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FAQs about Sea Star Disease/Pests/Injuries/Health 5
Related Articles: Sea Stars, Brittle Stars,
Asterina Stars,
An Introduction to the
Echinoderms: The Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers and
More... By James W. Fatherree, M.Sc.
Related FAQs:
Seastar Disease 1,
Seastar Disease 2,
Star Disease 4,
&
CC
Star Disease/Health,
Linckia Disease,
Sandsifting Star Disease,
&
Sea Stars, Sea Stars 2, Sea
Stars 3, Sea Stars 4, Sea
Stars 5, Brittle Stars, Seastar
Selection, Seastar Compatibility, Seastar
Systems, Seastar Behavior,
Seastar Feeding, Seastar
Reproduction, Seastar Disease, Asterina Stars,
Chocolate Chip Stars, Crown of
Thorns Stars,
Fromia Stars,
Linckia Stars,
Linckia Stars 2, Sand-Sifting Stars,
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Starfish, hlth., reading
6/3/08
Good morning Crew, I recently bought a Red General starfish
<Not generally an aquarium hardy species...>
for our 125 gal. FO tank. He seems to be doing well, but I noticed an
orange film starting to cover one side of him. It almost looks like
algae.
<Bad>
You can see it more on the grey parts of him, but the bright red parts
mask it. Question is does he have some kind of disease or something
harmful growing on him. Have you seen this in General Starfish before?
The tank also has an Orange Linckia,
<Also not generally hardy>
Snowflake Eel, Panther Grouper, 3 Damsels, and a Lawnmower Blenny.
<Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marind5_5.htm
toward the bottom... Asteroid health, systems... Bob Fenner>
Picture of General Star
Sorry, I meant to send this with the e-mail about the orange stuff.
<Mmm, actually, have seen this "stuff" in the wild as well... let's hope
this is not deleterious. Cheers, Bob Fenner> |
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Red Knob Seastar, hlth. using WWM
5/22/08
Last week my Red Knob seastar looked like it almost had a large zit on it. It is
located on the side/underside. It then proceeded to bust open and this
white/light orange thing came out and hung there for about a day.
<Bad...>
The thing that busted out of him like some alien is left in the sand where he
was at and it is a very hard, tooth-like consistently about an 1/8th of an inch
to an 1/8 of an inch. The hole in which has left on my seastar is more like a
1/4 of an inch. Now this didn't happen just once but numerous time over the last
week. Needless to say my starfish has a bunch of holes in him and leaving these
teeth like things around the tank. When I first bought my seastar he roamed all
around the tank. Then for about a week he just laid in the same vicinity. Now he
is moving around the tank again but he doesn't look good. He looks sunken in and
one of his legs might fall off. I brought pictures of him and the pieces of
tooth like substance to my aquarium people and they
have no idea. They made some phone calls but no one seems to know. What can I do
for my poor little guy. He has been eating 1 krill about every four
days...sometimes 1 in between. Is there anything I can add to the tank to help
him?
Thanks, Rob
<.... please... follow directions... search, read on WWM before writing... Do
take a read there re Asteroid-Seastar health... this is a difficult species to
care for in small captive systems... Yours is on its proverbial way out health
wise. Bob Fenner>
Sick Seastar – 5/3/08
Hi,
<Hello>
I read through the other emails, but I have a little different situation. I am
the lab manager at a community college and our science department recently
received a 125 gal aquarium that was donated by a retiring instructor. I know
noting about salt or fresh water aquariums but am learning very quickly (he at
least left me a book). It was moved from his office to our lab and I know that
stressed all in the tank. I have finally gotten it balanced, pH, ammonia,
nitrite, a nitrate are all where they should be. The specific gravity is 1.025.
The problem is Patrick our cc starfish.
<Shades of Squarepants!>
When I got him he had a small white spot on the tip of one of his legs. Not
having seen him before, I thought it was normal, but it has continued to spread
and he holds that leg up all the time. That's when I started looking for help on
the web and found this site. We don't have a hospital to move him to. Patrick is
about 2 years old and we are all very fond of him. What can I do to save him?
Can I cut that part of his leg off (I don't want to do that)? Please help!!!!
Theresa
<It might be the best route to go (to excise the bad leg... try a bath with a
Furan compound, administer iodine/ate (Lugol's) to the system... Please read
here: http://wetwebmedia.com/stardisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above for more input here. Bob Fenner>
I’m clueless
- ID needed: Egg Ribbon – 3/18/08
Hello!
<Hi there, Sonny!>
Hope you can help me to identify this creature.
