Chocolate Chip in Trouble

[rogueangel]

Alright cutting the arm part off not as easy as I thought it would be. These things really stiffen up good and hard. But I got most of it, I'll try again later. This star best live after all this babying. I went and got some baby shrimp from Wally-World. Gammarus, work alright. Took a bit to get it to where she could eat it. I had to literally smoosh out all the air and then wrap it in wet flakes so it'd stay submersed some for her. But Selene's eating it... hopefully this will do some good

 

[ophiura]

Definitely also try meatier things - or easier to handle things. Pieces of shrimp, squid, scallops, silverside, algae sheets, wafers, shrimp pellets, etc...
Nope, the operation is not easy and it may not save it, but if it is eating that is a good sign at least.

 

[sleasia]

is this what it looks like? my sea stars just went through some shock a week ago because of a swing low in calcium and alkalinity and then a swin high...It may be because your salinity was too low, perhaps alkalinity low and calcium too low or too high? Any way this is what this caused in my star...which Ophiura already helped me with...just providing the picture for you all to compare

 

[sleasia]

here's the pic

 

[rogueangel]

Mine started off like that but she already has white tissue showing now. Wish I had known that was what was happening before now.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by ophiura
The star is not starving, it is most likely osmotic shock, which can be from your system or from the LFS or from the wholesaler...they can take a month to show signs of this issue.
The fact it continues to eat is a good sign, with good water conditions it may improve. Definitely work on getting the salinity up.
If the deterioration continues, you may wish to perform some surgery by getting a new razor blade and actually cutting the damaged parts of the arm cleanly off.

:scared: :scared: :scared:
Ophiura, has anyone ever done any kind of research to see if the star feels pain when this is done?

 

[alyssia]

bump