FAQs about Brittle/Basketstar Disease/Health 2
Related Articles:
Brittlestars,
Sea Stars,
Related FAQs: Brittlestar Disease 1, Green Brittlestars, Brittlestars 1, Brittlestars 2, Brittlestars 3, Brittlestar ID, Brittlestar Behavior, Brittlestar Compatibility, Brittlestar Selection, Brittlestar Systems, Brittlestar Feeding, Brittlestar Reproduction, Seastar Selection, Seastar Compatibility, Seastar Systems, Seastar Feeding, Seastar Reproduction, Seastar Disease,
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Many fish species will test, eat
Ophiuroids.
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Brittle Starfish Attacked by Giant Hermit
3/31/18
Hi,
<Kitty>
My large (14 inch plus) brittle starfish was brutally attacked by my giant red
hermit crab
<Oh, yes; large ones especially are opportunistic omnivores. Will consume most
anything they can get their claws on>
last night and during the incident lost the best part of three legs and the ends
of two legs, he had also gained a substantial cut from the top of his body round
and down to underneath, it has not touched his mouth but his orange insides are
on view, he is still moving around this morning and waving for food but I’m
worried he won’t survive for long, is there anything I can do to help or should
I let nature take its course?
<Mmm; some benefit from moving the animal to a sump, area where others can't get
to it, and overdosing (2-3 X) a useful iodide-ate supplement/solution. Am a fan
of SeaChem's line here>
I have removed the crab from the tank and I intend to take him bk to the local
fish shop as he has over grown my tank anyway. There are also 3 long pieces of
the star fishes legs in the tank, should I remove them or will they grow into
other stars lol.
<These I'd remove. Just keep the central disc part>
Thanks for your help
Kind regards
Kitty
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
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Re: Brittle Starfish Attacked by Giant Hermit
4/1/18
Hi Bob,
<Kitty>
Thank you for your quick response, it was much appreciated.
<... please people (it's not just you Kitty), ONLY send files in hundreds of
Kbytes... We/WWM doesn't have storage space sufficient for megs. THIS is
clearly stated on where you find to write us.>
I’ve had another look at the brittle and it seems that the hermit had
actually ripped a whole leg off, I can’t find any bits of leg with a part of
the disk still attached just a few bits of leg floating around, I’ll remove
them as suggested thank you.
<Good; their death, decomposition could prove deleterious to your other
livestock>
As he has had a leg removed and part of his body along with it do you think
there is any possibility of him surviving?
<Some; these are remarkably resilient creatures (Ophiuroids)>
I’m concerned about moving him to the sump, There seems to be silt etc on
the sump floor, will this irritate him?
<No; it will not>
If he does recover, do you think his cut will heal up and will he just be
one leg down or will could he have an opening wound forever or could his leg
grow back?
<All may, can grow back>
Sorry to bombard you with these questions but I’ve not seen anything like
this before and my LFS wasn’t that helpful!!
<PLEASE read on WWM re Brittlestar health. BobF>
I have attached the pictures properly this time!!
Thank you again
Kitty
Re: Brittle Starfish Attacked by Giant Hermit 4/1/18
Hope your able to open these ok?
<Ah yes; thank you>
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Re: pH adjustments; now Ophiuroid nutr.
12/5/16
one more brief ?.
I have had a giant ( arm span 12-14") gold/green brittle star doing well
for years in the sump ( after too many new fish in DT kept
disappearing).
In the last 1-2 weeks he has lost most of the length of his arms which
are now only stubs. He has been fed part of a uncooked cocktail
shrimp every 4-7 days for years and was doing great.
<Mmm; needs more nutritionally. I'd get a bag of "mixed, frozen
seafood", defrost a "piece", soak in a product like SeaChem's Vitality
for a few minutes and offer this at the same interval>
All my measured tank parameters ( spg, dKH, Ca, nitrates are d/w with no
other changes in system and other tank inhab.s - fish, corals are doing
fine. Any ideas??
thanks
js
<Can, will recover in time. Bob Fenner>
Another Ophiuroid hlth., beh. question
9/6/12
We just bought a serpent starfish last night. We are new to Saltwater
tanks. We did not do the drip acclimation process as I knew nothing
about it so that may be the problem. When I released it into the tank,
it wandered across the tank. When we checked on it this morning it was
in the same position it was in last night so we gave it a nudge with the
fish net and it is stiff as a rock. Is this normal? Or is it dead?
<Mmm, I wouldn't give up just yet... watch it for another day...>
I have tried to research it and some websites say they get stiff as a
defense mechanism but to stay in the same exact position for so many
hours? Help!
<Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/britstardisfaq2.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Red growth on brittle star? 9/6/12
Hi,
<Chris>
I bought a brittle star two days ago. I noticed yesterday that he had a
red spot between two of his legs. Today, the spot seems larger and there
is also another on the other side of his body. I couldn't find any
information about this. What's going on?
<Appears to be breaks in the integument, revealing parts of its/mainly
the vascular system... could be caused by trauma, issues w/ water
quality, other...>
Parasite? A wound/infection? Expelling waste? What should I do with the
other creatures (snails, shrimps, crabs, Cuke) that I have in quarantine
with him, which I don't think will survive long in quarantine without a
live tank to scavenge from?
<The other non-fert.s are likely not in danger... I'd leave all in
place, unless you have an established sump/refugium to place the
Ophiuroid>
He's curled up in the corner now and I don't want to touch him, but
hopefully you can get an idea here.
Thank you,
Chris
<Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/britstardisfaq2.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
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Sick starfish 9/29/11
Hey guys,
I hope everyone is doing well.
<Thank you>
I was hoping to get some help. I have had this starfish for a
couple years and he¹s done fine the whole time (to my
knowledge). Tonight, I noticed that 4 of his 5 legs are damaged
(missing a large portion of 3 of the legs!) Please see attached
photo. Will this poor guy recover?
<Can... regenerate>
What could be causing this?
<Predation, lack of nutrition, adverse chemical/physical
condition/s. Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestardisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above>
Thanks for your help.
Jason
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
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Brittle Star
Crumbling/Brittle Star Health 8/5/11
<Hello Morgan>
So as the title says i <I> have a Brittle Star that is crumbling.
I noticed a few days ago that he was struggling to get off his back and
when i <I> came home from work today i <I> looked at him
and i <I give up.> noticed that his legs were falling off in
small segments, one to two cm at a time.
Since then i have moved him to my "hospital tank" which is a
balanced 25 gallon tank that has a few shrimp and hermit crabs in it,
the star is in a small covered dish inside that has holes poked into
the top so the shrimp can't get to him. I checked my water in my
tank and everything was normal except for my nitrites which were very
high (approx. 1.0mg/l).
<Yikes.>
Since then i purchased Prime for a "quick fix" which has
brought the levels down to approx. .5 mg/l, and some macro algae for a
long term solution.
<Should not have high nitrite levels to begin with unless something
is amiss.>
Could this be caused by the high nitrites?
<Certainly. Even low concentrations of 0.5mg/l over extended periods
can cause long term damage to most marine animals. Nitrite binds the
oxygen carrying hemoglobin in blood, and fish can suffocate even if the
oxygen level in the tank is good.>
Any help would be appreciated, thank you in advance.
<You're welcome, and please cap "I's" in future
queries. James (Salty Dog)>
Morgan
Re: Sudden Cloudy water! Worried
for whole setup : \ Now Brittlestar hlth.
1/21/11
Thanks again Bob. More problems keep on coming, our brittle star is now
wasting away.
<Pretty common. Please see WWM re Ophiuroid feeding:
http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestarfdgfaqs.htm>
:( We have had him close to 2 years if not more, and I'm hoping you
can shed some light on him. Last night, before I hit the sack, I was
checking things out and noticed that he was out of his hole in a
rock.
Been his home for about 6-8months. He was circling the rock, I watched
him climb around it a few times and caught pictures of him as well. I
mentioned to my husband that he had white dimples where his legs meet
his body.
Today, while checking on everything in the tank. I see him again, he
has his legs all curled up to him and he has bigger white spots! So big
that I swear I can see inside his body.
<And health: http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestardisfaqs.htm>
My heart is breaking for all of my tank inhabitants that something is
wrong and I just don't know what it is.
Please help,
Alicia
<Please learn to/use the indices and search tool on WWM. Your
animals may perish while you're waiting for a response.
BobF>
My Poor Brittle Starfish
11/13/10
Hi,
<How>
My brittle starfish is the hero of my tank and has been with me
for nearly a year now.
