Basket Star Dead? and What the hec is this??

Part 1>>>>
Ok I just bought a basket Starfish, he has a big hole in him that we just noticed... it looks like he is splitting in half.. peices of him are "melting" off and falling to the bottom of the tank and they seem to stay alive for a while.
He seems to be alive but we can see right through him from his hole in his back through his mouth.



Any suggestions??

Part 2>>>>
We noticed a lot of long clear strings all around the bottom of the tank... they are drapped all over under the rocks and in the dark crevices.. We think the string like stuff is a worm? or many worms ?

Any Ideas?

 

that star fish is dying... sucks...did you acclimate?? ph changes or anything like that?

 

yes we acclimated for 1 hour... added him the same time as a bunch of other things... everything else is fine..
ALSO... we got him from the store 2 days ago, they were acclimating him cause they just got him in 30 minutes before we bought him.

 

Yeah, sorry about the starfish, I just had a serpent star fall apart like that a few weeks ago. Can you get a pic of the other ID you're asking about?

 

All starfish are VERY sensitive to salinity and pH swings.* Basket stars would be even more sensitive to these swings.* Personally, I would see if your store will take it back.* Basket stars require sooooooo much planktonic food that it isn't even funny.* Either you would need to keep your water so filthy with zooplankton and live phytoplankton so that it didn't starve.* Unfortunately, any tank that could support a basket star would be algae ridden and would not support a lot of coral life.*

 

IMO basket stars are one of those that should be left in the ocean. They are very sensative and difficult even for an expert. Really touch critter. I'm sorry.

 

thanks for the replies.... he died already....

Does anyone know what the clear worms coming out of my live rock are? are they dangerous to my corals ?

 

starfish/anemones/ and many other inverts should be acclimated for 3+ hours, not an hour. An hour is fine for damsels and hermits crabs.... if you get my drift.

 

probably just spaghetti or hair worms

 

Even large public aquariums on open systems have difficulty keeping basket stars adequately fed. Probably not a good animal for the home reef tank.