chococate chip starfish

Question
recently i started a new saltwater tank being new to this hobby i put 3 damsel fish and a chocolate chip starfish a week after i set it up after losing a few fish i started getting my water checked to see if my bacterias where right. they were not. however my levels now seem to be about right the fisrt three fish died that fist week but the second batch of three seem healthy which brings me to my problem today i move my starfish to see if he was still eating the bit of shrmip i fed him and placed him up on a piece of live rock all seemed well at the time however i looked back not more than ten minutes later to see he had a gash in between his two of his legs he hasnt been moving much since the first week but for sure is alive it seems like hes might be dieing not sure what to do next hes now curled pretty funny as if to protect this hole now in his side suggestions? this tank is only a month old

Answer
Hi Jake. Starfish are very sensitive creatures and should not be added to the tank until it has been up and running for a while, cycled and stabilized. More than likely the fluctuations in your water during the first few weeks proved to be too much for him. Unfortunately when starfish come down with these lesions it is a bacterial infection that cannot be cured. The starfish will actually slowly start to deteriorate until it dies. Occasionally if the water quality gets better and the lesions are not too big they can recover on their own.  But this is not very common. Keep a close watch on him and if he starts to look worse you may want to put him down humanely to prevent further suffering.