He was fine this morning but when I arrived home today there was
a large yellow hole in his body, I'm not sure if a crab
attacked him or he ripped himself open on a rock.
There is nothing new in the tank so I'm surprised if someone
else attached him, any ideas, could he die from this?
<Oh yes>
I have attached a picture so that you can see what I mean.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Keelin
<Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestardisfaqs.htm
Bob Fenner>
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Re: My Poor Brittle Starfish
11/14/10
Thanks for the direction Bob, he looks worse today so I think my
little hero is a 'goner'.
Thanks, Keelin.
<Unfortunately, I concur. BobF> |
Red Serpent Star/Disease Treatment
8/26/10
Hi,
<Michelle>
I have a 20g long with 13 lbs of live rock, 20 lbs of crushed
oyster,
<A poor substrate to use, does little to aid in long term buffering,
and tends to trap detritus.>
and 20 lbs of live sand. My tank has been set up for 4 weeks. Ph 8.2,
Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, temp 80.5
I recently purchased (last Friday) a Red Serpent Star, Yellow Striped
Goby, and two Peppermint Shrimp. The goby was not doing well (had white
things hanging from fins and mouth, acted lethargic) so I purchased two
skunk cleaner shrimp
hoping that a cleaning was what he needed and PraziPro through the
advise of my petstore. I shut off the protein skimmer and removed the
carbon from my filter during treatment today is day three and the goby
dies this morning.
Now too <to> my question, last night my serpent star came out
from hiding under the live rock climbed up my heater and onto the
protein skimmer and is hiding and hanging out up there. Is this normal?
I thought that they didn't like to come out during the day. Should
I be concerned?
<Yes, I would not use Praziquantel with invertebrates present. This
medication is sometimes used to remove some species of invertebrate
pests, especially worms, and I do not believe you consider your Red
Serpent Star a pest.
Is not worth chancing.>
When can I put the carbon back in my filter?
<Immediately! And do ensure you use a good grade of carbon, better
yet a Poly Filter
along with a 30% water change.>
Should I continue the PraziPro treatment?
<No, parasitical treatments are best administered in a QT
tank.>
Thank you for your help,
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Michelle
Brittle Star and general tank distress.
4/27/10
Hello. I have had my saltwater tank for about 1 year. But, I
haven't finished it off, so it's still pretty basic. I
have a 55gal tank, about 20 lbs of live rock, 3 damsels, 1 big
hermit crab,
<Very predaceous>
a few smaller hermit crabs, a bunch of snails, and a brittle
star. Everything in my tank has been fine.
I check the water balance regularly.
<Real data please>
I haven't done a water change in about 6 months because every
time I checked the levels were great.
<Mmm, there are many aspects, elements of water quality for
which there are no tests... best to do regular/serial water
change outs to avoid too much accumulation of some, syndromes of
too little of other aspects. Please read
here re: http://wetwebmedia.com/water.htm
and the linked files above>
However, I checked the other day and my nitrates and nitrites
were elevated (my test kit doesn't give me numbers - only
okay, ideal, stress, etc.). I proceeded to do a partial water
change, making sure to keep salinity stable. At
first, everything was OK. All of the levels were back at good or
tolerable, the nitrites and nitrates were still a little high.
But, I didn't want to stress my tank any further. So, I added
2 more capfuls of Prime (what the LFS gave
me to dechlorinate and it says that it will lower the
nitrates/trites).
<But not the causes...>
I went to bed after making sure all was good. But, in the morning
my whole tank was in distress! My water was super cloudy, my
little fish were gasping for air and in obvious duress. I tested
my water and my pH was very acidic and the Nitrates/trites were
very high! Strongly, my starfish was the only one who seemed to
be ok, it was out and about in the tank eating while everyone
else was dying. I removed about 15% of the water added fresh
saltwater and baking soda until I achieved the proper pH. We used
airline tubing to blow extra O2 into the water. And, we finally
got everything balanced out. We lost one damsel later on, she was
fine for awhile and then started gasping again and died. The tank
has remained cloudy for the last 2 days and today my starfish was
out and has a huge chunk of meat missing. I can see his skeleton.
I found out from reading your site that I should have a
refugium,
<Helps in many ways but not absolutely necessary>
which I do not have because when I bought my system they told me
I didn't need one. So, where I move my little lady to?
<Mmm, unfortunately not much you can do for this animal but
keep the system stable and hope>
Is there anything I can do for her? How can I fix my tank?
<Read... re maintenance of such systems on WWM>
And, why did it go crazy like that?
<A "cascade event", brought on by metabolite
accumulation, your addition of the Prime product>
I read that I can add iodine to the tank, can I buy that at a
LFS?
<Yes>
Please, advise. Thank you very much!
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
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Mortuus est |
Injured Serpent Star / Arm still
alive? -- 01/03/10
My tank has been up and running for three years. During that time I
moved about a year ago and have never suffered a livestock loss. Today
I notice what I thought was a huge worm crawling across my sand bed.
Upon closer inspection it was a brittle star arm, just out for a walk
without its usual owner. So I dug around in the tank and found the rest
of the serpent star, hiding under a rock. He has what looks like a very
grievous wound down to what appears to be a "bone" in the
central disc.
<Part of the vascular canal system>
It almost appears as if his arm was ripped off his body.
<Or perhaps ecdysed/shed>
There's never been an issue in the tank, and I'm not sure why
after 3 years his health would suddenly decline like this. My first
question is what are the chances for his recovery?
<Some...>
After I released him back into the tank he moved back under the rock
rapidly, so the loss of the arm hasn't effected his locomotion,
however is does look hideous. And my 2nd question is, What should I do
with the arm that has gone walkabout. Do I take it out before it
"dies" or is it on it's way to making a new starfish?
<A small possibility of this last... and not much chance, potential
for "pollution" by leaving it in place (which is what I'd
do). Ophiuroids do lose arms from various causes... and can/do have
remarkable "powers" of regeneration. Yours may well recover.
I might administer a bit more iodine/ide/ate supplement every week for
a month or so here. And I'd give a read with the word/string:
"Ophiuroid Brittlestar arm loss"
Here: http://wetwebmedia.com/Googlesearch.htm
and read the cached views.
Bob Fenner>
Broken brittle starfish --
11/22/09
NEED HELP ASAP!!! We were beginning to do the routine cleaning and my
oldest son didn't see the little guy (Brittle starfish) as we were
cleaning walls - he was hiding in crevice between glass wall and live
rock.
Unfortunately, my son nipped him good with the scrub brush and appears
to have severed an entire leg off from the body disc area. The
dismembered leg crawled off and the remaining part stayed lying under
the rocks. I have read various stories on you site about the
regenerative properties (some quite remarkable).
<Yes>
I don't know how long I should watch or if this is a case of no
return or if he will heal. How do I know all hope is lost without
contaminating my tank?
<Actually, very little possibility of trouble here>
All levels are good. We stopped the cleaning process for now.
Desperately Needing Help,
EBradley
<Perhaps feeling desperate, but no need. All will likely be well in
time.
No treatment necessary; just your ongoing good care. Bob
Fenner>
Brittle star bleaching out --
10/28/2009
Our 125 gal. tank is three years old. Our red brittle star ( Grim
Reaper) was one of the first to join our tank and was quite tiny when
it arrived ( 1 1/2 inches across) It grew by leaps and bounds , kept
its red color and was spectacular until the last 6 months or so when it
has begun to not only shrink in size but bleach out on its body.
<Mmm, conditions, foods/feeding are not to its liking>
The arms are now green, but the center body is white with just a few
bits of orange. I didn't find much in your Q and A concerning
bleaching out. He is still active, eats heartily, but looks as if he is
on death's door. What should we try?
<The best, short/er term might be to move this animal to another,
established setting. Likely "something" is either deficient
(e.g. chemically) or too high in concentration here... Without some
sorts of testing that may be beyond our scope... it may be very
difficult to discern a root cause...>
Our temp. is stable, ranging from 79-80, ph is 8.3, nitrates and
nitrates are very close to zero ( unmeasurable). we have 6 tomato
clowns (i know- too many), 1 six line, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 sea
urchin. We feed the brittle star silver fish weekly, the tank Mysis
shrimp a few times a week and have a timed feeder for flaked food ( 2x
a day). Water changes occur 1/month (10% ).
thanks for your advice,
GR Spiel man
<A/the general SOP response is to "change some water",
"use chemical filtrant/s"... Perhaps a type of granular
activated carbon... What other livestock is present? Does any of it
show adverse symptoms? Are you applying treatments? Supplements? How
are they administered? Let's chat further here. Bob
Fenner>
Re: brittle star bleaching out
-- 10/28/2009
We just lost a Chromis two days ago but I don't know how long they
are expected to live anyway ( 2 years?)
