starfish problem????

dawgs · 01-01-2004, 08:23 PM

i just looked at my serpent star...at first it looked like a sore on the body of my starfish....at a closer look...it seems to look like the under side of the star is coming through the top...looks like little tentacles....anyone have any ideas?

Doug1 · 01-01-2004, 08:51 PM

sounds like tissue necrosis

How long have you had it? is there anything that may have taken a nip out of it? Have you done a recent water change or added a lot of FW to the tank to replace evaporation?

dawgs · 01-01-2004, 08:54 PM

i just did a water change...what do i do to fix this problem?

Doug1 · 01-01-2004, 09:39 PM

stars are sensitive to changes in specific gravity and suffer serious damage if SG changes suddenly

dawgs · 01-01-2004, 10:23 PM

is there anything i can do to heal it?

Doug1 · 01-01-2004, 11:17 PM

not that I know of

I dont know if they tolerate antibiotics well, usually once tissue damage sets in they either get over it or secumb to secondary infections

tdwyatt · 01-02-2004, 12:51 AM

time alone, although these are not as bad as the Asteroids, the brittle stars are susceptable to osmotic changes as well. I would suggest that you use an autotop off device prior to introducing any mor seastars to your system, see this thread on Linckia seastars and this related POV on acclimitization and salinity stabilities

hth