Starfish Sick

[flyingjeff]

The last week or so, we have noticed our red starfish has decreased his activity level greatly. When we first introduced him, he was evrywhere, then he seemed to stop moving around...moving less than 1/2" per day.

 

He seems to have developed blisters on the ends of his legs, and one opened up today.

 

What could be the cause of this, and should I be taking action? What should I do?

 

Thanks for your help everyone!!

[flyingjeff]

Bump???

[Blacktone]

The last week or so, we have noticed our red starfish has decreased his activity level greatly. When we first introduced him, he was evrywhere, then he seemed to stop moving around...moving less than 1/2" per day.

 

He seems to have developed blisters on the ends of his legs, and one opened up today.

 

What could be the cause of this, and should I be taking action? What should I do?

 

Thanks for your help everyone!!

 

 

Hmm odd, how did you acclimate him? They are recommended for drip acclimation. Have you tested your water parameters? Is this a red brittle starfish? can you tell use specifically what he is supposed to be?

[flyingjeff]

We acclimated using the "turkey baster" method over a period of about 1 hour.

 

He was doing very well for the first week, and then seemed to slow down considerably. Then we started to notice blisters on the ends of his legs.

 

He is not a brittle star as far as I can tell. He has smooth legs (not hairy like a brittle)

 

I can't getthe image to link, but there is a piece of him in the third pic in this post.

[reefone]

their is proly nothing u can do.the red stars r not very hardy and realy need a bigger tank to survive.

[flyingjeff]

Are the bubbles on his legs a signal of the end, or will he recover if I can find a bigger tank?

 

What is a good size home for this little guy?

[reefone]

not sure about the bubbles but mine slowed down about a week b4 dieing and started to look like his legs were like stringy.not sure about tank size i just read some posts about these stars and read they were not hardy at all and tended to die in aquariums.the tanks i seen people able to keep these alive had some were around 100gal and up.

[Blacktone]

 

I think he is this one?

 

It could be a fungal or bacterial disease.. I would Quarinten the little guy, I can't say if he has a fungus (Branchiomycetes sp.) and/or Vibrio bacterial infections that are primary sources of disease and mortality. Once your starfish is sick, I've read it is very hard to get them back. I'll try to look for more information about blisters.. but they might be the fungus or bacterial infection.. I don't know yet cause I can't find a picture about it. I'll keep looking.

 

 

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seastars2.htm

[flyingjeff]

Thanks for linkng up that pic.

 

He has some black spots on the top of his legs if that helps with ID. He looks like the pic you posted.

[Blacktone]

Red Sea Star

(Fromia milleporella)

That's the guy, good ole liveaquaria.com

 

Good morning,

Our 65 gallon tank has been running for about 3 months after we had to take it down for some repairs. About a month ago we bought a red starfish and a sandsifter starfish. The sandsifter is doing great but the red one is losing pieces of it's legs. About 2 weeks after we brought it home, some blister-like bubbles appeared on the ends of a couple of its legs. Shortly afterwards, these areas fell off. I know that starfish can regrow their legs but then just recently, a lesion appeared near the centre of its body and it left a hole much like the human flesh eating disease would! Now, it looks like this whole leg may fall off leaving him with only 4! Is there anything we can do for this poor creature before he falls apart piece by piece? <Probably not - unfortunately, these creatures are sensitive to changes in water quality, and there may have been issues before you got your hands on it. It is very difficult to reverse such trends.> There have been no other lesions appearing and the tips of his legs have healed and are fine so far. I also know that these creatures require excellent water quality and all of our testing is showing great results. We have had many different creatures over the years but this is our first starfish purchase. Any ideas? <Hmm... not really, is quite likely you will lose this one, but I'd encourage you to try again. Do inspect potential candidates carefully before choosing one to keep.

 

found this here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seastarfaq5.htm

[flyingjeff]

Alright, so...looks like that's him. Thanks Blacktone.

 

If my acclimation was a problem, could it take a week or two for him to crash? My tank params have been steady throughout, so I doubt that's it. There is plenty of algae and such to munch on also.

 

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll keep you posted.

[Blacktone]

Sounds like it's nothing you did, he most likely had the problem before you got him and it just wasn't visable yet. Good luck

[mandarin dragonet]

with inverts lkike stars, you need to be VERY carefull. chek EVERYWHERE for a wound if it has just 1, don't buy it.

[CGNano]

Mandarin, what are you on about?

 

Flying: Fromia are capable of dissolving themselves if there is an environmental problem. Is there anything wrong with your water?

 

Also, Fromia do not eat algae. They eat microbes and such that live on the live rock. Small systems generally cannot sustain these animals for very long. There was a thread about them a while ago, i'll get a link.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...c=54208&hl=

[mandarin dragonet]

if you buy 1 with a wound, its more likely to get diseases like this one, if you buy an unscaved one, its less likely. thought it was obvoius, but IM TIRED