<Mmm, can be a few more...>
and our brittle star has been in distress for quite a while. Recently
we've started supplementing our tank with iron for the corals ( 2-3
TBSP weekly) .
we have 6 thriving soft corals and one hard coral that is doing well
since the regular doses of iron ( attribute it to this, anyway).
We've been using iodine regularly as a supplement and also use
Kalkwasser mix for killing Aiptasia, but have been doing this all along
with no problems previously).
<These should be fine.>
Other than upgrading our lighting and skimmer nothing else is
different. the new lighting has caused a great bloom of green algae.
that, I think, is a completely different problem. My husband and I
disagree on the length of time the light should be on ( he says 8 hours
minimum for the corals which are thriving nicely, I
say cut back the hours to limit algae growth.) Q: could our very
efficient skimmer be depriving the star from nourishment?
<I do think this may be the most/more likely issue here. I would
purposely feed the brittle star a couple, three times a week...
Something "sinking" placed right near it... meaty.>
Thanks for your time!
GR Spiel man
<Welcome! BobF>
Re: brittle star bleaching
out 10/29/09
are silversides nutritious enough?
G.
<As an every now and then item, yes. Not as a sole diet however.
Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestarfdgfaqs.htm
BobF>
Rotting serpent star, Blue
Linckia 6/24/09
Hi Guys,
<Josh here today.>
My name is Tony and I have a question.
I have a 92 gallon corner tank with about 60 lbs of live rock. I have a
wet dry sump system underneath. The tank has a Fox Face Lo, 5 green
Chromis, a tomato clown, and a six line wrasse.
There is also 1 yellow tailed damsel that I can't catch to remove.
Some hard corals and green star polyps. Multiple snails and hermit
crabs. I also have a Blue Linckia and a sea anemone. I have twin bulbs
with 65 watts each for lighting.
<What type of anemone is this, in most cases PC lighting will not
suffice.>
The tank has been running for over a year.
I tested the water for Nitrite, nitrates, ammonia and PH and
phosphorous.
<Phosphate?>
All were good
<I really need more numbers here, not just "good".>
except the nitrate levels had spiked to 20ppm.
I did a water change and put some (Prime) nitrate reducer and they seem
to be coming down.
<I am not familiar with this product, what is the name on the
bottle? I would generally stay away from chemical nitrate reducers, and
stick to water changes. You really can not go wrong with a water
change.>
During this I lost my Blue Linckia
<The Linckia was likely doomed as soon as it was collected and
shipped to your LFS. Please search for more information on WWM
regarding the Blue Linckia.>
and my serpent star has these large white patches of what appears to be
new or rotting flesh at the area where his legs meet his body. He is
still very active and enjoys a good piece of frozen shrimp. Any
thoughts?
<It does sound like necrosis occurring on the serpent star. Not a
good sign. Keep feeding him, watch your nitrates, and avoid the
introduction of chemicals to your reef tank.>
Thank-You........Tony
<Welcome...
Josh Solomon.>
Re rotting serpent star, Blue
Linckia 6/25/09
Hello Again,
<Hello>
Josh thank-you for your quick response!.
<Your very welcome.>
To answer your questions my Ph level was 8.4 and the ammonia is at 0
the nitrites are at 0 and like I said the nitrates where at 20ppm. The
phosphate was at 2ppm,
<That is a lot of phosphate.>
I have a media bag with Phosguard soaking in the basin of the sump
right now to help remove the phosphate.
<Continue water changes, please test your source water for
phosphates, it should read zero.>
The nitrate remover i put in the tank was made by Seachem and is
labeled (prime).
<Yes, please try to avoid this for use in a reef tank, especially
added to the tank itself.>
I cant remember what type of anemone he is I got him for 6 bucks at
Petco 3 months ago. He doesn't take to the clown fish at all, which
I knew ahead of time.
I forgot to mention that I also have a green emerald crab in the
tank.
<It's doubtful the crab is causing the damage to the starfish,
but it would surprise me if he took advantage of a dying
starfish.>
I did a 15% water change and just checked the nitrates again and they
are still at 20ppm.
Could this be a bio ball problem?
<Yes! Bio Balls without some type of filter sponge before them tend
to accumulate massive amounts of detritus which will then rot and
contribute to the Nitrate problem. If you don't already have one,
you should add one to avoid this problem. Then rinse and agitate the
bio balls in a bucket of salt water for a minute or two to get rid of
as much detritus as possible.
Continue the water changes and check your source water for nitrates and
phosphates that may be adding to the problem.>
I will monitor the star fish like you suggested.
Any thoughts on this would be greatly
appreciated...Thank-You........Tony
<All above, your welcome.
Josh Solomon>
Serpent Star Arm Tips Missing:
Stars and crabs do not mix well. 6/18/2009
Dear Sirs,
<Hi Denise, just call me Mike, and there are a number of female crew
members as well.>
I am a science teacher with a marine touch tank that I have moved home
for the summer.
<OK>
It has been 2 weeks and all was well until today when I noticed that
the tip of every arm on the serpent star is missing and their is a cut
mark near the base of one arm.
<You can read more about them here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brittlestars.htm>
Last night it was fine.
<A late night snack for someone I would imagine, but some more
details about the tank would be helpful: how big, water chemistry,
etc.>
The tank has a false percula, a marine hermit crab which has grown
considerably this year, 2 turbo snails, a sea urchin, and a host of
amphipods.
<A few possibilities here...I will say that an Urchin is a poor
choice for a touch tank - some species are venomous. Further, Clownfish
can bite, and are capable of drawing blood, especially if they feel
their territory is being violated.>
<Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/urchins.htm and
here:
http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&safe=off&cof=&sitesearch=www.WetWebMedia.com&q=clownfish+bites&btnG=Search >
I have kept an eye on the tank since moving it home, concerned about
shock and wondering about the hermit crab and if it is too large to
safely keep in this tank.
<Setting possible environmental causes (water quality) aside, I am
inclined to believe the hermit crab is the likely culprit. Crabs, being
scavengers, are never to be trusted completely in a tank.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/crabs/hermitcrabs.htm
>
When school resumes, the tank will go back to school and be restocked
and I will set up a second tank for this pet crab if needed. Could the
hermit crab be the problem, or is something else going on here?
Thank you,
<My pleasure>
Denise
<MikeV>
Re: Serpent Star Arm Tips
Missing: Stars and crabs do not mix well. - Water Quality
6/18/2009
<Hi Denise>
Thank you, The touch tank from Wards Scientific hold 25 gallons and the
water is testing out within parameters with close to 0 ammonia,
nitrates and nitrites and a pH of about 8.3.
<Ahh. OK, That said, ammonia needs to be zero - anything above zero
is toxic. How often are you doing water changes?>
The creatures (except for the clown fish) were all from a touch tank
set from Ward's scientific and have been handled without problem
since last October, including the sea urchin.
<Fair enough>
The serpent star has handled being picked up hundreds of times (always
kept under water) and eaten well. This is the first time he has had any
problems and now has 5 short, stubby arms (pieces kept coming off all
day).
<Signs that it is starting to break down. You will want to do a big
(30%) water change.>
I will move the hermit crab out into it's own home and see if I can
keep everything else healthy for the summer. When I moved the tank I
drained the water and kept it, returned it to the tank and let the
system clear before reintroducing everyone. Nothing like having the
science teacher kill everything during the summer. The high school
students I teach have never seen an ocean and this tank means a great
deal to them. You can probably guess why we have the clown fish.
<Heee... Nemo..>
Thanks again,
<My pleasure, do write back if you need further assistance.>
Denise
<MikeV>
Red Serpent Star hlth.,
reading 5/10/09
Hey Gang,
<Dave>
I had a Cyano problem in my 90 so I dosed Chemi-clean.
<Mmm... you've read/not read my/our disinclination re such
algicides? Not a good idea>
I had a red serpent star in QT for about a month. I added the star to
the 90 along with the Chemi clean. This was about 4 days ago, and now
he has all 2-3 inch legs instead of 8 inch legs.
<Ding!>
The parameters are literally perfect.
<...>
and the QT he came from is about 150 gallons of a variety of diz
<?>
sized tanks. The QT also has the same parameters.
So I'm thinking that the blame should be put on either the Chemi
clean, or the 1 large hermit crab in the tank that was apparently
picking at it in its first 24 hrs in the tank.
<Could be either, both>
The large hermit is about 2 inches across. OR, from something else I
did.
