Brittle star losing legs

[donaldgoof]

:help: I've had a brittle star in my tank for the last six months. My water quality is excellent and I've had no deaths (minus my puffer eating a few snails). But my star has lost at least two legs and seems as though it's not gonna stop. Is this normal behavior or is there somehting wrong?

 

[reefreak29]

dosnt sound to good,whats your sg and water perameters

 

[cjason3041]

what are you feeding???

 

[d0 thy d3w]

sounds to me like hes deteriorating from starvation..but i could be wrong??liks sumone asked in another post..what are u feeding?

 

[cjason3041]

Originally Posted by d0 thy d3w
sounds to me like hes deteriorating from starvation..but i could be wrong??liks sumone asked in another post..what are u feeding?

like i said.. what are you feeding..?? and how often

 

[donaldgoof]

I've checked all my water parameters and they are great. The only one showing any numbers is the nitrates at 10 ppm. As for feeding I usually put in frozen brine shrimp once a day, not a lot just enough so that it all gets eaten. I suppose I could up the amount of food. By the way the legs that have fallen off are still moving and acting alive. They grab chunks of food and detrius and move them to where the body should be. It has been about two days since the first one fell off. That's about all I can tell you. Any thoughts? :notsure:

Thanks for the help.

 

[hatessushi]

Brittle stars should be spot fed. Also, if all you are feeding your tank is brine shrimp then you need to get other food. Brine shrimp has no nutritional value unless they are young and alive. Try some mysis shrimp and get a variety of foods. The starfish is probably starving to death.

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by donaldgoof
I've checked all my water parameters and they are great. The only one showing any numbers is the nitrates at 10 ppm. As for feeding I usually put in frozen brine shrimp once a day, not a lot just enough so that it all gets eaten. I suppose I could up the amount of food. By the way the legs that have fallen off are still moving and acting alive. They grab chunks of food and detrius and move them to where the body should be. It has been about two days since the first one fell off. That's about all I can tell you. Any thoughts? :notsure:

Thanks for the help.
brittle stars reproduce by dropping there legs i believe .mabie thats whats going on

 

[newtankman]

To avoid over feeding the tank, and to insure that the star is eating plenty, buy some raw shrimp and cut them into small peaces.
Hold a peace of shrimp up to the star so it can grab onto it and see if it eats.
What is the SG? Stars like 1.024 to 26.

 

[newtankman]

Stars do not reproduce releasing their legs; this is a sign of distress. They reproduce by releasing the eggs in the water and are then fertilized by the males. The fertilization occurs in the open sea after gametes have been discharged.
Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by newtankman
Stars do not reproduce releasing their legs; this is a sign of distress. They reproduce by releasing the eggs in the water and are then fertilized by the males. The fertilization occurs in the open sea after gametes have been discharged.
Someone correct me if I am wrong.
some stars do reproduce this way but its not very common in tanks, Ophuria would have more details.
to me it sounds like either starvation or osmotic shock, brine shrimp arent very nutritious unless boosted with vitamins or very young and alive, you need some better food I think. it could also be osmotic shock, like if you did a large waterchange fast and the salinity changed quickly in your tank that could cause osmotic shock, if it is osmotic shock it could have been caused anywhere within the last month.

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
brittle stars reproduce by dropping there legs i believe .mabie thats whats going on

Actually, they don't. Very few stars do this...Linckia is one of them.
This is a bad sign. I read though, you have a puffer? What kind?
What is your specific gravity? Any recent water changes or other issues with the tank? What is your alk and calcium? I know the parameters are "perfect" but please understand that what is "perfect" for fish can be fatal for these animals. It is critical to eliminate this.
I also agree spot feeding is crucial.
The legs will continue to move, but will not regenerate an animal (they need a large portion of the disk to regenerate, and even then, it is not common).

 

[reefreak29]

just trying to be really positive ,sorry

 

[ophiura]

It always reminds me of a story...
To spare you the details, it is the story of an arm of a seastar that my prof kept for ages. It didn't have enough of the disk to regenerate, but it lived for ages, moving around the tank...finding food to pass to the mouth, which sadly just fell off the end....

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by ophiura
It always reminds me of a story...
To spare you the details, it is the story of an arm of a seastar that my prof kept for ages. It didn't have enough of the disk to regenerate, but it lived for ages, moving around the tank...finding food to pass to the mouth, which sadly just fell off the end....

im now officialy depressed ty

 

[ophiura]

I know. It was depressing, but then...I wouldn't have had the heart to "kill it" either.

 

[donaldgoof]

I don't think I have the heart to either. But thanks for the story. By the way what would you recommend spot feeding the star fish. The only local fish shop in town recommends frozen brine shrimp offhandedly for everything.

 

[cjason3041]

try spot feeding mysis...but.... might be too late

 

[uberlink]

What is your specific gravity? Do you allow it to fluctuate significantly due to evaporation? Ophiura would know better whether this applies to the same degree to brittle stars, but with many stars even fairly slight fluctuations in salinity can be fatal.

 

[hatessushi]

Mine fluctuates a little through evap. but I haven't had any problems. I just spot feed them and they grow like a weed. My tank is 90 gallon and these days I am only adding about 2 quarts of water a day from top off but at time it gets to a gallon.