<Sure hope so!>
I set up a nano reef tank about 7 month ago. I am into the hobby about 9
years now. All my water parameters (including Mg, Ca, Sr..etc..) are
close to perfect. I keep my temperature at 78-80 degrees. 15-17 lbs of
live rock, 20 lbs of aragonite, Marineland C-160 canister, Hydor Koralia
Nano powerhead, AquaC Remora Nano skimmer with MJ 900. Current Satellite
light system, 1 dual actinic and 1 dual daylight, 40 W each, 80 Watts
all together, set up with a timer. Only 8 hours daylight. 1 small colt
coral, 1 green eyed and 1 yellow polyps, trumpet coral. 1 six line
wrasse, about a dozen hermits, about the same amounts of assorted
snails. 1 sand shifter <Sifter?> star, 1 red thorny star,
<Uh-oh, these two stars need much, much, more room in order to survive.
They will not make it in a small tank.>
..and 1 cleaner shrimp. Very happy and healthy environment. Yesterday I
noticed something on one of my live rock, something I never seen before.
If you look at the picture the creature is right above my fish, and it
looks like a target.
<Nice photo!>
Round shaped, and has circles inside.. The color is kinda clear
whitish...Please help me identify this new critter for me!
<Hmmm, it looks like an egg ribbon, possibly left by a Nudibranch or
snail. No worries, these things pop up from time to time and usually
disappear within a few days - as food for the system’s inhabitants!
Please see these links for examples of Nudibranch egg ribbons:
http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=1128
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nudireprofaqs.htm>
Your help is truly appreciated, Sonny
<You're very welcome! Take care, -Lynn>
Re: I’m clueless - ID needed: Egg
Ribbon – 3/18/08
Thank you very much Lynn!
<You're very welcome, Sonny!>
I forgot to mention this is a 10G tank.
<Yep, I had a feeling it was when you mentioned the light fixture, but
didn’t want to assume.>
I also forgot that I just introduced a lettuce Nudibranch (beautiful
creature, I never had one before) about a week ago, so I suppose he's
the source of those eggs.
<You got it!>
The sand sifter looks very happy, I don't see him too much though.
<Unfortunately, these need a large area of mature DSB to survive.>
The red thorny star is not the African red knob sea star, but I'm sure
you knew that.
<Well, I wasn’t sure if it was Protoreaster lincki or Echinaster
echinophorus, but unfortunately, neither is suitable for this size
tank.>
When I purchased him (I bought him and the Nudibranch at the same time)
they told me they won't grow bigger than 3-4 inches.
<Yes, although I’ve read differing reports on their size (ranging from
4-8”). Most say it’s around 4”, so I’d be more inclined to go with that
number.>
Should I take him back?
<Yes, actually I’d take both of those stars back. They’ll starve to
death in such a small system.>
He seems healthy. My only concern is that ever since I introduced him to
my tank, he's not moving a lot. Looks like he settled down on one of my
live rock, and he's been there ever since. I see him moving his
tentacles and arms, but he just "sits" there. I don't know.. He's
beautiful bright red and orange color.. Any thoughts?
<Yep, if he’s been in the same place for a week, that’s not good. Even
if he was doing well though, I would still recommend taking him back.>
My heavenly Nudibranch is all over the place, grazing for algaes all
day. Actually I don't have too much of nuisance algaes of any kind
anymore, is there any supplement I can use if unfortunately ( I can
believe I said that:-) I run out of algaes?
<Hmmm, you could try Nori, but I’m not too confident that it will be
eaten. These sea slugs are nothing if not picky little eaters! They tend
to like one particular algae and that’s it. Some like Bryopsis, others
eat Caulerpa, etc. Sadly, they’re usually short-lived in aquariums.>
Again, thank you very much for the infos and those great articles, I
think you made my night much better.
<You’re very welcome. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news about the
stars, but they really do need to be in a much larger system.>
If you have chance Lynn, please let Anthony know that He rule the
saltwater world.. By any means, He is the greatest.
<Hey, what about Bob! I say he’s the greatest! :-) Sorry, but I can't
help being partial. LOL I just couldn't let that go without saying
something! I’ve never met Anthony Calfo but he does seem like a terrific
guy – knowledgeable, funny and kind. I’m hoping to meet him at IMAC in
May. At that time, I would be most happy to relay your message!>
Thank you Lynn, good night
<You’re most welcome, Sonny. Goodnight to you too, -Lynn> |
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Indian sea star has been
attacked... reading – 1/04/08
hello WWM
<Charles>
I'm a novice in marine aquaria but seem to be doing quite well so far I have a
nano reef aquarium, 58 litres.
<Okay>
I have 1 yellow tailed damsel, 1 humbug damsel, 1 blue damsel,
<A poor mix of Pomacentrids in such a small volume>
1 banded coral shrimp, 1 red legged hermit, 1 blue legged hermit, 1 purple coral
<What is this? Specifically>
and until this evening (3rd Jan 2008) 1 Indian sea star.