What are the main causes for this breaking down of the legs? Why do
they break down? Etc?
Thanks,
-Dave
<Environmental "stress", predation... See WWM re marine
chemical algicides, Ophiuroid health. Bob Fenner>
Brittle sea star
question 6/23/08 Hi, <Hello!> Two days ago, my
husband and I purchased a brittle sea star from our local aquarium
place. It went into our newly cycled 55 gallon - 100 pounds of live
sand, 65 pounds live rock, 1 maroon clown, 1 regal tang, <Should
probably have a bigger tank for this fish> 15 turbo snails, 15 blue
leg hermits, 2 skunk cleaner shrimp. Water tests as follows: temp - 78,
salinity - 1.023, ph - 8.2, ammonia - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 10,
calcium - 375... Tank has been running around a month and a half. The
sea star looked great when we bought him, but the night we brought him
home I noticed he had what looked like a small circular tear at the top
of his central disc which wasn't there before. The next morning,
his whole central disc was opened up and all of his "insides"
(for lack of a better word) are exposed. Otherwise he seems fine. His
legs are intact and he is pretty active. We were not sure if this was
normal or not or if we should remove him from the tank...??? <Well,
this is definitely not what I would call normative behavior, no.
Probably an air bubble, or a response to water change, or simply
shedding the damaged cover. Provided you keep pristine water and this
star has food to eat the regenerative powers of Echinodermata should
become evident!> I was reading online yesterday that sea stars
should never be touched or exposed to air. Is this true? <More or
less. Risks damage to the water-vascular system> When we bought him
the guy from the store took him out of the tank by hand and exposed him
to air before bagging him. Could this be the cause of the problem and
do you think it will heal? <Might have caused the tear because of
the sudden exposure to the forces of gravity.> Thanks so much for
any help you might be able to give us. You guys are awesome! I love
your site! <Glad to hear it! Keep an eye on him and read re starfish
disease and treatment on wetwebmedia.com> Liz <Best wishes for
your starfish. Benjamin>
Green brittle star...is it dead?
02/02/2008 I have a had green brittle star for about a week. The
middle is the size of a quarter. LFS said it would be a good bottom
cleaner. Parameters ok, temp 78. It ate a piece of shrimp from my hand
last night. After it ate the shrimp it crawled on top on of a boat
decoration and today when I went to check my parameters I bumped the
boat and the star fell off in the same position that it was in on the
boat. It is rather stiff. I placed it on my live rock as that is where
it has preferred to hide. I am watching for movement but I am seeing
none. It has never really moved much that I have seen but I do not
think that it should be stiff like this should it? Any help would be
great. Thanks. <<For all intents and purposes, I would class this
as dead.. Yes, they are not a big mover in the aquarium, however, being
knocked of a perch like that, I would certainly expect a reaction from
it. Sorry confirm your thoughts.>> Jessica <<Thanks for the
question. A Nixon>>
Question: Brittle Star Fish
Injured 12/5/07 This morning I discovered that my
Brittle Starfish had a chunk of his main body (top) missing exposing a
red interior. <Bad....> He currently is still moving and hiding
in a rock. I'm trying to figure out if I have another tankmate that
may have attacked the starfish. We have another brittle starfish, red
general starfish, chocolate chip starfish, <The CCS is the best
candidate here> black sea cucumber, pencil sea urchin, spiny sea
urchin, (3) pajama Cardinalfish, (1) yellow tang, (2) yellowtail blue
damsels, and (3) hermit crabs. Is it possible that one of the hermit
crabs harmed the starfish? <Yes> Will the starfish be able to
survive with this injury or should be remove from the tank? <If you
have a sump attached to this system, it would be best to move it
there... Otherwise, only a move to a stable, established system is
advised. Bob Fenner> Please help...Thanks
Brittle Starfish... Armless
10/29/07 <Greetings Mich here.> I have had a brittle star
fish in our 55-gallon tank for about 6 months. One day I looked in our
tank and saw that all of the tentacles on the starfish were gone.
<Does that make it a brittle circle fish?> ( I think some of our
fish ate them off). I thought that the starfish was dead. However, I
noticed this morning that it was still alive. <Looking for the Holy
Grail? ...I'm not dead yet!> Will my starfish survive without
his tentacles and how do I feed him? <Brittle stars ingest and expel
food though the central disk so it is possible for this star to survive
and regenerate arms if it can get food and not sustain any further
damage. I would move to a hospital tank. Is this star capable of any
locomotion? If not, my best suggestion is to place the star on top of
the food and remove the star from any food that remains after a period
of time, perhaps around an hour. I wish you luck my friend. Mich>
Re: Brittle Starfish... Armless 10/30/07 Thank You
<Welcome!> Yes this star can still move around, <Locomotion
increases the chance of this creature's survival.> and I have
placed it on one of my rocks, and it has been moving around it. <I
think I would keep it low, on or near the sand bed.> I am hopeful
that it will survive. <Me too! Mich>
Serpent Seastar is turning white!
10/16/07 Hi WWM, <Tuggs> So we are having some freak outs
with our tank right now. Nothing seems to be going right. Our Marble
Starfish is on its death bed I haven't had the heart to look at
her. We were going to move her to my brother in laws tank to see if it
would help her survive but all that is left are three little stubs. We
have accepted that she will soon be gone, even though she is fighting
so hard to keep going. When we came home this evening our Valentini
Puffer was missing! (You helped us floss his teeth over the summer.) My
fiancé© found him on the floor, he jumped out =(. (We still
don't know how because our water level isn't that high.)
<Amazing for such a roundish animal...> Our concern right now is
on our Red Serpent Star or Monster (he is huge!) as we call him. When
we got him about 7 months ago he was a beautiful bright red color. As
he grew his disc began to lose color. And now he is almost all white! I
read another post similar but their serpent start had fluffy/fuzzy
white stuff. Ours isn't like that. It's just fading away! What
is going on? <Perhaps something amiss water quality and/or
nutrition-wise> All the tests came out normal. Our pH was down to
7.8 <... not good> when the Marble Starfish lost her first arm
but we immediately treated it and it is back at 8.3. Any idea what is
going on and how we can fix it? And if there is nothing we can do we
are ready to accept that as well. Thank you for all the hard work you
put in and all the helpful advice. The Tugg Family <Please read
here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/britstardisfaq2.htm and the linked
files above. Bob Fenner>
Brittle Star... hlth., no useful
info. or reading 9//15/07 Hello, <Hi there> I
have had my green brittle star for about 1 1/2yrs and I just noticed he
has this white film covering his disc. What is this? Is he dying? What
can I do to help? Any advice will be helpful! Thanks! Gilma <...
might be "nothing"... could be physical... precipitation...
sort of like "scale" on a swimming pool or spa... No info. re
your water quality tests, feeding, tankmates... Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestars.htm the linked files above. Bob
Fenner>
Auto-Legless brittle stars
7/16/07 Hello, I recently bought 15 blunt-spined
brittle stars from an aquarium. <Are we talking about Ophiocoma
echinata? Where did you get them?> I've had them for five days.
They have been doing well the first day except for three of the brittle
stars. After the weekend, I came over to check on them and half of the
brittle stars were severely damaged. <Do you mean half of all of
them or half of the ones that weren't doing well?> They
autotomized all their arms and only their central discs remain.
<Yikes! Are you sure they autotomized? Is it at all possible that
they just died and then got torn apart after they were dead? Are any of
the legs still moving?> In the tanks, I can see trails of bits and
pieces of their arms everywhere on the sand. <These stars can
autotomizes at any segment but I've never heard of them
autotomizing at so many segments all at once though. That is quite
dreadful.> It is quite sad. I don't understand why these brittle
stars are behaving so strangely. I feed them daily and check the
salinity of the water twice a week. I also do some chemical water
tests. <How big is the tank? What are you using as a filter? What
are your salinity, temp, etc? Is there anything else in the tank? Which
tests did you do? Sorry for all the questions, but it's difficult
to say what might be happening without knowing a lot more about the
system.> The self-mutilated brittle stars have a clear membrane-like
substance surrounding their central discs. Are they dead or will they
still regenerate? <Theoretically, the disks can regenerate legs if
the stars are still alive. However, I don't know if they could
survive with no legs at all. Regeneration requires a lot of energy
(more energy than just normal growth). And I don't even know how
they'd be able to move without any legs.> Why are these brittle
stars behaving this way? <I have a few suspicions, but I would have
to know more about your tank. If you added all these stars at once to a
relatively small, new tank, you could have ammonia in the water. If
it's just 3 of the stars dying this way, and it's a small tank,
it might be that the other stars are attacking those 3 for some reason.
