Starfish emergency!?!?

[Stickgal]

What is this? Starfish not eating and sluggish, but keeps moving around in the tank.

[Dkuhlmann]

Judging from that picture I'd say it's probably toast. Looks like it's deteriorating.

[Stickgal]

Ouch! I was afraid of that. It was really big when I got it so maybe just old age?

[j_mazzy]

Most likely starvation

[Bongo Shrimp]

I agree with starvation and at this point it probably not recoverable.

[Dkuhlmann]

I agree with starvation. It' very common to have with starfish unless you have a very large very established for several years to support most starfish. Even then it's a crap shoot if they'll survive much less thrive.

[Stickgal]

Now I feel like a real a-hole for getting him. Won't ever get another. I hate when I lose something I've chosen to bring to my tank.

[Nrupaw]

Its a Red Sea Serpent. Kinda rare in the aquarium trade (vs the burgundy and gray ones) because they don't ship well. as you can see they tend to lose limbs/disintegrate quite quickly.

personally, i think you might be able to save it. if you can move it to your sump and spot feed it 1 or 1/2 a frozen krill (thaw it first) daily for a week or two, you will see drastic improvements. Just hold the krill near it with tweezers or something and it will go for it.

let me know how it turns out.

[Ron Reefman]

What Nrupaw said. Try feeding it. I find my serpents don't come out very often when I feed the tank But when they do I assume they are hungry. So I take a small shrimp (or part of a larger one) and put it on a long wooden BBQ skew and hold it down near the star. That almost always will wrap a leg around it a pull the shrimp off. Then take it under the rocks so the fish don't bother them.

Good luck.

[Stickgal]

Thing is I've had him 6 months and every couple days I've been giving him pieces of thawed frozen shrimp. I have seen my shrimp take it away. In going to try it. Thanks so much!!

[Nrupaw]

Thing is I've had him 6 months and every couple days I've been giving him pieces of thawed frozen shrimp. I have seen my shrimp take it away. In going to try it. Thanks so much!!

Oh you've had it 6 months? Then its surprising that it's going south. At that point of time, it should be pretty well settled. For me, it is usually in the first couple weeks of them coming in that they start go south, and hence the spotfeeding.

As far as shrimp go, i will often give the shrimp its own piece of krill to munch on and then move to the serpents and other lps.

if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for him? they tend to be pretty pricey here in MN.

[Stickgal]

I paid $49 I think. My tank is 90 gallons and it was about a year old when I added him. I did move him to the dump and gave him krill. Seemed interested at first, but then just left it.

[Nrupaw]

I paid $49 I think. My tank is 90 gallons and it was about a year old when I added him. I did move him to the dump and gave him krill. Seemed interested at first, but then just left it.

$49's not bad at all. you don't want to know how much they cost here in the midwest :fun4:

hopefully the guy makes it. if your sump's empty, put in a pvc elbow or something to hide in. as long as he reaches out and wraps his arm around the krill you should be good. but if you see a peice of krill just lying there, grab it out and try again the next day.

hopefully the guy makes it for you. the Red Sea Serpent has always been one of my favorites. Shy but always stands out in a tank

[Stickgal]

He was beautiful before this. Holes are getting bigger. Afraid he's not going to make it, but I'll keep trying.

[Nrupaw]

He was beautiful before this. Holes are getting bigger. Afraid he's not going to make it, but I'll keep trying.


Bummer [emoji53]

Since you have had it this long I don't think it is a shipping/collection issue.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe it ate something really big that caused it to tear through its flesh. If your water quality is pristine then maybe it could pull through. But if your nitrates are high then chances are slim.


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