[MajorHelix]

Hi, I'm running a 55gallon saltwater tank. I bought a few additions yesterday and one of them was a green sea serpent star. Yesterday he was fine and he was fine this morning aswell. When I came home, I noticed he has a relatively big gash in his main body. What can I do?

Pictures:

imgur.com/lHPId&a4W7Fl&1WWkq
imgur.com/1WWkq
imgur.com/lHPId
I need to go post 5 posts real quick to post pictures lol.

I will be editing this post to including details such as pH and water temp.




* Tank size: 55g

* Current Filteration: Eheim Protein Skimmer

* ENTIRE fish population: pair of clownfish, 1 Blue tailed damsel, 1 brittle sea star, a couple hermit crabs, and 1 green sea serpent star

* What you feed, and how often: NLSpectrum Marine Fish Food x daily, I just purchased the sea serpent star but he was fed with shrimp.

* Your maintenance routine (water changes, vacuming substrate, etc.): I purchased this tank a little more than a week ago. An 80% water change was performed in order to move the tank. I performed a 10-20% water change a few days ago.

* ALL water parameters you can give (Temp, pH, GH, KH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, calcium, copper, phosphate, and anything else) :
Temp: 78*F at top and bottom of tank
pH: 8.07
KH: 140-200ppm(took about 10 to 11ish drops)
SG: 1.0213
Ammonia: I'd say 0 ppm when comparing the ammonia test to the booklet.
Nitrite: in progress
Nitrate: in progress


* What fish(s) are sick
Green Sea Serpent Star.
* What it looks like
Looks like a gash in his main body area.
* Any other info on the fish/coral/invert


I did have a 600W MH going today, are they very sensitive to light?

 

[Chad]

It looks similar to the damage that is done when a sea star is not acclimated correctly or has experienced a quick change in salinity.

 

[MajorHelix]

Is this generally fatal? He was hanging out near the heater and I think at one point he was up against it. Could he have burned himself?

 

[Chad]

Damage to the legs of a sea star generally not harmful but damage to the body usually is. A sea star is one of the most delicate things we put on our tank. I am not saying that it will be fatal, only time will tell, but that is a possibility.

Fortunately, among sea stars, the brittle stars are some of the most hardy.

If the wound gets larger, then that a sign it's from acclimation problems. If this is the case my experience is there's no chance it will survive. The disk of its body will disintegrate. If it's just a wound or a burn, then it should heal up and get smaller.

If you don't have an auto top off system I recommend you get one. These help in keeping a sea star because they keep the salinity level which is very important for them to survive.

There's a great article in CORAL Magazine that goes into detail about sea stars, their care, and some of the problems that pop up in relationship to them.

 

[jenglish]

If it's any consolation Green serpent stars have a nasty habit of eating snails, crabs and even fish if they catch it.

 

[Chad]

That's true...they are often known as Green Death Stars...