And again, is it possible they just died and fell apart?> By the
way, I am using these brittle stars in an experiment but haven't
done quite anything to stress them because I was afraid they would die.
<Yes, something is really wrong. The only thing I can think of that
would cause a brittle star completely autotomize like that would have
to be a serious toxin or a massive attack by other animals. What kind
of water are you using? Is there any way copper could have gotten into
the tank?> Thank you very much, <No problem. But I do hope you
write back with more information so we might be able to help you more.
Best, Sara M.> Lea
Re: Auto-Legless brittle stars
7/17/07 Hello again, Thank you so much for replying
quickly. I assumed the brittle stars that I bought were Ophiocoma
echinata because they look similar to the pictures online. The store
that I bought it from didn't know what the species name was, but
they said they got it from the Atlantic. I attached some pictures of
these brittle stars for you. I hope you can identify them better than
me. <For some reason the pictures didn't come through with this
email. Huh.> I'm sorry that I didn't explain in detail what
had happened earlier. Seven out of 18 brittle stars basically
self-mutilated themselves. Three of them started autotomizing the first
day that I got them. The other four probably were damaged over the
weekend. When the brittle stars autotomized their arms, they
autotomized it by segments. However, some of them cast off almost their
entire arm, which surprised me very much. The longer autotomized arms
moved for a short amount of time, but the small segmented autotomized
arm did not move. I also attached a picture of this incident. <Ok,
I'm just wondering if this is true autotomization or if the legs
might be necrotizing. Usually, autotomized legs move (wiggle around)
for a long time after they're detached.> The tank that I have is
15 feet tall. <Seriously?! Did you mean 15 inches or 1.5 feet
maybe?> I have 14 tanks that are all connected together (a closed
circuit water system. There are seven on top and seven on the bottom. I
keep my brittle stars on the bottom. In the tanks, I have a thin layer
of sand. I did a water test today. I am using salt water. I use
deionized water and mix ocean salt with it. I don't think any
copper went in the tanks. Here are my results: salinity - 1.021 pH -
8.2-8.4 nitrate - 0 nitrite - 0 calcium - 17 drops ammonia - 0.5
(probably because of the dead brittle star bodies) <Hmm...I suspect
this might be the problem.> temp- room temperature When I first got
the 15 brittle stars, I put them in one tank. The next morning, I saw
pieces of the arms in the sand so I separated the brittle stars to
prevent them from hurting each other. I don't know if I made it
worse. Do brittle stars survive better if they are together in a group?
If so, why do they? <Separating them was a good idea.> Thank you
so much for answering my questions. You have helped me a lot. I
apologize for not introducing myself properly. I am a senior in high
school and am currently doing research on these brittle stars. I am
very interested in the relationship between regeneration and autotomy
in these brittle stars. Their behavior is sometimes unpredictable
though. <Nice to meet you. :) Do you know how to use Google scholar?
If you're up for a challenge, there are quite a few hard core
research papers on autotomy and regeneration in starfish.> I am
trying to quantify their behavior but I don't know the best way to
go about it. Brittle stars are known for their fast movement compared
to other echinoderms. However, I don't know how to equally quantify
their locomotion. They aren't like mice in a maze. They go in
unpredictable pathways (i.e.. up the side of the tank, in a corner, etc)
<Well, this might be tricky. I know of one way you could do it
theoretically, but it would be way too much work and expense for one
person. But um, there might be another way too. They might not go
through a maze, but they can sniff out food. You might be able to race
them in a big enough tank if you starved them for a few days and
watched to see which star got to the food first. But that would only be
a relative measurement, and a rather crude one at that. Honestly, I
don't know of any practical way it could be done properly. It is an
interesting question though.> I also have trouble quantify how much
they eat. I feed them flakes and fish pellets, but so far they
haven't been eating them very much. What type of food do they most
enjoy? I'm sorry for asking you many questions. I try to look up
things online, but haven't found very useful information.
<You're not alone. This is one reason it's difficult to do
experiments with animals in aquariums. All you can really do is make
sure you feed each star fish the same amount. Granted, some will eat
more than others, but there's not much you can do about that. You
have to think about what you can and can't measure. You can measure
their weight, their size, and maybe their color to some extent...> I
thought it would be a better idea to ask a researcher instead. What
type of research have you done with brittle stars? They truly are
interesting creatures :) <Yes, you should definitely ask a
researcher if you know one to ask. At the very least, a researcher
should be able to help you design the experiment. I haven't done
any research with brittle stars. I have done research with piglets and
rats. It's a little easier with terrestrial animals, but not much.
Good Luck :-), Sara> Best regards, Lea
Dipping Stars
7/16/07 Hi crew, first time question. Tomorrow I will add a Ruby
Brittlestar to my tank. Bob Fenner's book tells me to use a
freshwater dip with Meth Blue. <Mmm, no... no FW dips for
invertebrates by and large... only fishes> Should I acclimate my
star firstly to my system water, then the dip, or should I dip right
out of the bag? Thanks, Ray C. <Please read here re acclimation of
echinoderms: http://wetwebmedia.com/marind5_5.htm Scroll down... and
here: http://wetwebmedia.com/acclimat.htm should be dripped... Bob
Fenner>
Brittle star fish
4/19/07 Hey guys, <Hey Carrie> I upgraded my
coral tank the other day, removing all coral and putting it in a larger
tank. I took all the rock and put it in buckets for the move
into the other room. My brittle star fish was hiding in one
of these rocks. Therefore he was exposed to air TWICE during the
move. Is he doomed? <Not necessarily. While
exposure to air is not good for them, being in the wet rock the whole
time would help somewhat, and what is more important is that the pH and
salinity of the two tanks were similar. The shock of
different water chemistry would have more impact than a few minutes
exposed to air inside a rock.> He's been hiding since the whole
incident, I can see his arms under a big rock just as normal and they
seem intact but I can't see the rest of his body. <If the arms
are moving normally, pulling in food, coming out more in the dark, he
is probably fine. If they are not moving, you have a
problem, and should try to remove him (which probably means move the
whole rock to a small tank for observation. If he is moving
his arms and just being shy while he adjusts to the new surroundings,
patience'¦> Should I be really worried about him? <Not
if he is moving and eating. I brought home a new piece of
live rock from the LFS the other day, in a Styrofoam box out of water
for almost 2 hours before I got it into quarantine. I
didn't have a sample of the LFS water, but suspect my salinity is
much higher based on previous fish acclimation. So dumped
the live rock in the QT, and voila a few days later discovered a
perfectly healthy brittle star living in it! You should be fine!>
Thanks so much, Carrie <You are welcome. Alex>
Starfish... Ophiuroid...
hlth. 4/17/04 <Hello Jared, Mich with you again.>
How's it going? <Fine, yourself?> I have a 75 gal. FOWLR. A
bought a brittle starfish 5 days ago and now he is looking really,
really bad. <I'm sorry to hear this.> All my
water parameters are good. Temp 80, 1.021, pH 8.2, everything else is
zero. I had the water checked by my LFS the day I bought it
and they said everything was good. I also bought 3 turbo
snails at the same time that are doing great so far. I did a drip
acclimation for 1 1/2 hours. The starfish's disk is all split open
and my two cleaner shrimp are constantly picking at it. <Likely
removing necrotic tissue.> <<This Brittlestar is gone...
RMF>> I know my LFS had just gotten the starfish in the day
before so hopefully they will take it back. If not, is all hope lost?
<I wouldn't say lost, but it is certainly not looking
good. I would keep a very close eye it. Remove it
if it is no longer moving> Thanks for your help.
<Welcome! -Mich> -Jared
Hole in brittle-star...more info
please? 4/1/07 Hello! <Hi.> I looked under
brittle stars and couldn't find any info on this, but I have had a
black brittle starfish for well over a year now and he has always
looked a little scarred. <?> For a long time I had not seen his
oral disc, but just his legs. <They are rather reclusive.>
Tonight, he came out under the dimmer lighting and he has a hole in
him. This brittle star is fairly large, but this hole in him
is huge! I can easily see through it and can even see his
mouth moving. I am worried about this star. Is
there anything I can do? Will this affect my red brittle
star or my orange Linckia? <Hmm...are there any other denizens in
the tank that could be possible predators on this animal. Furthermore
what is the water chemistry like and how are you ensuring it get's
food? As far as affecting the other Star's if it's a water
quality or predator relation issue...then it's a possibility but I
can't tell that based on the info provided.> Is there a disease
that may affect my corals? <Well I can't say for
sure what it is from what you have told me.> Does this come about
with certain water conditions? <High nutrient levels, improper
diet....yes.> I don't have any real aggressive fish that
could've done this to him. <Large invertebrates/crustaceans?>
I look forward to hearing from you. -Allen <Adam J.>
Brittlestar looking odd 3/23/07
Hey Crew, <Hello Marshall. Brandon here tonight.>
I have a Brittlestar, specifically the Ophioderma
ensiferum. <Interesting creatures.> This morning
I observed that his central disc was misshapen, enlarged, and had a
couple of protruding bumps. My first thought was that he
had consumed something relatively large, but all the inhabitants of
the tank are present with the exception of the peppermint shrimp
which I didn't see, though he could easily have simply been
somewhere unobservable.
