Chocolate Chip Starfish Dying??

[mooselodgepc]

My chocolate chip starfish was added to my tank 2 weeks ago. I posted photo of him upon entering my tank & a picture of him today. He’s been losing weight & then overnight developed those white/ rot spots on him. Online I read that it could be because he’s stressed? I’ve noticed he doesn’t move much and stays in place up high generally, and doesn’t seem to be eating much. I just fed him some bigger krill and placed it underneath him and he seems to be eating it. My tank is a year old & has been stable, my Salinity is at a 1.025, any ideas how to save this guy? Thank you in advanced!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Sorry that nobody has responded before now - disease isn't my forte, but I do know this sort of thing is relatively common with starfish (sometimes it means they're at death's door, but sometimes they recover just fine).

I'd try offering it stuff like bivalves (clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, etc.) and shrimp (Masstick is good too, and mostly shrimp-based, IIRC). You can try offering it some algae (like dried, unseasoned/uncooked Nori), but I don't know if it will take it or not (I haven't looked into the common captive diets of Chocolate Chip stars much at this point, just their wild diet).

From what I've heard, these guys tend to do better in our aquariums than most stars do, so I'd assume the bivalves and shrimp would be good enough to help it recover.

Some info on their natural diet (we can't replicate this in aquariums at this point):

Chocolate Chip Stars (Protoreaster nodosus) eat algal films, biofilms, and meiobenthos (benthic organisms like worms and pods and such that are small enough not to be considered macrofauna, but not small enough to be considered microfauna).

If it is Protoreaster nodosus or a Pentaceraster sp., than it's a biofilm eater and will be difficult to feed long term - though biofilm eating starfish can usually survive a decent length of time in large enough aquariums (the smallest recommended tank size I've seen to accommodate this is 75 gallons, but bigger is substantially more likely to be successful as I understand it). Additionally, these species are known to eat corals in aquaria, so that would be something to keep in mind (this is largely thought to be a result of limited preferred food sources - i.e. it's thought that they eat corals when they run out of biofilm). Protoreaster nodosus seems to prefer biofilms that form on sediments and seagrasses, and Pentaceraster spp. seem to prefer biofilms that form on macroalgae (and possibly seagrasses too). So, having some seagrass and macroalgae in the aquarium could potentially help feed these guys, but there's no guarantee.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Sorry that nobody has responded before now - disease isn't my forte, but I do know this sort of thing is relatively common with starfish (sometimes it means they're at death's door, but sometimes they recover just fine).

I'd try offering it stuff like bivalves (clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, etc.) and shrimp (Masstick is good too, and mostly shrimp-based, IIRC). You can try offering it some algae (like dried, unseasoned/uncooked Nori), but I don't know if it will take it or not (I haven't looked into the common captive diets of Chocolate Chip stars much at this point, just their wild diet).

From what I've heard, these guys tend to do better in our aquariums than most stars do, so I'd assume the bivalves and shrimp would be good enough to help it recover.

Some info on their natural diet (we can't replicate this in aquariums at this point):

They do eat algae and tend to be more of herbivores in the wild. And this isn’t a good sign but nothing can be done! I will say starfish’s spikes can and do erode to some degree overtime/can depend on the environment and that doesn’t always mean there’s something wrong. I would monitor closely and offer algae pellets or keep some algae in your tank too. And often erosion when recently added to a tank is due to poor acclimation.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

The white spots aren't a good sign but honestly the only thing you can do at this point is keep everything as stable as possible. If he was added 2 weeks ago it's probably not simply starvation but something else going on. Imo he really doesn't look too far gone at this point though so I wouldn't be surprised if he recovered. Just a random thought though... your temperature doesn't swing by large margins or anything like that, right?

 

[tes2022]

My chocolate chip starfish was added to my tank 2 weeks ago. I posted photo of him upon entering my tank & a picture of him today. He’s been losing weight & then overnight developed those white/ rot spots on him. Online I read that it could be because he’s stressed? I’ve noticed he doesn’t move much and stays in place up high generally, and doesn’t seem to be eating much. I just fed him some bigger krill and placed it underneath him and he seems to be eating it. My tank is a year old & has been stable, my Salinity is at a 1.025, any ideas how to save this guy? Thank you in advanced!

I have the same starfish. It means they are starving. I’m sorry I haven’t seen this sooner. Feed them shrimp and seaweed. And fairly consistently until the spots disappear. Mine had them, was good for about a year, and now has them again. I hope your starfish is still around and this helps!