Conflicted about water change

First off thanks for taking the time to read this, hopefully you can offer some benefical advice. So, I Have my 55 gallon tank on the last leg of its cycle and I decided to head over to the LFS yesterday for a free perimeters check and to pick up some snails to take care of the Diatom bloom that has happend. So when the guy that was helping me told me that I had almost no ammoina and almost no nitrites, I asked him if I was done, he told me I was bascily done and could add some livestock. I ended up taking home a starfish that I drip acclimated for about an hour and put in the tank, he seemed to be fine at first because he cruised around the bottom for a bit then climed up the side of the glass. I then went to dinner with the girlfriend and came home to find him munching on some aleage that had grown on the powerheads, I thought everything was good but before I went to bed I saw him parked in a corner with a arm on the surface on the water. I woke up this morning and went to class and came home to find him in the same spot, I Looked up behaivor in starfish and I think something is wrong with him. He has moved a little bit from the spot but I think the water might have a too low PH because it measured at a 7.9 or the oxygen lvl is too low, both I think can be cleared up with a water change but i dont know if I should at this point. The only action i've taken was to install the skimmer last night to improve the water quality a little better (not to mention I didnt get but 1 hour of sleep last night, for some reason and woke up to the skimmer overflowing because it was new and not properly adjusted) So, here I am, what do you guys think I should do?

 

I would say to soon for a starfish. They need stable params, and 0 readings on ammonia and nitrites. You should start with a hardy fish.

 

First thing you should do is get your own test kits, and possibly find a new LFS.
There is no "practically" done. Either you have all your levels 0 and done, or not. Until everything is absolutely 0 it is not safe to add anything, period. And if you were just getting diatoms, you were most likely only about half way through the cycle. The second face to that story is that LFS's will often times tell you your parameters are a lot better than they really are if it means you walk out the door with new critters. Which sounds like what is going on.
What kind of starfish did you get? There really isn't any stars that are algae eaters that should be in a tank as small as a 55. Stars also require very long acclimations, and are very sensitive, and require very stable water. Definitely not something for a new tank or new hobbiest.
First thing you need to do for us to help with your situation is to acquire your own test kits, post the results, then we can go from there.

 

Thanks for the replies, I have ordered some test kits for the tank last week which should be coming sooner rather than later (I could have bought the in town, but i couldn't justify 53 dollars vs 17 for the same thing). Also, I beleive it is a Orange sea star, or
"Echinaster sp" for scientific name. Here's a link to what it looks like, Orange Sea Star (Echinaster sp.). I do not know if was eating the growth on the power head but It has left a white power looking residue where it was before. The starfish has started to move but has one of its legs cureled back at the tip, Im guessing thats not a good sign. As of now, im kicking myself in the butt for doing this but at this point, I can only learn from this to do more reasearch in the future.

 

ok dont fault yourself for listening to the LFS many of us have and admit it and far more deny it.

my concern would not be the tank size however food for the star to eat. if possible i would bring the starfish back and try to get a fish ion trade for him as i dont believe your tank has the ability to sustain him at this time.

i would recomend starting with a hearty fish or two like a damsel, clown or cromie and go from there.

also as said above everyone should have there own test kits so you know what is going on in your tank firsthand.

 

just chiming in to say you are getting good advise here on this thread.

 

Cool, thanks for the reply. I just got back for good today, anyways he is now moving a little around the tank, but I think I will follow your advice and take him on back to the store. I think he is one cool addition to the tank but I certainly don't want to lose the little bugger. On a good note, I think my snails are doing well, they are just lawn mowing through the brown tank of diatoms, I can see white on my rocks!

 

Ya starfish are cool, and when your tank matures you should be able to keep one. They are just very sensitive to water parameters. Once you have a little more experience I would say go get the starfish then, just research their needs, and pick one your tank can sustain. Best of luck.

 

Starfish are not detritus eaters, they need lots of live critters such as in a mature deep sand bed. I am very much against so called sand sifting stars in a reef system if you intend to have a fully functioning deep sand bed. Against everones advice I purchased a sand sifter and it proceeded to wipe out my 2 year old flourishing DSB in two months, it went from crawling with spaghetti worms, pods, mini brittle stars, tiny baby snails etc to the Gobi Desert, the change was heart breaking. I took the star back to the LFS and spent 6 months repopulating my DSB with cups of donated live sand, numerous bottles of Ocean Pods and untold bags of Reef Stew etc. Its still not the same even 4 years later! Single biggest mistake of my 19 year reefing hobby.

Stars can be very hard to keep, especially those other than brittle or serpent stars, while the blues, reds and oranges are neat to look at they can sure pollute a tank in a heartbeat when the disentigrate. Best left in the ocean.