<Possibly. I don't think that the Star would have
eaten it, but then again. Stranger things have
happened.> Assuming he hasn't eaten the peppermint shrimp,
are there any other explanations for his appearance other than he
consumed something? <Could be developing gonads,
could be a tumor, could just be moving things around
internally. It could have eaten something else that you
didn't realize was there.> Would he possibly swallow
something other than an organism, i.e. a rock or a
shell? <Not likely. These creatures are
pretty 'intelligent' about what they eat. They
have chemoreceptors about their body that tells them what is
food/friend/foe etc.> I apologize for the poor quality of the
picture, but you can see the bumps, and his disc has roughly twice
as thick as it otherwise is normally. <I would just keep an eye
on it, and watch for improvement.> Thanks for the help you
guys.
<You are welcome. Brandon.> |
|
Serpent Star in Poor Health
2/16/07 Hi, I need help! <Hi> I have a 40 gallon tank which,
(until a week ago) had 3 damsels, a clown fish, a chocolate chip star
and a serpent star. The serpent star fish I've only had for about 2
weeks. After getting him, and before adding him to the tank, I checked
the water and saw the nitrites/ammonia were a little
high. <Not good, usually a sign of more problems.> I
added something called "ammonia clear" to the water. I was
told it was safe while the fish were in the tank, also that 2 times the
dose was okay if the ammonia was really high. I added 3 tablets (a
little less than the normal dose). I acclimated the star fish over 4
hours then added him to the tank. <Never a good idea add anything to
the tank when the water chemistry is not right.> Two days
later I woke up to EVERYTHING (but the serpent star) DEAD! I was told
he wouldn't hurt anything, and reassured the ammonia clear was
safe. (I'm convinced it wasn't). <More likely the
deaths were a result of whatever was causing the poor water
quality.> Today I woke up to what I believe is a dying serpent star.
He is missing 2 legs (detached perfectly from his body). Also, he is
getting this white "slime"(?) from under his body. Oddly
enough he's moving just fine, and is still active. Is there
ANYTHING at this point I can do to save my tank, without emptying the
whole thing and starting over? <Yes, improve water quality, the
symptoms you are seeing are normally caused by ammonia.> I'm
waiting to add anymore fish, mainly because I'm afraid of killing
them. <No more fish until you get this straightened out.> Please
Help! Thank you, Casie. <Chris>
Re: Serpent Star in Poor Health Part
II 2/16/07 Thank you. The starfish didn't make it even another
hour after I wrote you. <Sorry to hear.> I just find
it odd how everyone was fine that night, and the next morning upside
down. I changed out 10 gallons of water. Everything is checking out
fine except the nitrites. <At night the Oxygen level falls
naturally, along with pH. The nitrite and ammonia increase
the effects of these changes on the fish. Basically the fish
were most likely unable to remove adequate O2 from the water and
suffocated.> Any advise as to how I could lower them?
<Need more biological filtration, lower bioload, and/or less
food.> The tank is empty now so I guess now would be a
good time to add chemicals if I had to. <Would not, just
let it run and recycle itself.> I'm not using ammonia clear
anymore. <Really should never need it as long as the tank has
adequate filtration.> Even if it was just a fluke.
I've never had any problem with my tanks before. Thank you again!
<Good luck in the future.> <Chris>
Is my brittle star
dead? Concerning behavior. 2/3/07 Guys, your
site is excellent congratulations. <Hola Reynaldo! Muchos
gracias!> I'm rather new to salt water aquariums but have a lot
of experience on freshwater ones. <Muy bien!> However it has not
been easy. <Si. Often challenging.> I like others,
have started with a small 20 gallon tank, and have two damselfish: a
blue and a three stripe. However in my local aquarium, down in Mexico,
I bought a brittle star (dark brown) which I thought of to be cool. I
was told it would eat detritus and that's it. <Will eat detritus
and other meaty foods if offered.> Just a couple of days after, I
noticed it to be 'stiff'. Then turned it on its belly. <I
think you means it's back, correct?> It did not try to turn
around but slowly started to flatten down. the mini-tentacles under the
tentacles themselves are moving, but I had to turn the star around
again to its upright position. No arms have fallen and no decomposition
seems to be taking place. <This is very good.> Does this
stiffness indicate imminent death? <No, but I would watch
carefully. His behavior is concerning. Usually
brittle stars and other Ophiuroids will upright themselves relatively
quickly.> Thank you in advance!! <De nada mi amigo!> Reynaldo
Suazo Toluca, Mexico <Salude! -Mich>
Serpent Starfish
Regeneration My serpent star, which I have had for over a year,
seemed to disintegrate within a few days with the exception of the
five arms. The round body is completely gone. The arms seem to
still be alive as they are moving slowly within the tank.
Will these arms regenerate without the body? <Small, but possibly,
yes> If so, is there anything I should be doing for them? Light
or dark tank? Food? Thanks for your help. <Please read
here: http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestardisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Sea star (Choc. Chip) Health... Ophiuroid
comp. 10/3/06 Hi there, I was wondering if
you could help me out. a few days ago I bought a brittle star and
he's doing great he's about 8-10 inches from leg to leg and
his body is about an inch in diameter. my question is is there a
great chance that he will eat any of my fish. <Mmm...> I know
that large green brittle stars eat fish and I'm hoping that
this guy won't be quite so dangerous. my fish are pretty small
2 yellow damsels, a blue damsel, and a blue mandarin. I've
attached a picture he's brown with white spots. <Think this
is a relative safe species in terms of fish predation>
also this is completely unrelated but happened
just days after purchasing my brittle star. my chocolate chip star,
which has surprisingly been reef safe for about a year, had one of
it's legs eaten by my tongue coral. about half his leg has been
stripped to his skeleton and I'm wondering how long it might
take for his leg to heal, if it doesn't get infected, and is
there anything I can do to help him along. thanks. <... Though
it's highly unlikely this Star will recover... If possible,
I'd place it in a separate system for observation, and to avoid
pollution in its probable demise. Bob Fenner> |
|
Serpent Star Woes/System
Cycling - 11/13/06 OK, in the process of moving a 150gal from CT to
RI. (yeah....fun) <<Mmm, indeed>> So I got a new 150gal,
made all the salt water and let it clear up for a few
days. Then, I added about 2" of live sand and let that
clear up for a day. Then, added about 40lbs of live rock to
get it started. Water was clear, tested OK, so I started the
move. First thing, about 100lbs of live rock from the old
tank. All was peachy. Next day, another 50lbs of
rock from the old tank, and some animals....(maroon clown, marine
catfish, pajama cardinal, domino, coral banded shrimp, purple lobster,
2 huge serpent stars) <<An "interesting" mix...do keep
an eye on the catfish and the lobster as they are/will be real threats
to the other tank inhabitants...and the domino will also turn out to be
a real "terror of the tank" as it grows/matures>> 2
days go by, all are eating, all seems good. Next day, both
serpent stars (actually, one is a big green one with spiny legs. Looks
like a cross between a serpent and a brittle) are rapidly
deteriorating. <<Uh-oh>> Actually falling apart.
<<Ack!>> What did I do wrong? <<Hmm...my guess would
be the tank is experiencing an ammonia spike/nitrogen cycle as a result
of the move. Makes sense to me that the Ophiuroids would be
the first affected>> Everything else seems to be fine.
