Starfish Problem

[stokedhawk]

I've had an orange linkia starfish for about a month and it seemed to be doing well, moving around on the sand and glass. it went by a rock that had a small tunnel that was dug out by a diamond goby and i didn't think anything about it. well i haven't been paying any close attention to the tank as my eyes have been glued to the news. i just noticed that it hadn't move from that spot and took a closer look and one of it's legs looked like it had been eaten. i pulled it away from the spot and one leg was completely missing and another was eaten so bad that as i pulled it fell off the starfish. will my starfish regenerate new legs or even survive? What would possibly eat it's legs? It's not small i'd say it's a medium size starfish. Would red hermit crabs or bristleworms do this? any other ideas?
Thanks

 

[alix2.0]

im sorry. it will probably die. in ideal conditions they do regenerate legs, but it is rare in enclosed systems.

 

[jonthefishguy]

your starfish is a gonner. remove him before he deteriorates the water quality.

 

[stokedhawk]

okay. thanks. i just can't believe it. it was really cool and my kids loved it. especially when it was on the glass.

 

[stokedhawk]

any ideas what would've eaten it. I don't think any of my fish would have since the legs that were eaten were under the rock. I have a couple of emerald crabs, red hermit crabs, hawaiin zebra crab, all kinds of snails and the only big snails are queen conchs. I have seen a large bristleworm about as well.

 

[turtlegirl933]

Originally Posted by stokedhawk
I've had an orange linkia starfish for about a month and it seemed to be doing well, moving around on the sand and glass. it went by a rock that had a small tunnel that was dug out by a diamond goby and i didn't think anything about it. well i haven't been paying any close attention to the tank as my eyes have been glued to the news. i just noticed that it hadn't move from that spot and took a closer look and one of it's legs looked like it had been eaten. i pulled it away from the spot and one leg was completely missing and another was eaten so bad that as i pulled it fell off the starfish. will my starfish regenerate new legs or even survive? What would possibly eat it's legs? It's not small i'd say it's a medium size starfish. Would red hermit crabs or bristleworms do this? any other ideas?
Thanks
What are your water parimeters? If the water quality is of, the starfish may be dieing. As starfish die, they "disovle".

 

[bobokity]

Hi, we just got a blue and he's been doing great until today. now he's just laying there with some bites on his tips.
They weren't there yesterday. And he had some kind of purple slim hanging off one of the limbs.
What is it.

 

[tizzo]

They are not being eaten, they are descinergrating (sp?)
A month is about how long it takes to lose one due to osmosis shock caused by improper acclimation.
a blue can be the same or depending on how long he was held at the fish store or wherever you got him, he could be starving.

 

[ophiura]

Yes, these are dying of acclimation shock.
PLEASE post your SPECIFIC tank parameters, as well as age, inhabitants and amount of LR.
A blue Linckia requires a minimum, IMO, of 150lbs of LR in a 125g tank...and that is the low side. THe tank should be 6 months old, minimum, and have pristine water parameters (note what is perfect for fish can be fatal for these stars). These are some of the most delicate animals we can keep.
Both died from acclimation shock, not being eaten (unless you have puffers, large wrasses or triggers).