<A Fromia indica... or Fromia sp. at least, likely>
Now this is what my email regards I came home from work yesterday to find my sea
star clinging to the spray bar with two lesions in two of its legs. I kept an
eye on it for a while and it seemed to be moving around, slowly, but moving.
Later that evening I checked up on it and one of its legs was missing and part
of it on the sand at this point it was on the live rock and the closest animal
to it was the blue legged hermit (which, may I add, I think is something else as
it has black and blue legs rather than red and blue) but it wasn't attacking it
at that point, although I assumed, that having powerful pincers, this was the
culprit so I isolated it over night.
<Mmm>
In the morning the sea star was in the same condition but alive, then when I
came home it was life less on the sand missing 3 whole legs an 1 badly damaged I
think it is dead now as it hasn't moved at all. As the blue hermit was isolated
and the red legged hermit is tiny I passed the blame onto the shrimp. I liked
the sea star and it was the first animal in the tank and it was thriving I don't
believe that water parameters are culprit, or reproduction, as there is nothing
left of the legs. Can you help me with this, could the shrimp be culprit or
maybe the damsels.
<Yes, either could be... or no culprit/predator at all>
Also is this common as I want to get a new sea star but don't want a repeat
episode.
I thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.
Regards Charlie
<Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marind5_5.htm
Toward the bottom... on Seastar Disease, Fromias... Bob Fenner>
Decomposing Starfish... What is: Things I
wouldn't keep in my reef tank... 12/31/2007
<Greetings! Mich here, apologizing for the very long delay.>
I seem to have a problem with decomposing starfish.
<Unfortunately, not an uncommon problem.>
I have a 72-gallon tank that has been set up for about 9 months. It has cycled
very well, and has wonderful coralline algae growth. I have maybe about 20
pounds of live rock,
<I would consider adding more.>
along with a Firefish goby, coral beauty angel, blue damsel, royal Gramma
Basslet, and tomato clown. As far as non-fish goes, I have a tomato anemone,
<Tomato Anemone?>
trumpet coral, a pulsing xenia coral, and an orange sponge.
<I personally would not keep the sponge... I have had such sponges up and die
and take many tankmates along for the ride...>
I had a chocolate chip star in the tank for about 6 months, then about 2 weeks
ago I noticed that it had a few white spots on its top. I immediately feared the
worst and put it in my 10-gallon hospital tank.
<Hope you also use it to QT as well! Some reasons to here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QuarMarFishes.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quarinverts.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i4/quarantine/Quarantine.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quaranti.htm >
By the next day, all 5 legs were decomposing with large white chunks falling
off,
<Nasty!>
yet the poor thing was still alive, and by the next morning it was dead.
<I'm sorry for your loss.>
I looked at my fish very carefully and none of them showed any signs of
anything, so I figured that perhaps the starfish got a
small cut and got infected, as starfish tend to do.
<A possibility.>
I left my tank alone for about a week and a half and continued to keep an eye on
my fish. They still showed no signs of any sort of disease,
<Good.>
so 3 days ago I bought a blue Palau starfish. The first day was fine, the second
day it looked a little cloudy so I immediately separated it. This morning I
found it dead and halfway decomposed, all of the blue flaking off. I'm at a
complete loss of anything that would cause this. Please help!
<Most starfish brought into the aquarium industry are doomed. They are very
sensitive to osmotic changes, such as variations in salinity, and often die from
osmotic shock. Starfish generally don't do well in captivity as the diets of
most species are poorly understood, if known at all. I would highly discourage
from purchasing any more starfish... IMO A red brittle star (Ophioderma
squamosissimum) would be a similar but much better choice. Red brittle stars
generally fair well in captivity, are good scavengers and unlike the green
brittle star (Ophiarachna incrassata), are not predatory on fish.
Cheers!
Mich>
Dying Starfish 12/20/07
I have a 60 gallon tank and yesterday I can home and noticed my Red African
Starfish had bites taken out of it I rushed to the fish store where I had bought
it they said that they have know clue as the what caused it because all of our
fish seem to be fine with starfish. Since The pet store wouldn't take it they
suggested we put them in breeder tanks that's float on top of the water, since
it was still alive and would just grow back, this morning I woke up to find my
starfish in the same spot and looks like he is decaying the its looks like mush
can you please tell me what's going on?
<Unfortunately, many of these types of star fish are just very difficult to care
for. Too little is known about them and what they need in captivity. I wish I
could help you, but the reality is that we just don't know. It could be starving
to death, but that's just a guess. In any case, I doubt there's much you can do
to help it. However, to give it any chance at all, I'd take it out of the
floating breeder and put it back in the tank (or better yet, in a refugium if
you have one).>
Ashley Davis
<Best,
Sara M.>
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