Orange starfish changing color

Hi All,

We added a small Orange starfish to the tank on Saturday. I drip initiated him into the tank over 2 hours as the PH of his water from the LFS was 7.7 and the SG 1.031. Yesterday after adding food to the tank he decided to drop off the glass and looked like his middle was coming out of him, he then went into a ball for several hours.

Today, I have received a call from my daughter as I am travelling to say he is looking dark in color and still on the sand.

PH 8.2, Temp 78, SG 1.022, ammonia .0 , phosphate .5, nitrite 0, Nitrate 20, Calcium 420, KH 14,I dont have a test for Mag. 130Ltr, Aqualina T5 - 2 actinic 6 hours 2 daylight 8 hours + nightlight all remote timers, Octopus Skimmer, Eheim canister 2313, water fan.
Live rock and sand, soft corals, 1 x mandarin, 2 new clowns, several pistol shrimp, hermit crabs.

I hope to have aphoto soon.

can anyone tell me if this is normal for stars?

 

Not normal...

I am assuming that it is a Linckia starfish??

I have had mixed results with these, any that showed signs of major stress or decay within the first few days died

 

If it is orange, it is less likely to be a linckia and more likely to be a slightly more hardy starfish, such as a fromia. However, that said, no starfish are particularly hardy in an aquarium (with the possible exception of brittle stars).

It sounds like your star is expelling its stomach to try to digest food (starfish can sometimes do that). So it may be ok or it may not. The fact that it is getting darker is not a good sign. Not much you can do at this point except wait and watch. Hope it's ok in the end.

 

thanks. It died. Not going to continue trying to keep them.