<<For the moment, maybe>> Do I move the rest of the
animals? <<I would. And test the new setup
(ammonia/nitrite/nitrate), leaving it to complete the nitrogen cycle if
need be. It is very likely moving of the old rock caused
some die-off within, this, along with the fact you added some new
rock...I'm not surprised the bacteria couldn't keep up>>
Please help. <<Hope I have>> Thanks in advance, you guys
are very wise. <<Kind words, thank you...we do our best>>
-Pat <<Regards, EricR>>
Re: Serpent Star Woes/System Cycling
- 11/14/06 Thanks for the insight. <<Happy to share>>
It seems to be under control today (see our prior correspondence
below). <<Yes>> The milky-cloudiness that came on with the
re-cycle is now clearing up nicely and the Serpent stars (so far) seem
to have been the only casualties. <<I hope you did a water
change...>> I still have the following to move from the old
tank....50 (or so) lbs of additional live rock, 4 more dominoes (had
them for years. Very large), <<Yikes! Real
terrors>> 1 more purple lobster, <<Ah yes...living on the
edge>> 1 flame angel, to very large gobies (don't know what
they're called, but they are constantly moving huge piles of sand
and undermining the rock pile), <<Do consider placing the rock on
the "bottom" of the tank>> fire shrimp and about 40 or
so blue leg hermit crabs (all of these animals have been in this system
for years) <<Wow...>> Given the nature of this week's
issues, my next question is this...Do you think I'm over the hump,
and safe to move the remainder? <<What do your test kits tell
you?>> Or should I wait a week? <<Probably wouldn't
hurt>> Or move a few animals at a time over the next week or two?
<<Also a good strategy...after another week/when the water tests
tell you it is safe>> Also, now that the majority of the live
rock has been removed from the old system (No filtration. Just live
rock, circulation & a skimmer) won't that system be in danger
of crashing soon? <<Feed lightly and the live rock will likely
provide adequate bio-filtration>> Thanks again for your wisdom
& insight! <<Is my pleasure>> Your friend from RI, -Pat
<<Regards, EricR from SC...though currently visiting with Bob in
HI>>
Ailing serpent star 8/23/06
Hey Guys, First let me
thank you for your great site, you have already answered dozens of
questions for me. I am relatively new to saltwater aquaria.
I have not been able to find any information on my
ailing serpent star at your site or anywhere else including my LFS. The
problem is a large lesion on the top of the disc. <Mmm, lots of
references to such "vacuolations"... very common symptom of
dying Asteroids, Ophiuroids...> It looks like a hole in his
"skin". It began the size of a pea three days ago, then a
second "hole" appeared yesterday. <Going, going...>
Sometime during the night the two holes combined, now covering half his
disc. I asked at the store I bought him from when I saw the first hole
and was told this is not a rare occurrence with them. <Agreed> Is
there any chance for his survival? <Mmm, not much historically>
What causes this? <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brittlestardisfaqs.htm and the
linked files above. Bob Fenner> The tank is a 55
gallon. I use Mardel test strips for water quality. Nitrates have
always been less then 10 ppm. Nitrites at 0. Alkalinity 240-300 ppm and
ph 8.2-8.4. Salinity stays at 1.025. Temperature stays between 72-75
degrees f. I do 15-20% water changes at two week intervals. Top off the
tank daily. Tank mates include 2 clowns, yellow tang, coral
beauty, emerald crab, sally lightfoot crab, 3 hermit crabs, 2 cleaner
shrimp, chocolate chip star, and various snails. I have approximately
35 pounds of live rock. Recently I have started adding iodide to help
with the crabs molting. the water I use comes from the fish store
purified. They use crystal sea marine mix in their premixed water. Can
you give me any information on my serpent star?
Thank
you, Gene
Brittlestar in a not-ready for prime time
setting... - 04/16/06 I have a new 6 gallon tank with a
beautiful red brittle star and I am very sad because I don't think
he is making it. <When you say new, how "new"
do you mean? I-just-mixed-the-salt-and-put-him-in
new? Is this tank cycled? Was it a used tank that
could've possibly had copper in it?> He has lost already two
legs. When do I take him out and say okay. :(
<Okay...? As in, he's dead?> He is still moving,
so I don't want to kill him comply <?> if there is some
chance for him. Even his detached legs are moving. <If
he's moving then he's certainly not dead. I need
more info before I can help. What are the tank
parameters? How established is the tank? How long
have you had the star?> Please reply, thank you, Jammie <Jammie,
we'll try to help more when you can give us more
details. Best of luck, Jodie>
Starfish Health/URGENT starfish in serious jeopardy TIME
SENSITIVE Hello <Hello Taryn> I need
help!!!!! just recently my serpent star developed some
'whiteness' in the center top of his disc. that was 2 days
ago, since then he has lost legs, disintegrated, and his condition
has become horrible. <I see, bad case of
necrosis.> I have had the serpent for approx. 4 months, He's
been very healthy, no aggression towards anyone, and nobody bothers
him. He's now not eating, and falling apart.
He's still moving, and every so often so are his detached
legs.. (eek!) I've read that they can recover, I've also
read there's no hope and I should flush him. I cant bear to do
it, being he's still alive.. I know he cant feel the pain, but
I have a knot in my stomach, and I can't stop thinking about
him and wanting to cry. I don't know what to do. I can now see
inside his disc, to the 'brown' inside. I really dislike
it, I never wanted to know what he looked like internally. How
could he recover, if he has no top of his disc to hold food in?
Here are my current water parameters ( taken just now). ammonia 0
mg nitrate 0.1 mg ph 8.0 kH 7 dh salt level 0.22 I have a 55
gallon, been established for approx. 6 months, no one ever hurts
him, however since the he started 'falling
apart' my lawnmower blenny's been practically feasting on
him. I don't know if he's eating him, or trying to help eat
what may be eating the serpent? <Nothing is eating him.> I
don't know what to think, but I KNOW he's making the hole
in the serpent's disc much worse. Also my hermit's are
eating his what's left of his legs! help me please. Oh, also,
should I remove the lost legs? are they still.. somehow.. alive?!
Oh jeez please help. <Calm down my
friend. What is happening is not that uncommon. Starfish
are sensitive to changes in specific gravity, temperature, pH and
oxygen levels that are usually encountered during shipping and can
succumb to rapid bacterial infections that cause necrosis of the
legs and/or whole body. You need to take a hanky with you to the
bathroom and flush the poor little guy down. It is more
cruel to let him live like that.> The 1st picture is the serpent
2 days ago The 2nd is the serpent about 1 1/2 hours ago The 3rd is
the serpent about 10 minutes ago As you can see, he's losing it
fast. This message is urgent, please tell me if I can help my
little friend. <Nope.> Thank you so
much, <You're welcome. James (Salty
Dog)> Taryn |
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Re: URGENT starfish in serious jeopardy TIME SENSITIVE
Thank you for your immediate reply James.. <You're
welcome.> Knowing that someone with Much more experience and
knowledge believes there's no hope, makes me feel
much more humane about the decision. Thank You, I'll bring the
whole box of Kleenex to the bathroom. <Just don't
watch him go down, keep it to a sniffle or two, you will be fine.:)
James (Salty Dog)>
Taryn |
Re: URGENT starfish in serious jeopardy TIME SENSITIVE
James- <Taryn> I flushed him, and is was
tough..... But I survived. I had one more question for you, if it
wasn't too much trouble.. I'm not considering doing this
now. but I figured it's a good time to ask since I spoke to you
earlier today. If I ever decide to get another star... should I?
<Yes, no tear jerking though.>I mean.. I don't know why
this happened to him and I DON'T want it to happen again.
<Taryn, in this hobby there are no life guarantees.> Is there
a different species that thrives better in most
aquariums? <No, the brittles are probably the
hardiest. I'd stay away from Blue/Orange Linckias
though. You're not ready for those.> I already
miss him. <No photos to remember him by besides the
death bed photos?> He was my little pal.. I really
like the idea of having one again, but I'm horrified. <Do
read/learn about anything you buy before buying, know what you are
getting into.> <UV?????> I don't have very
fancy lighting, just 2 UV bulbs (in hoods that formerly held
fluorescent lights).. Is there a star that will get along with all
my fish like my serpent did? <Most will get along
with fish, again do search/read.> (fish: 3 ocellaris clowns, 1
blue damsel, 1 yellow tail damsel, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 scooter
dragonet, 1 mandarin dragonet, 1 Condy anemone, <Hoping the
Condy isn't too close a pal because with your lighting he will
be making the next visit to the bathroom. Do search/read
Anemone Systems on our site.> 3 blue legged hermits,
1 turbo snail, 2 emerald crabs.) If you get a chance, please let me
know, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.. and again Thanks for
all your help earlier today. <You're
welcome. Please do a grammar check in future
queries. We do not need two periods at the end of
sentences, and no small "i"s, makes our job easier if we
do not have to edit. James (Salty Dog)> Taryn Re: URGENT starfish in serious jeopardy TIME
SENSITIVE Sorry about the grammar. Often times I type in the same
manner that I would speak in person. <How do you hear the difference
between a small "i" and a capital
"I"?:):)> Thanks for all the advice! About the
lighting: 2 'Marine Glo' bulbs, 15W Actinic blue spectrum. The
box they came in said ideal for the promotion of photosynthesis, good
for inverts. <Yes, supplemented by other lighting.> I
do try to read everything I can about fish before I buy them, I've
been reading about my mandarin since I started my tank! Again, Thanks.
