MIA (Missing In Action)

[sssnake]

Three weeks ago I introduced a Blue Starfish to my tank along with a pack of Turbo snails.

I have yet to see the starfish so he's either playing extremely hard to get or he's gone to that great big TANK in the sky.

If he did in fact die I have not noticed anything different about my water parameters which I check once a week, with the only exception being yesterday's results:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~20
Salinity: 1.022
pH: 8.0

Are these animals really that shy (if it is alive)?

Does the nitrate reading (above) warrant a water change? I just did a 15% water change about 10 days ago.

Tanks!

[amcarrig]

They can be rather elusive but I doubt that they do it on purpose How did you acclimate the starfish?

[sssnake]

I used the drip method over a span of about 2.5 hours

[amcarrig]

Well, your acclimation method is a good one. I'm concerned about those nitrates though. If the starfish is RIP, I would blame your nitrates. Hopefully, that's not the case though and it's just hiding out for the moment.

[sssnake]

Hope you're right amcarrig, we'll see.

Thanks.

[coral reefer]

It could have possibly been sick at the pet shop. Then died in your tank. Hopefully not but Sea Stars are very succeptible to stress from improper shipping and handling as well as changes in water parameters.