serpent starfish
- Thread starter eliteaqua
- Start date
ophiura
Active Member
Originally Posted by eliteaqua
I hope I have the right forum. I have had my serpent star for over a year, I actually have two, and they bred for me, my water perimeters are fine, but he has now lost half an arm and looks like a chunk is missing from his body. Any suggestions?
It is highly unlikely they bred - there are many common hitch hiker brittlestars in this hobby which reproduce very well and stay very small and are more likely what you are seeing (they are white, or have striped arms). But large species are very very very unlikely to reproduce in captivity. In fact, I have never, ever encountered an actual case of this. Please post more about what kinds you have and what you think are offspring.
Loss of arms is often due to a water quality issue, predation or starvation. What and how often do you feed? What are your SPECIFIC water parameters...and have you done recent water changes?
I hope I have the right forum. I have had my serpent star for over a year, I actually have two, and they bred for me, my water perimeters are fine, but he has now lost half an arm and looks like a chunk is missing from his body. Any suggestions?
It is highly unlikely they bred - there are many common hitch hiker brittlestars in this hobby which reproduce very well and stay very small and are more likely what you are seeing (they are white, or have striped arms). But large species are very very very unlikely to reproduce in captivity. In fact, I have never, ever encountered an actual case of this. Please post more about what kinds you have and what you think are offspring.
Loss of arms is often due to a water quality issue, predation or starvation. What and how often do you feed? What are your SPECIFIC water parameters...and have you done recent water changes?
eliteaqua
Member
my starfish is banded serpent, I know they bred, everyone might think I am crazy but one of them got really really FAT then I had babies, I know what brittlestars are and these were not it, unfortunately the pictures I took did not come out good, I do not care what anyone thinks I know they bred. My water is fine my PH was little high not much I am not going into specifics water perimeters only because eveyone thinks that they are right, and I am not arguing. He seems to be doing better today, I did loose my Linkia though I had him for 2 weeks never again, they are definitely to hard for captivity. Thank you for your inputs.
fishymaster776
Member
you're still not posting specific numbers like they asked... and if your on a forum asking for other people's opinions you don't just immediatel believe that you are right and don't care what anybody else says. i'm not saying you're wrong about them breeding.
ophiura
Active Member
Originally Posted by eliteaqua
my starfish is banded serpent, I know they bred, everyone might think I am crazy but one of them got really really FAT then I had babies, I know what brittlestars are and these were not it, unfortunately the pictures I took did not come out good, I do not care what anyone thinks I know they bred. My water is fine my PH was little high not much I am not going into specifics water perimeters only because eveyone thinks that they are right, and I am not arguing. He seems to be doing better today, I did loose my Linkia though I had him for 2 weeks never again, they are definitely to hard for captivity. Thank you for your inputs.
I'm not trying to challenge you. I studied brittlestars for 10 years, so I would be quite interested in what you noted and why you think this happened. In this case, your parameters would be very important. However, it is very rare for anyone, even scientists, to get larger species to spawn in captivity. Even then, pumps tend to chop the larvae to bits. So if you did have a reproduction, it is important to know. There ARE however smaller species of brittlestars that COMMONLY reproduce in tanks and look very similar.
I am not sure why you consider it a challenge?
Any sort of pictures of offspring would be a help. Do you see arms sticking out of rocks?
my starfish is banded serpent, I know they bred, everyone might think I am crazy but one of them got really really FAT then I had babies, I know what brittlestars are and these were not it, unfortunately the pictures I took did not come out good, I do not care what anyone thinks I know they bred. My water is fine my PH was little high not much I am not going into specifics water perimeters only because eveyone thinks that they are right, and I am not arguing. He seems to be doing better today, I did loose my Linkia though I had him for 2 weeks never again, they are definitely to hard for captivity. Thank you for your inputs.
I'm not trying to challenge you. I studied brittlestars for 10 years, so I would be quite interested in what you noted and why you think this happened. In this case, your parameters would be very important. However, it is very rare for anyone, even scientists, to get larger species to spawn in captivity. Even then, pumps tend to chop the larvae to bits. So if you did have a reproduction, it is important to know. There ARE however smaller species of brittlestars that COMMONLY reproduce in tanks and look very similar.
I am not sure why you consider it a challenge?
Any sort of pictures of offspring would be a help. Do you see arms sticking out of rocks?
nick76
Active Member
Originally Posted by eliteaqua
my starfish is banded serpent, I know they bred, everyone might think I am crazy but one of them got really really FAT then I had babies, I know what brittlestars are and these were not it, unfortunately the pictures I took did not come out good, I do not care what anyone thinks I know they bred. My water is fine my PH was little high not much I am not going into specifics water perimeters only because eveyone thinks that they are right, and I am not arguing. He seems to be doing better today, I did loose my Linkia though I had him for 2 weeks never again, they are definitely to hard for captivity. Thank you for your inputs.
There are also Tiny "serpent" star hitchikers you can get on/in LR. Did u see the spawning process happen? Im pretty sure your just seeing tiny hitchhikers.
But as for your star, theres not much u can do. Keep the parameters stable and hope for the best.
my starfish is banded serpent, I know they bred, everyone might think I am crazy but one of them got really really FAT then I had babies, I know what brittlestars are and these were not it, unfortunately the pictures I took did not come out good, I do not care what anyone thinks I know they bred. My water is fine my PH was little high not much I am not going into specifics water perimeters only because eveyone thinks that they are right, and I am not arguing. He seems to be doing better today, I did loose my Linkia though I had him for 2 weeks never again, they are definitely to hard for captivity. Thank you for your inputs.
There are also Tiny "serpent" star hitchikers you can get on/in LR. Did u see the spawning process happen? Im pretty sure your just seeing tiny hitchhikers.
But as for your star, theres not much u can do. Keep the parameters stable and hope for the best.
