Depressed...

Last night I bought a chocolate chip starfish to add to my tank. Everything was looking good in the tank and the fish have been eating and swimming normally. Inhabitants included 2 percula clown fish, 1 regal tang, 1 auriga butterfly, 1 cleaner shrimp, several nassarius snails, and now the starfish. My water chemistry is great, and the temperature stable. This morning I found the butterfly dead and half buried in the sand, probably from the snails mauling him. I was very upset to see this. I do not understand why he would have perished, when last night he was acting very normal and healthy and hasnt missed a beat with feeding. Anyone with more experience ever heard of these fish just dying without symptoms of illness or stress? Is the chocolate chip starfish toxic or predatory to the butterfly? Any input would be appreciated.

 

Im not a pro by any means but i had the same thing and i added a hippo tang, little did i know he had IKE and he killed 2 fish by the next morning.

 

predatory on static things yes - would very likely to digest it once it was dead, but chocolate chips are really slow and could not catch anything quicker than a snail IMO
and even then its an each way bet

obvious questions
how long has the tank been set up and how quickly have you been making additions

Steve

 

Did you add the store's water to your tank when you added the starfish?

 

Tank has been set up for nearly 3 months. The butterfly was one of the first additions and has been doing apparently fine. I did not add fish until my water chemistry was balanced. There is a pound of live rock for every gallon in the tank, along with a pound of live sand for every gallon. When I first set it up I added a clown fish, who is still there and thriving. The levels spiked for the first 2 weeks approx and then they leveled out to 0 ppm amm and nitrite. Ph is steady at 8.3. As soon as the tank seemed to be cycled (approx 1 month after setup) I added the butterfly. So he has been in there for about 2 months and was acting normal. I drip acclimate all my fish for approx 1-2 hours before I put them in the main tank. Never have added the store water to the tank. Hope that helps.

 

3 months is too early for a butterfly IMHO. I have tried a few and not had much luck myself, they can be very delicate fish. At 3 months your tank is still going through small cycles, which can last only an hour and not even show up on tests. But those little cycles can be more than enough to take out a butterfly.
The snails and star were simply just cleaning up the already dead carcass.

 

Honestly, I think it was just a thang. Butterfly fishies can be a little tweaky anyway. Unless there is something glaringly wrong, it may have just been his time (captivity time).

Agreed SWAN (Ooooo another acronym!!!). CC will tear the corals up, but not fish

 

Not to hijack, but how do you not do this. everything I read says that starfish cant leave the water when you transfer them?

 

Don't believe everything that you read

 

Just like adding LFS water will load your tank with parasites....