star fish trouble

[Trio91]

Guys, take a look at my star fish, I think something may be eating his legs. He's moving around and was perfectly fine when I saw him this morning

 

[Trio91]

If this is the case, I have 3hermit crabs and 1 hitchhiking mantis shrimp who would be my culprits

 

[art13]

Usually when they start to starve they start losing limbs

 

[Trio91]

That's the thing. I've been feeding this guy (not sure if he's been eating though)

I squirt him with reef Chilli 1x per week and I read that they feed on film algae n what not

@art13. How can i save him?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any way to save these guys when it gets to this point. I would try to keep it away from anything that could possibly pick at it.

 

[art13]

I'm not sure what you can do, as I'm not familiar with their care, I do know starfish are a lot harder to keep than people think, it's why I don't have one in my current tank yet

 

[Trio91]

Oh boy, ok for now I'll keep an eye on him and see if I can get maybe an acclimation box to isolate him. Right now he's still moving around and doesn't seem to be getting worse. I'll keep peeps posted

 

[Trio91]

Temporary holding cell. I'll leave him in here, keep trying to feed em and cross my fingers

 

[Mark_C]

I had a red linka for the better part of 18 months*. About 6 months ago two of it's 'arms' began to recede a bit, much like the arm on the bottom left of yours. Though well fed with various foods, and apparently eating, it appeared to be slowly starving. 4 months back it crawled into the rockwork and I haven't seen it since. A lot of reading seemed to indicate that 18 months was a long run for a starfish in an aquarium, as many won't survive beyond 6 months. There are also many that report regardless of feeding routine in captivity starfish will eventually starve, though I could never uncover a reason why, though it seems to be a consensus amongst many on the net (and the net never provides misinformation).
Best of luck with it, maybe isolation and a variety of fresh foods will help. Along with the norm I used to give mine a bit of seaweed or raw salmon (or any other fish) whenever we cooked any and it seemed to take them readily.

*Its pic is on the photo of the month, from last September, so I've been winning photo of the month for 10 months now, thats not a hint to the mods

 

[Trio91]

Well, he's in a breeder net for now, still moving around. I tossed in a veggie chip so lets see if it's still there when I get home from work tonight

 

[redfishbluefish]

@art13 has already said it, the poor guy is starving. I also agree that they are harder to keep than people think. I'd pick up a clam and freeze it and then shave off thin pieces and try feeding that.

 

[Trio91]

OK cool, thank you all who responded. I don't have a clam but I do have mysis so I'll try that. I also have some dulse (sea veggie <--kelp) which I'll try to feed him as well

Crossing my fingers (I don't take the loss of an animal well)

 

[Hawkeye]

linkia are notoriously difficult to maintain in a reef aquarium. Unfortunately i'd look for an owner of Harlequin shrimp and donate yours to feed them. once the legs start to go like that, I've never seen one recover.

general reading - Aquarium Invertebrates: Sea Stars -- Linckia spp.

 

[MadReefer]

I had a blue one for two years with no issues. Lost it after Sandy hit.

 

[Trio91]

Seems like he's getting better, what do u think guys?

 

[Trio91]

His legs grew back, I've been feeding him some kelp n mysis

 

[Shanna]

I had starfish years ago and we fed them small clams. Just dropped the whole clam in the tank, and the starfish opened them and ate them.

 

[Trio91]

Update on this

I released him back into the tank, he seems to have fully recovered

no clams, he ignored the mysis, I think he ate algae strips but not sure. He was on the walls of the breeders box which had algae all over it. For now I am going to watch him and monitor

 

[dan_k]

That's awesome good job!!!!

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

@trio91 thats good news man. Hopefully he recover fully and does well in your tank.