Brittle Sea Star Help Asap

hrdfrntr95

Member
my brittle is losing his legs. started last night and now he only has one full leg left. the are coming off in pieces about 1/2 in long.
is there something wrong or is this normal??? is he dieing......
 
L

lsu

Guest
Sounds like he is doomed. How did you acclimate it and how long?
 

hrdfrntr95

Member
Originally Posted by LSU
http:///forum/post/2571361
Sounds like he is doomed. How did you acclimate it and how long?

acclimate??? whats that??
he has been in my tank with everything else for about 4 months.....and has been doing fine untill now........
would my coral banded shrimp be messin with him? that is the only thing in there with big enuff claws hat could sever his arms,,,,,
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by hrdfrntr95
http:///forum/post/2572216
acclimate??? whats that??
he has been in my tank with everything else for about 4 months.....and has been doing fine untill now........
would my coral banded shrimp be messin with him? that is the only thing in there with big enuff claws hat could sever his arms,,,,,
What is your SG? Please post all of your water readings.
 

hrdfrntr95

Member
not sure on my gravity........kids gota hold of my gauge....
salinty....1.024(in the norm by my gauge)
temp.....77 fer.
ph.....7.2
alk....in the normal range by my test card
nitrite....0.1
im out of nitrate test so i gota get that this weekend....
im using my buff once a week like i was told to keep everything in order. the get mysis shrimp cubes 2-3 times a week, i hatch off brine shrimp twice a week to feed them and my fresh tank, they also get a liquid invert food 2-3 times a week.
everything in the tank is fine minus him losing his arms,,,,he still somewhat crawls around the tank. as for the arm chunks the hermits and the CBS and skunk shrimp have pretty much devoured them.....
could the CBS be attacking him? i never see the 2 messing with each other the only time they are near each other is when the star is in his cave and the CBS is on the rock face.....
 

hrdfrntr95

Member
as a matter of fact the day he started losing his arm i changed the filter cartridges in the filter.
could that have anything to do with it? or just coiencedence(SP)?
 

hrdfrntr95

Member
Originally Posted by ClownFiSH11
http:///forum/post/2572270
wount it make new britle stars? or no?
ive read that they sometimes will but i was told by a friend with a fish shop that they mostly wont......i have no idea whats gona heppen to him....
gona be upset if he dies hes a very interesting part of my tank....and fun to watch,,,,
 
L

lsu

Guest
Originally Posted by hrdfrntr95
http:///forum/post/2572216
acclimate??? whats that??
he has been in my tank with everything else for about 4 months.....and has been doing fine untill now........
would my coral banded shrimp be messin with him? that is the only thing in there with big enuff claws hat could sever his arms,,,,,
Acclimation is the process of adding it to your tank. Your nitrite really needs to be at zero. Something is off in your tank. Pretty positive that it won't last much longer. You might want to pm Ophiura, she is a living encyclopedia when it comes to starfish.
 

hrdfrntr95

Member
well my chart said and book said 7.8-7.2 for salt.......and i add the buff like it says........which i guess is keeping it around that.....
when i first set the tank up it was around 7.6 or so,that what our water here reads at.
if bringing my ph up that hi will my other tankmates be ok at that thou....damsels,CBS,skunk,hermits,turbo,scooter and 2 clown gobies.....
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by hrdfrntr95
http:///forum/post/2573152
well my chart said and book said 7.8-7.2 for salt.......and i add the buff like it says........which i guess is keeping it around that.....
when i first set the tank up it was around 7.6 or so,that what our water here reads at.
if bringing my ph up that hi will my other tankmates be ok at that thou....damsels,CBS,skunk,hermits,turbo,scooter and 2 clown gobies.....
What chart and book are you reading? SW tanks should be between 8.0 and 8.4, 8.2 being the happy medium. Don't raise the PH quickly. It shouldn't be raised more than one point per day. You should not even have to add a buffer. Have you checked your Alkalinity? What is your substrate? What kind of salt are you using? How much flow is in the tank?
 

socal57che

Active Member
Originally Posted by hrdfrntr95
http:///forum/post/2572377
not sure on my gravity........kids gota hold of my gauge....
salinty....1.024(in the norm by my gauge)
.....
You should ditch the hydrometer and buy a refractometer to ensure an accurate SG/salinity reading.
 

socal57che

Active Member
Originally Posted by Damsel Luver
http:///forum/post/2573188
it should be fine. i read they grow their legs back.as 4 why his legs r falling off i dont know
Once they begin to disintegrate they don't recover. The fact that they can regrow limbs in nature does not necessarily apply to captive specimens.
 
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lsu

Guest
Originally Posted by Damsel Luver
http:///forum/post/2573188
it should be fine. i read they grow their legs back.as 4 why his legs r falling off i dont know
you need to read more. legs do not just fall off
 
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