HELP! Blue Starfish sick????

[nickbuol]

Sorry about the double post, but....
I just got a frantic call from my wife that her blue starfish (we got him just a week ago), who had been acting fine, and moving around the tank was kind of curled up in a ball today. He was all stretched out this morning (4 hours before she noticed him), now my wife said that all of this legs were kind of underneath him, instead of spread out. She said that he looked limp, but was stiff to the touch. Any thoughts here? Is he OK?

 

[nickbuol]

I just had my wife run some water testes:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
pH - 8.0
Nitrate - 2
Salinaty - 1.022
Temp 75F

 

[charmin_fatcat]

I don't know what is wrong with your starfish, but have read that handeling them can kill. Something about the oils in our hands-maybe someone with more experience with starfish can shead some light on this? Good luck with him. I had a really pretty one that ended up dying a few months back and would like to get another, but need to research about how to handle before I buy.
Let us know what happens!

 

[nickbuol]

I handle everything with a pair of rubber gloves... You know, those nice "aquarium" gloves that are like a Rubbermaid rubber glove with a plastic sleve to keep your arm dry. Boy I wish I would have that of that easy money maker... Anyway, he is not looking good at all. He is just limp looking, although he does not feel "soft" like they say to look out for, and he is not turning white. He does look a little "shrivelled up". I examined him closely and it looks like he has a cut near his mouth. The hermits in the tank never seemed to bother him, at least when I was looking, they left him alone...