Starfish v Anemone

[marie.dawson]

I have a bruiser of a sand-sifter starfish and a fairly large long-tentacled anemone which the clown fish LOVE.

When I looked in the tank tonight the anemone has deflated to around one-third it’s normal size and most of its tentacles are shrivelled and grey. I’ve seen it do this before when touched. There’s also brown slime coming from its ‘mouth’(?) which from online research I have found out is stress-related poop(?)
<O:p</O:p
The starfish is missing a leg which is lying in several pieces on the bottom of the tank like some awful scene from the Evil Dead.
<O:p</O:p
It looks to me like the starfish and anemone have been fighting – does this sound probable? If so, then I am gob-smacked that an anemone could rip a starfish leg off!!! If it cant then what the hell is in my tank that has!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, Tyson (the starfish) is a bruiser of a boy, so whatever ripped his leg off must be even bigger (eek!)
<O:p</O:p
This same anemone stung me on Friday night and it absolutely KILLED!! There’s a small chunk of skin missing from my hand and it’s still all red, swollen and painful, so I think he’s just an anemone with a bad attitude!
<O:p</O:p
Any help or assistance greatly appreciated because my little slice of marine heaven was humming away quite nicely until this carnage hit me tonight.

Thanks


Marie

[Tangman]

Hi Marie i would not think a Nem would tear a leg off a starfish, its more likely to be a nasty big crab in your rock that as done it. Its best if you set a trap at night time with a jam jar with a bit of fishing line tied to it so you can pull it out, put some mussel or cockle in it. Set the jar at a angle so that the crab can get in but cant crawl out and leave it in until you catch it. HTH Twiggy:D:D

[marie.dawson]

Hi Marie i would not think a Nem would tear a leg off a starfish, its more likely to be a nasty big crab in your rock that as done it. Its best if you set a trap at night time with a jam jar with a bit of fishing line tied to it so you can pull it out, put some mussel or cockle in it. Set the jar at a angle so that the crab can get in but cant crawl out and leave it in until you catch it. HTH Twiggy:D:D

OMG! You mean like a CRAB crab or a hermit crab? Mutant crabs! Is this common?

Thanks for the reply by the way :)

[Macca]

Just like Humans whos limbs shut down first when we are poorly allowing blood to go to the vital organs starfish are the same.

The legs regrow and are replaceable.

Often when a starfish is stressed it will lose it limbs. When losing its limbs if your water quality is poor (which is usually the reason it was stressed), then bacteria will more than likely set in and the result will be a pile of mush.

Although Eric may have it spot on with an evil crab I personally think your water quality may be an issue, especially as your nem is stressed as well.

[sinaarrgghh]

He means like a crab crab. Not that rare to be honest. I've lost things in this way before myself.

[marie.dawson]

Just like Humans whos limbs shut down first when we are poorly allowing blood to go to the vital organs starfish are the same.

The legs regrow and are replaceable.

Often when a starfish is stressed it will lose it limbs. When losing its limbs if your water quality is poor (which is usually the reason it was stressed), then bacteria will more than likely set in and the result will be a pile of mush.

Although Eric may have it spot on with an evil crab I personally think your water quality may be an issue, especially as your nem is stressed as well.

Thanks for that. I was planning on doing a full water check once a month (the last one was 2 weeks ago and everything was spot-on) but I'll do one tomorrow night to check if this is the issue.

However, I don't think poor Tyson is going to live very long anyway because the peppermint shrimps are treating him as live food now - he's managed to lodge himself between two rocks to get out of the way but he'll die of starvation if he stays in there. Either way it's not looking good for him.

It's wierd that everything else in the tank is flourishing - maybe the star sifter and that anemone are more delicate than other things.... I'll live and learn i suppose.

Though I'm upset about my bud Tyson. :rip:

[marie.dawson]

Just like Humans whos limbs shut down first when we are poorly allowing blood to go to the vital organs starfish are the same.

I forgot to ask if you know what it looks like when this happens? Is it like a clean-cut thing because there's bits of flesh and it literally looks like it's been torn off (but maybe it looks like this when it's been shed - I honestly don't know).

Thank you :)

[moorish]

the nem cant have ripped off the leg looks like a crab has been at it,if something walks into the nem they usually consume the whole thing such as a fish.derek

[marie.dawson]

When losing its limbs if your water quality is poor (which is usually the reason it was stressed), then bacteria will more than likely set in and the result will be a pile of mush.