I'll definitely try to obtain a brittle star in the near future.
Have a great day! <And you too. James (Salty
Dog)> - Taryn
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Serpent Starfish/Health
4/10/06 Hi, <Hello Kristine.> I have a question concerning my
Serpent Starfish. Today I noticed 4 out of the 5 legs have pieces
broken off and I can see the white flesh. Yesterday he was in perfect
condition. Yesterday, my daughter took a picture of the serpent
covering the flash and the serpent fell off the live rock. Could the
flash have shocked the serpent and caused him to lose his legs, and
will he be ok? He is still moving around the tank as normal. <Should
have no problems, will grow back providing good water quality is
maintained. Serpent/Brittle Stars have very brittle legs
that are easily broken. In nature, when attacked by
predators, this takes place, which gives the starfish a chance to
escape, leaving the predator with a tidbit and buying time for the
starfish to move on. Quite possible the flash could have
caused this also.> Thanks! <You're
welcome.> Kristine
Brittle Star/Injury 3/3/06
Greetings! <And to you Charles.> We've had a brittle star for
about 9 months now and he has gotten quite large (not a green one). His
center disc is easily the size of a half dollar now. We recently moved
him from the 20g reef tank to the 55g tank. In the process the back of
his center disc got a small pin head size abrasion. It has now opened
to the size of a pea or more and has grown over the past 3 or 4 days.
We've put him in a small 5g. tank, is there anything else we can do
for him? <Damage may have been caused by the method of
transferring. Starfish are sensitive to changes in ph,
salinity, exposure to air, etc. The 55 should have the same
water parameters as the 20 before transfer was made. Sounds like it is
healing and would just keep an eye on it.> Thanks for the help!
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)> --Charles
Brittle Star Life or Death - 3/1/2006 Hey WWM Crew
<Mel> I've got a serious situation on my hands. I
removed a Green Brittle Star from the aquarium late last night and
placed him in a plastic bag with his aquarium water
inserted. He was in perfect health and I was told by an
"reef store expert" that he would be fine
overnight. I put him back in the tank while still in the
bag, planning on taking him to the reef shop this morning to pass him
along to others. He's quite large, about 10 - 12 inches
across, but shows no signs of life this morning when I removed the bag
from the tank. I've even tried very slight compression
to try and stimulate movement. Any thoughts? Mel <Mmm,
may have perished overnight... due to? Lack of oxygen most likely... I
would not leave this animal/carcass in your tank. Bob Fenner>
Green Brittle Star, Intestines Hanging Out? 12/21/05 Hi,
<Hello Kathy.> I have had a sw tank for about 5 months now with
never a problem, but last night I noticed the Brittlestar had a little
white area on the top side of his disk, then later it was a little
bigger and looked like it had a little salmon colored thing slightly
sticking out of it, then this morning the whole has become huge and it
definitely looks like his intestines or whatever you call them are
exposed and sticking out. <Very bad!> He's still moving
around but definitely sitting on top of the rocks in the light which is
not like him at all. I am freaked out and don't know what to do.
<Not much that can be done.> I have never taken perimeters on the
water as I've never had a problem. <This was a huge mistake.
Tremendously reckless with the lives of your animals. Consider this a
hard lesson learned. You must keep a constant vigil on water quality.
Read these http://www.wetwebmedia.com/watrqualmar.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/toxictk.htm . Learn from
this mistake.> Although I do make sure the salinity is consistent
and right. <Not the whole ball of wax.> Please tell me what to
do? Do I quarantine him? Please help me! I've attached a
pic. <No pic. has come through, but it won't be necessary. I
would guarantee this was environmental. You can try to QT, but it would
be best to just address your main tank water quality and wait. Moving
will add stress. This animal is probably going to die, it heals itself
or it doesn't. It will probably get worse (legs falling off). Keep
an eye on it, you don't want it to die, foul the already foul
water, and wipe out everything else in the tank.> Thanks Kathy <I
wish I had better news. Don't beat yourself up though, we all learn
something the hard way. - Josh>
Re: Green Brittle Star, Intestines Hanging
Out? 12/22/05 Thanks Josh, <My pleasure Kathy.> I was
so new when I started this and I inherited the star and a clownfish
when I bought the tank, so I did what they told me and it all seemed
fine, obviously I should have been testing for other things right?
<Oh yes, many things that can/do affect water chemistry and in turn
your livestock.> I certainly will now as I don't want anyone
else to get sick. From what I've read is the only thing I need to
get one of those strip kits that test for ammonia and other stuff?
<I prefer reagent types over strips. What you'll want is a
general, all around test (covers ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH). As you
progress there are many others.> I do have LR and LS in it and a
cleaning crew of blue legged hermit crabs and peppermint shrimp that I
bought when I set it up in the beginning, months ago since that is what
I read I should do and its worked great so far. <I don't
understand the Peppermint shrimp. Not known as a general cleaner upper.
No snails?> No live coral or anything like that, anything else I
should do? <Just study, perform the necessary maintenance, study and
study.> Oh, he did lose about 1 1/2" of a leg 2 wks. ago and I
never did take it out since it "disappeared", could this have
fouled the water at all? <Anything decomposing can/will foul the
water. If it was gone it was probably eaten though. You most likely
already had a problem and that was your first warning sign.> Thanks
so much for all your help, I really do appreciate it. We all
want to do the best we can when caring for living
things. Now I know better. <Glad to help. If your
anything like me, the more you learn, the more engrossing this will
become.> Thanks again, Kathy <Quite welcome. -
Josh>
3 Dead Starfish Sittin' in a Tree, Hold the
Info. Please - 11/09/2005 Hey Crew, <Hello Ronnie> I set up
my bosses 20 gallon mini reef 6 months ago. <<You have
more than one boss? Tough job! MH>> 1 clown fish 1
damsel 1 fire shrimp 30lb. live sand lots of live rock. skimmer Eheim
filter power compacts mushroom anemones In the last month we have lost
3 starfish???? They were all serpent stars?? What could it be??
<Sorry to say it, but you haven't given us anything to go on
here. Would probably like a larger, more mature system. Perhaps
improper acclimation. Starvation, poor specimen selection and poor
water quality are also possible. Tank param.s ? -
Josh>
3 dead starfish?? Another piece of the puzzle -
11/12/2005 Parameters: .1025 salinity <Specific gravity.>
calcium 400, Alk. 10, PH 8.2, temp 78... <Nitrite, nitrate,
ammonia?> What should I feed them, if any? <Should have been
considered before purchase. Have you made a specific ID of the animal?
- Josh>
Update: Armanddo Stickyfeet: aka green
Brittlestar. 9/30/05 <Ah, yes> First, let me thank you
for your help. After reading and reworking the one big difference in
this tank change was I did not let the water set for 24 hours before
adding like I usually do. <Ah ha!> I have a very nice filtration
system on the house water, but we had had a few power outages and I
don't think it had cycled correctly. Best guess at any rate.
Usually I do have water 'at the ready' for tank changes.
<Good> My clown fish, and my goby, snail and crabs all still
fine. <Very good> Now for Armanddo. Sadly, he lost his arm tips,
and is now covered in some kind of stringy stuff. Almost like he's
shedding. He finally ate yesterday, and was actually waving his arms a
bit, but is now back in 'star at attention' posture.
<Good... can recover from horrendous body parts losses> I'm
still hanging in there hoping for a full recovery - but the stringy
stuff is worrying me. <Not to> New note; I caught some little
buggies running to a rock early this a.m. They look like little grey
baby shrimp. !?! Could they be torturing my star? <Mmm, not
likely... perhaps are helping by feeding on necrotic tissue... akin to
the use of insect larvae and leeches in human medicine. Bob Fenner>
Thank you again.
Re: Brittlestar (Un)'Stiffening'
10/15/05 I am pleased to report Armanddo Stickyfeet has made a full
recovery! This morning when I turned on the light and opened the lid,
he stood up on his tippy tippies and took a food off my finger!!
<Yay!> His tips are growing back - kind of a creepy process - but
exciting and welcomed! Thank you for your support. W. <Thank you for
the update. Bob Fenner>
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