Urgent help needed Bristle starfish dying

[TheMarine]

Please help, I have two new types of algae in my tank that just appeared overnight.

One looks like a brown tree root, but it is slimy, and it seems to be growing off of my live rock or sand, and the second is a white algea that is also appearing on my live rock, which looks soft to the touch, but I don't want to touch it.

I have had three bristle stars die now, and it looks like a fourth is on its way. I like my bristle stars, and all my parameters are fine, and my temp is at 24*c.

What are these algae things, and could they cause the deaths?

 

[TaahirS]

What exactly are your parameters?
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate

 

[TheMarine]

Params

Nh4 and No2 sitting at 0.
No3 is at 10ppm, a bit high due to a mini cycle of live rock, but that happened yesterday, and my starfish have been dying over a weeks time.
Po4 at 0.03.
Ph is at 8.2.

I haven't tested anything else this weekend, but if you need me to, I can do a quick test.

 

[TheMarine]

Algae

I was thinking, whatever caused the algae to "outbreak" could be affecting the fish?
Or maybe the algea was growing subtly without me noticing it and they fed off it?
Sorry, I am still new to this...

 

[TaahirS]

Algae is normal for a new tank. It will go away by itself.
The starfish shouldn't be dying due to 10ppm nitrates though. Those parameters look fine.

 

[TheMarine]

Any idea on what the algae is, the white one has purple as well, and if it will harm my other occupants? I have an electric blue hermit, and I really don't want anything to die.

 

[viper357]

Looking at your other threads your tank looks very new, possibly still cycling? Your starfish are maybe dying from lack of food, they need a mature tank to survive. Are you feeding them at all?

Post photo's of the algae as well, will help to ID it.

 

[TheMarine]

The tank went through its' cycle already, it cycled for a month without anything, then again with the first live rock for two weeks, though the live rock came with some starfishies already. Then I joined here, because I got the recommendation from Idol. I wI'll post pics of the algea now, pics take a while to upload though, so give me half an hour.

 

[TheMarine]

The maybe death culprits.

This is what is in there that I am worried might be causing deaths...

This is the root that I was talking about.

This is the white algea, which took over when the tank got new live rock.

This is a new red algea that actually appeared this afternoon.
This is on the sand, the glass and the rocks, I got a turbo snail, because I was told it would help, and it seems to be munching, but not fast enough, can this algae cause deaths?

 

[viper357]

This is the root that I was talking about.

I have no idea what that is, perhaps a type of sponge? Does it move at all?

This is the white algea,

To me that doesn't look like white algae but more like where something has been eating algae off the rocks, perhaps a snail or urchin, thus the white patches that are clean area's of the rock. It looks like there is a very small starfish, possibly Asterina right on top of the rock, he/she may be the one that is eating/cleaning the rock. So overall a good thing more than likely.

This is a new red algea that actually appeared this afternoon.

Looks like it may be the start of Cyanobacteria, quite common in newly set up tanks. Your tank definitely has to mature a bit. I would hold off adding any more starfish or other invertebrates as some of them can be very sensitive to new tanks. Get some hardy fish and corals first before adding things like starfish, they really do much better in mature tanks.

can this algae cause deaths?

No.

it cycled for a month without anything

Did you add anything to the tank to start the cycle? If not then it may not have cycled fully, you need something to "kick start" the bacteria, so to speak.

then again with the first live rock for two weeks

The live rock may have started the cycle, during which your water may become toxic which could possibly have killed the more delicate types of starfish?

 

[TheMarine]

All that stuff

The root thing doesn't move at all. It just sits there.

Okay, I am glad the white isn't a problem, that was worrying me too.

Half the water came from an established tank and the other half was RO, and live sand was added to the cycle, as well as sand from an already established tank.
My nitrates and other Params were fine after this, so I thought it had cycled, could I have counted my eggs before they hatched?

The live rock actually came with 90% of our starfish, an anemone of some sort and other weird things that I have posted in the please ID section, and haven't gotten all the answers yet, haha.

We added three bigger bristle stars that a friend kindly gave us, and they are actually doing fine, they even keep spawning, which is weird to watch.

What have I done wrong? It's the mini brittles that are dying, and I'm worried. Should I vacuum the sand and clean the glass? I didn't know if I should do this with marine tanks.

 

[TaahirS]

The 'white algae' looks like spots where the hermit has cleaned. Did you add salt to the ro water? (just checking) What is your salinity at?

 

[viper357]

It's the mini brittles that are dying

Ah ok, I thought you were talking about the big ones. If it's the mini brittle starfish that are dying, they may just be hiding in the rocks, they tend to find a hole and only stick out one or two arms to catch food. Their numbers also seem to vary according to how much food is in the tank, so if there is not enough food for them to eat then their numbers will dwindle, this could be what you are seeing?

could I have counted my eggs before they hatched?

Possibly, the cycle can be longer than a month, each tank is different, also mini cycles can be encountered when adding sand or rock.

they even keep spawning

This may not be a good sign, they are known to spawn when stressed, it's triggered as a type of survival mechanism.

Do you have ammonia and nitrite test kits?

 

[TheMarine]

Ah ok, I thought you were talking about the big ones. If it's the mini brittle starfish that are dying, they may just be hiding in the rocks, they tend to find a hole and only stick out one or two arms to catch food. Their numbers also seem to vary according to how much food is in the tank, so if there is not enough food for them to eat then their numbers will dwindle, this could be what you are seeing?
Possibly, the cycle can be longer than a month, each tank is different, also mini cycles can be encountered when adding sand or rock.
This may not be a good sign, they are known to spawn when stressed, it's triggered as a type of survival mechanism.

Do you have ammonia and nitrite test kits?

No, the small ones, I am also adding bits of seafood I got and then taking it out. My crab is eating some on the one post I did. Okay, so it isn't really a problem.

I know all about the mini cycle, I added rock yesterday, and it came up a bit, haha, wasn't expecting it.

I should be more worried about the spawning? I thought it was a good thing. I only added them yesterday, and they did that about three or four times yesterday before they found their holes. Can I put in some anti-stress? Seachem makes it, and it says it's for salt and tropical water, I use it with my tropical tanks when I add new fish, and sometimes just to help them maintain their slime coating to help against anything that may be lurking unknown. So will that help?

Yes, I have the test kits, ammonia is sitting at 0 and so is nitrites, I also took the water in today to get it double checked and they are both at 0.

 

[TheMarine]

I actually bought a rock with the algae on it, not knowing it was algae and thinking it looked cool, but now I see the that it is algae, can this algae spread quickly? Maybe this is what caused it. Me being new, didn't know the red rock could be a problem. Anyway, I think this is off topic now, so I think I will stop posting on this thread, as it is for emergencies only. Could you do a favor though and visit my other thread and see if you can ID anything? It all came on my live rock. Thank you so much for your help, I think I will see how the big starfishies are doing in the morning, if they still seem to be stressed, I will see about adding the anti-stress. I really appreciate you helping me so swiftly, I hope no more of my babies die.