Seahorses verses Starfish

[Zanny730]

I need help understanding my seahorses behavior. When I first added them to my tank one named Titan was very socialable and strong natured. The other named Ariel was very shy and fragile. For the first week I worried Ariel was not going to make it. She would cling to whatever she could find and just hang upside down and wouldn't move till nighttime, only then to go find Titan and coax him to their corner of the tank. Titan had a strange admoration with my Starfish. He always wrapped his tail around the starfish leg and would eat the "web" off the top of him every morning. Every pet store I called said a starfish does not produce a web. I know what I saw. Everymorning there was a spiderlike web on my starfish. That is my first question. I have tried to get info on why my starfish produced a web everynight but I can't find anything out. Now here is the crazy thing. 4 days ago I noticed the seahorses were eating on my starfish which I thought was the web. Later that day my starfish was missing some of his crowns. I couldn't find out what in my fish tank could have caused that and did not think my seahorses could be capable of that. 2 days ago I came home from work and my starfish was tare into a thousand pieces. There was not one piece of his body left in tack. There is nothing dangerous or tempermental in my tank. Just 2 seahorses, a small peaceful clown fish and what used to be my starfish. Everyone I have talked to said my seahorses could not have done such a thing that they do not have the capabilty. So can someone explain to me what happened. Please help.

[VWD]

Not the seahorses, I don't know about the web, Never heard of it. as far as them ripping it apert, Thats hard as they only have a small opening and suction for eatting. Maybe the starfish just started to die slow and fell apart, not all that uncommon .

[VWD]

WELCOME TO TRT!!!!

[Zanny730]

Well I kinda thought that after the fact but he was fine up until 2 days before that. That is when the seahorse was feeding on top of him, which I thought he waz eating the web. The next day he was moving around like normal as so with the morning he was destoyed. It all happened within 8 hours. When I got him it looked as though he either blewup or was shreaded into thousands of pieces.

[Zanny730]

Thank you Vinnie. It is great being here. Lots of information on this site.

[Twitterbait]

Welcome to the site!, I can think of a few things as well.

1. many sea critters produce a slime coat overnight (wrasses) as protection. You may have a variation on a common type of star that does this as well.

2. the star could have been dying or dead and the film coat was actually bacteria eating him.

3. you may have a harlequin shrimp somewhere.

either way i am sorry for the loss. what else do you have in the tank for the horses to hitch to? do you have a pic?

[BLEEZY]

what type of star?
if asteroid star then predation could be the cause, thenet was prolly bacteria, or one of the inverts that spin a web to catch food could have been using the dead star or sick star as a place to catch food feeding on the corpse from.
if brittlestar maybe sg change this causes them to fall apart where asteroid stars usually just stop moving.
what type of star?
do you have auto top off?
please post a pic of the tank!

[dobejazz]

Welcome to TRT
Sorry to hear about your star. Did you just top off the tank with freshwater? Stars are very intolerant of changes in salinty it's best to have an auto top off device or top off once or twice a day instead of a large amount every few days

[Zanny730]

I have 2 large corals that are not live but for decoration. They love to hitch to that. They also like to attach themselves to my bubble wand tube. Ariel the female seems to attach herself to those thing more than Titan. Titan is still searching for his starfish. Thank you for all the info I am finding this site to be one of the most resourceful sites. Everyone is so helpful. Being new at owning a saltwater tank I am finding out that you can't depend on the pet shops information. I now believe some of them are all about making the sale. It is scary with the amount of money you pay for saltwater fish and then to have them die on you. But I find myself being very attached to them. My fresh water was mainly for decoration but my saltwater has become a part of my family. Thanks again.

[Zanny730]

That is a good question. I know it was called a Red General. When I bought him he was the most beautiful star I ever seen. He did seem happy in the tank but he wasn't much of a mover, though he did move extremely slow. He also wasn't climbing the side of the tank as he was when I first purchased him. So I do believe he was sick. I bought 4 fish from this one pet store and so far three of them have died within a matter of days the star did last over three weeks. When I asked the pet store why they said there were no guar on salt water fish because they could have parasites. They also claimed my tank wasn't ready even though all my other fish have been fine. I followed the rules of starting the aqaurium by starting it with 5 dempsy's and strong flow filter system. After 6 weeks I exchanged the dempsy's and my water tested safe for the fish I actually wanted. I do need a pic and will add on shortly. Thanks again for your info.

[Zanny730]

No. Actually I haven't changed my water since I set up the tank, but I have had it tested weekly. What is a autotop off device? I'm sorry I am new to this, but everyone on this site has been a huge help. Before I know it I will be a saltwater fish owner pro.

[dobejazz]

10-20 % Water Changes should be done every week to 2 weeks to replace trace elements that Marine life need. How do you compensate for water lost to evaporation?

[VWD]

Agree with kelli Here, Water changes are a must for a good healty tank,

[Zanny730]

Wow. I did not know that. I do watch for water loss due to evaporation but so far there has not been any that is noticable. I will do a water change. Thanx again

[Twitterbait]

we are glad to help. I would like to say that if you are using a bubble wand i would remove it to avoid salt creep issues. Can you post a pic of the tank.