New Brittle star Question?

[need4speed]

I have just got a reef package from this site and it had 3 Brittle stars 1 is doing great but the other 2 have lost 4 out of 5 legs. But they are still active and seem to be fine. Is this normal? I have a 55gal tank with 75lbs of live rock this is my first salt water tank I started the tank about a month ago. I also would like to Know when you are sure that your tank as made its cycle? I have ran all the tests and everything looks good, but my tank started getting a lot of brown alge is why got the reef package(55-100gal package is what i got) The only other thing that I have in the tank is 2 blue damsals and a green chromis and one peperment shrimp. Any sugestions welcome

 

[irish pride]

The brown algea is normal. I recently set up a new 30 and it is going through the smae thing. AS far as your brittles are concerned...What did you do to acclimate them? Usually if acclimation is rushed this can happen.

 

[need4speed]

Acclimation was about 2 1/2 hour with the drip method they said to do.

 

[need4speed]

Yes I plan on testing weekly. They were just put in the tank Tuesday. Since I have got the reef package in the alge is getting cleaned up. Is this the end of the cycle that they talk about?

 

[need4speed]

I'm not at home where i have the last tests wrote down. have to get them in just alittle while.

 

[jonthefb]

were teh arms missing in the bag before acclimation? if so they are probably unhealthy and were stressed form shipping....id give swf.com a holler....it sounds like your tnak is still pretty new....stars be it brittle or what are probably one of the most delicate animals we can try to keep alive....just about anythign will stress them out...IMO, it is too early for the stars adn your tank wasnt mature enough.....keep your eye on them. are they the green brittle type? if they are keep them well fed adn you can only hope for the best! these gusy will eat just about anythign..krill, shrimp, extra anythign.....feed them soemthign meaty every other day and see what happens!
good luck
jon

 

[ophiura]

I always wish that brittlestars were not sold in such a package. This is way to young of a tank for them, IMO.
What are your exact water parameters, esp ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and specific gravity?
Are only the arms gone, and are the animals hiding?
Did you make sure that during acclimation that the container with the animals was at tank temperature (eg by floating it in the sump during acclimation)?

 

[need4speed]

hear are my parameters ALK-normal to Normal/high PH-8.3 Ammonia-0ppm Nitrate-5ppm Nitrite-0ppm SG-1.0225 Temp-79f What are IMOs There arms were on when i got them and all during acclimation. 2 of them hide 1 with all his leggs and 1 that only has 1 leg left. the third only has 1 legg and moves around alot. the temp did stay the same as the tank I used a new and clean 5gal bucket to acclimate with a heater in it. is 5 gal to much to acclimate with. and i did not use that 5 gal agian i mixed up new water to add back. and is the only way to lower the ALK by water change? thanks for your help!!!!

 

[ophiura]

Hmmm, well....
If they are hiding or at least not staying out in the open and not moving much, then I would say this is a good sign. If they merely lose bits of arms, and the damage does not include the central disk, this is also good news. Have they lost any more sections of arm?
Sounds like you did a good job with acclimation and it is hard to come up with what might have gone wrong. The specific gravity is a touch on the lower end of the range...do you use a refractometer or a swing arm hydrometer? Are you planning on a reef tank or fish only? What color are the brittlestars?
Do they seem attracted to any food (you can try spot feeding the area they are in with a wooden skewer or somethng)?
Give them food if they will take it, and just keep water params constant. Avoid water changes for now and especially big bufferings, etc. Hopefully it will all work out!

 

[need4speed]

I use a swing arm hydrometer. and they have not lost any more arms. they are all black but one of them as redish fingers on its arms. I am planning on just a reef tank with just a anenimi and a clown or two.