2-3 weeks now and their care is pretty basic. I give mine a chunk of LRS sometimes a small clam every couple of days and nori. I would take it back to the store because they can get to a foot long and do not favor newer tanks.

The store I get them from do know guarantee anything salt water fish or marine life they will not take them back