skimmy

Hi there,
I just got to my parents house to spend a few weeks between college and summer work, only to find that my parents have set up a saltwater Bio-Cube!

The tank has....
2 maroon clownfish
2 royal damsels (aka zulu damsels, bluefin damsels)
2 dwarf blue-legged hermit crabs
and!
1 chocolate chip starfish

In my opinion, the tank is too small for what is in there(it looks like it couldn't be bigger than a 15-20gal tank), but my parents insist they're fine and haven't had any problems up until now, 8 months after the tank was set up and everyone has moved in

Test Results just prior to posting are:
pH ~ 8.2
Nitrates ~ 4.5ppm
ammonia ~ 0.20ppm
alkalinity ~ 2.1
specific gravity ~ 1.021

They "jump started" (their words, not mine) the tank with "Carib-Sea" brand Live Aragonite Reef Sand,
chunks of what used to be live rock from their old 150 gallon saltwater tank, which they retired over 8 years ago,
and, well, lots of chemicals:
"Kent Marine Pro buffer DKH" ~ a buffer that increases alkalinity and maintains pH
"Kent Marine Essential Elements" ~ trace mineral supplements for reef and marine aquariums
"Kent Marine Pro-Ammonia Detox" ~neutralizes ammonia, chlorine, and chloramines
and last but not least,
"API Stress Zyme+" ~ biological filtration booster containing live bacteria

My parents have been feeding the tank, and all of it's inhabitants, with "Ocean Nutrition" brand Formula One Marine Pellets pretty exclusively.

so my query:

Yesterday i diced up a frozen scallop, thawed it out, and put a small piece next to the chocolate chip starfish, to give it some love.

Today I noticed a small round ulcer? lesion? scab? type thing between two of the "chips" on his back, which may or may not have been there and I just didn't notice until now. I don't see any other signs of unhealth, and he's very active around the tank.

I did a 20% water change today, checked to make sure the filter had been changed on a regular basis, and the tank seems to be clean and clear, I don't see and algae blooms, and none of the other fish seem to have symptoms.

Could the scallop have done this?
Could it be a result of poor nutrition prior to me getting home?
Could it be a result of way too many chemicals in the water?

they don't have a quarantine tank or I'd put him in there.

I'm planning on changing out another 20% tomorrow.

Any help would be peachy. My parents are getting up in the years and I'm not sure they do much besides drop in food and change the filter cartridge, so I'd love to figure out how to save this little guy before I need to leave again.

Thanks a bundle in advance!

fishrule101

The nitrite and ammonia are too high! Two maroon clownfish in what appears to a be under 20 gallons is small for them. Could you post a picture of the starfish?

skimmy

that's the best image I could come up with, my camera is still at school =/
the dark spot with the white halo between the front two chips is what's concerning me. It's only there between those two chips, and none of the others.

I did another 20% water change yesterday, and the nitrate/ ammonia levels dropped.

it doesn't seem to be getting worse, though he wasn't very active over the past 24 hours.

fishrule101

Seems ok to me.

Angela_96

Ive been reading up on star fish, a few things I learned is phosphate, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites are posion to them.
Also any change in the ph can make them sick.
Have you considered using a all in one salt that will keep you from using all of those chemicals? That is one problem that will throw a small tank (nano sized) off so bad it can hurt the life forms inside.
I use crystal sea marine mix, aqualife complete (just like novaquel), and rarely do I put calcium/mag in. Dosing in a nano isn't a good idea so thats why I don't mess with the calcium/mag that often.

skimmy

Thanks Angela, Fishrule,

This is the first starfish I've had to nurse back to health. I wish I'd been around when the tank was set up!

I think I've got a pretty good sea salt mix here ("Oceanic Sea Salt Mix"), so I'll continue with the water changes until the levels are back to where they should be, and hopefully that will be before I leave for my summer job in a week. =/

I'm rather shocked that the other inhabitants of the tank have lasted this long with such a small space. My other task before I leave is to convince my parents to upgrade tank sizes.

I am not noticing any change in the questionable spot on the starfish, though I did catch one of the hermits sitting on top of the poor guy and picking stuff off of it earlier today. I watched for a bit and nobody seemed to be fighting it, so I let it be.

the starfish has settled into a corner of the tank and stayed put for about 20 hours. He's rotating and flexing, but not much mobility.

I've been scouring the internet for info on this, and as much info on chocolate chip care as I could find (I don't really trust the local fish store that told my parents all of these things would be fine in that sized tank), so I'll be able to give my parents as much of a chance as possible at keeping all of these guys alive.