Although Eric may have it spot on with an evil crab I personally think your water quality may be an issue, especially as your nem is stressed as well.

Hiya
<O:p</O:p
The anemone was back to normal this morning as plump and lively as ever. By the time I got home from work the only thing left of the starfish was a few pieces of skin – the peppermint shrimps had totally consumed it. They’ve eaten my small baby xenia that was a birthday present from Scott (sorry, Scott!) and are now having a go at my pulsing xenia (also a birthday present from Scott, sorry Scott!). :(


Maybe they attacked and killed the starfish?? If so, do you think it’s work upping the food that I put in the tank to stave off their appetites before the little blighters kill off any more of my livestock?:eek: No wonder they're shedding their skins all over the place, they're on an eating binge!!!
<O:p</O:p
I’ve done a full water check tonight for Carbonate Hardness (120), Ammonia (0.3), Phosphate (0.25), Nitrate (50), Nitrite (0.8), PH Low (7.6) and High Range (8.1), Calcium (840), Chelated (0) and Non-Chelated Iron (0), and Specific Gravity (1023). All seems fine with the water.
<O:p</O:p
Thanks for your help
<O:p</O:p
Marie

[lr85ninety]

im affraid those results are not fine so probably explain your starfish you should have zero ammonia and zero nitrITE brfore even looking at some of the others sorry:(


<!--mstheme-->

<!--msthemeseparator-->

[marie.dawson]

im affraid those results are not fine so probably explain your starfish you should have zero ammonia and zero nitrITE brfore even looking at some of the others sorry:(


<!--mstheme-->

<!--msthemeseparator-->

Jeeez! Really? No wonder I've got probs! I've just been following the guideline levels displayed on the kit and thinking everything is fine in marine paradise! Crikey!

I'm off to do a 10% water change immediately.

Thank you for that:)

[Tangman]

Hi Marie if you have Ammonia or Nitrite in your tank water you should have NO stock at all in your tank, until those readings are zero and you have done a good 20% water change then tested 7 days later, and if things are ok then you can add stock. Also Anenomes are very delicate and should NOT be kept in a tank less than 12 months old, and if they are only with an experienced keeper. HTH Twiggy PS If i were you i would get all your stock out and rehome it at your LFS until your tank is ready.

[moorish]

your ammonia and nitrite should be zero as stated,no wonder you are having problems.i would do a large water change immediately then another a week later to try and reduce them to zero.i am surprised you have noy lost everything in the tank with such high levels,you should by rights remove everything from the tank till your parimeters are back to normal.derek

[marie.dawson]

your ammonia and nitrite should be zero as stated,no wonder you are having problems.i would do a large water change immediately then another a week later to try and reduce them to zero.i am surprised you have noy lost everything in the tank with such high levels,you should by rights remove everything from the tank till your parimeters are back to normal.derek

Thanks for that you guys.

I've realised that I had misplaced a decimal point on the Nitrite figure from the kit (thought it said 3 was the right figure, but it actually says 0.3 is the ideal figure). However all other figures (including the Ammonia) are perfect according to the figures on the side of the kit.

Can someone please advise on what the correct figures should be please. :confused:

Thanks a lot you guys :o

[sinaarrgghh]

Honestly now

Nitrate - as low as possible but for softies and fish it's not that bad if its high
Nitrite - 0 - this is not good news
Ammonia - 0 - this is really really bad news. It's basically like adding a very strong poison to your tank.

I don't know what kits you've got marie or why they are saying that having some is ideal but they are wrong.

[marie.dawson]

Honestly now

Nitrate - as low as possible but for softies and fish it's not that bad if its high
Nitrite - 0 - this is not good news
Ammonia - 0 - this is really really bad news. It's basically like adding a very strong poison to your tank.

I don't know what kits you've got marie or why they are saying that having some is ideal but they are wrong.

Thank you :)

I'll work on those figures instead of the ones supplied in the booklets - I should have known it was all going too well to be true! :(

Anyway, the figures tonight have dropped to Ammonia 0.1 and Nitrite 0.3. Planning on doing another partial water change tomorrow night.

The shrimp seem totally oblivious to the trouble - they're holding a street party in there! :D

Marie