Brittle Star loosing leggs

[sundance]

Sammystingray
That was what ***** called it, it’s a dark brown Brittle Star is all I can tell you.
And on the private message, I have never been on a message board that didn’t allow private messaging. My main reason for wanting this person to email me ( it they want to) is that often when threads get this long people don’t come back unless it’s of specific interest to them or they are the one that originated the post. So when the posts gets old and drawn out on most boards the interested parties carry on with their private email. It's not being shared because most peopel have stopped viewing the posts. Also it’s a bit childish to force us to share. It should be my option or the others here to turn on or off private messaging, not mandated by the moderator. I think most of us are adults here and able to make such choices on our own.
Sundance

 

[ophiura]

Since I am in a period when I can't get to the board daily, I have sent an email...hopefully when this is resolved (for better or worse ), we can come up with some ideas and post conclusions, etc. for the benefit of anyone doing future searches.

 

[sinner's girl]

I know this is old, but I just saw you asked me a question. Sorry I didn't answer it sooner, I don't get on here everyday.
I feed my stars fresh raw unseasoned small shrimp (1/3-1/2 shrimp each, no more than once a week, not always this often, I'd say 2-3x's a month). they also eat whatever I feed the fish. Currently, they go crazy over the bloodworms (easier to feed them, than brine shrimp is). oh, and your other inverts, shrimp, crabs, ect, will also eat the shrimp or bloodworms, or whatever.
Btw, how is your star doing?

 

[sammystingray]

Originally posted by Sinner's Girl
Btw, how is your star doing?
Didn't you get the email?

 

[ophiura]

All seems to be going well with the recovery of this star...new stubs of arms are starting to grow, now the mystery is what caused the problem.
Usually these types of disintegrations are a 'wait and see' issue. There is only so much that can be done, other than make conditions ideal for the star. The loss of bits of arm day after day (especially in a young tank with a new star) is not really typical of a predatory attack, though many animals may take advantage of a stressed brittlestar. It is possible that something about the chems in the original tank were really bothering the star, and the new tank did not have these issues and allowed the star to recover. Some species of brittlestars, unlike things like Linckia, have remarkable abilities to overcome even osmotic stress issues once they have been resolved. Other species (or individuals), like the bright red Ophioderma squamosissimum, are very intolerant.
At the moment, I am acclimating a brittlestar that was probably suffering from osmotic shock in an LFS tank, coupled with being partly eaten by a hogfish. We shall see if it can recover. It has lost most of its arms, and half its body. Definitely an experiment.