Starfish arms rotting off

[jgoal55]

My starfish's arms have been rotting off one by one but after one of the arms rots off all the way it seems to heal and looks like it starts to regenrate. This has been going on for about a week now but today all his arms were rotting again in the same way at the same time......

I tried to do some research but found very little on the subject.......

any ideas?

 

[gwen_o_lyn]

what type of starfish?

Many of the pretty colorful ones we often see in fish stores slowly starve in reef tanks.

 

[cameron]

It is pretty common actually. Many starfish reproduce using this method. I am sure some more knowledable than I can give you the specifics... probably Panda is a good person to ask.

 

[jgoal55]

actually i have had him for close to a year.....I cant remember what type of starfish he is. I got him at cap bay and he has been great.....its the guy n the pic...its not an orange linkia...I know that for sure......

I checked all my parameters and everythings seems good.......

maybe it's just hs time????
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[glxtrix]

see if you can feed him some yummies. Put a pipit with mysis under him and see if he eats it.

 

[jgoal55]

you know that you say that abouit food lee.....which i have done before and he always eats a bit albit I never did it often.....

the only thing that I have added to that tank recently is a UV......i wonder if the UV is killing his food source?

 

[FutureInterest]

I know you just said that's not an orange linkia...

What else could it be? The only thing I think it could be a is a linckia seastar though.

As for what can you do? Not much, as it sounds to be starving to death. They take a LONG time to starve to death, but the symptoms you're telling us are typical of that.

So what does it eat? They are thought to live off film algae but that is not certain. As for hand feeding it? Forgetaboutit Typically we can hand feed most creatures, but we're not even sure exactly what these things eat. People have tried to hand feed them mysis and other meaty foods, but they just don't eat it. Perhaps you'll have better luck...

 

[cameron]

Fromia depending on scale.

 

[blind1993]

that is not a linkia becasue of the center it is most likely a formia.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Not the best pic, but it does kinda look like a linkia to me. Please describe it- are the arms round, or flat? Does the surface have very small little pores, or very small raised bumps? How big is it overall?

Despite the ID, in my experience, unless caused by some sort of trauma, once a star starts disintegrating, not much will stop it. How long have you had this star? Acclimitization is a very tedious process with these, and failure to do so extensively often results in these symptoms. What exactly do the injuries look like? Is it smooth tissue like on a healthy part, or does white tissue-y material seem to be sloughing?

 

[jgoal55]

ok, the star is done....he had a proper burial.....he lived I hope a good life....as of 2 days ago he was completely disintegrated.....

it wasnt a linkia because I have seen many linkias and this star behaved nothing like them nor even moved like them....also when I bought it I was told it was not a linkia (not that that means much)......but i dont remeber what i was told......and really, it just didnt look like a linkia....i could be wrong but I would be surprised if it was a linkia....

the arms were round and the surface had raised litle bumps.....I figured it out and I actually had him for a little over a year......so I dont think acclimation was the issue......


Someone said they take forever to actually starve to death but the more I think about it I realize that his problems started at almost the same time that I added the UV to the tank......its quite possible that that was just coincidence but thats the only thing I can think of that would have caused it.....

as for his diet.....I ofetn put mysis under him or by him on the galss and he definitely ate it because when he was on the glass you could see him take into his mouth...it was actually really cool.

I still have a sand sifting star in the tank and he is doing great it seems.....we'll see......thanks for the help though.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Jgoal55;90910 wrote: ok, the star is done....he had a proper burial.....he lived I hope a good life....as of 2 days ago he was completely disintegrated.....

it wasnt a linkia because I have seen many linkias and this star behaved nothing like them nor even moved like them....also when I bought it I was told it was not a linkia (not that that means much)......but i dont remeber what i was told......and really, it just didnt look like a linkia....i could be wrong but I would be surprised if it was a linkia....

the arms were round and the surface had raised litle bumps.....I figured it out and I actually had him for a little over a year......so I dont think acclimation was the issue......


Someone said they take forever to actually starve to death but the more I think about it I realize that his problems started at almost the same time that I added the UV to the tank......its quite possible that that was just coincidence but thats the only thing I can think of that would have caused it.....

as for his diet.....I ofetn put mysis under him or by him on the galss and he definitely ate it because when he was on the glass you could see him take into his mouth...it was actually really cool.

I still have a sand sifting star in the tank and he is doing great it seems.....we'll see......thanks for the help though.

Jorge:

From what you described, it sounds like a linkia. They are more rounded, and have small little bumps on their bodies. That is a broad generalization, but I would guess an orange linkia. Unfortunately very little is known about linmkias (including diet).

At any rate, I am a little confused also about some other statements. You state you saw him move food into his mouth. What exactly did you see? Most starts will actually evert their "stomoach" outside of the body to externally absorbed their intended food. I am just curious as to what you were exactly seeing.

Maybe none of this is important anymore. Sorry about your star.