Algae Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I just noticed this morning that my sand sifting starfish looks like he is loosing an arm and another arm is not looking good. He has been climbing on my glass a lot for the last 3 weeks. I have a ssb and a lot of rock so my idea is that he was just not getting the nutrients that he needs. What I need is an experienced reefkeeper with a sand bed to give him a new rescue home asap. Oh, I should say that I think is very unlikely that he ran into a propeller. I posted this also in classified because I think the best to do is give him the right kind of eviroment quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Check your Ph! If I remember right. Ph has that effect on starfish. Causes limb deteriation. (sp) But yeah the SSB might be running low. There must be something you can feed as a supplement while the sand rebounds. BTW How big of a tank? And just one starfish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 It's a 72 and it is a stable established tank. No PH changes, good parameters. I've been slowly siphoning the top layer of reef sand over the last year, and as a result I think it is too thin (sterile) to support significant life/detrius in the bed to allow a sand shifting star to thrive. I also have quite a bit of rock which does not allow a large foraging area. I looked again and although it has not lost a leg yet, it has 3 legs that show varying degrees of deterioration. I did bury some food and build up an area with more sand. I think right now it would be best to turn him over to an established DSB. I don't even kill ugly zoa's and if is best for the animal, I would rather give hime over to a tank that would allow him a better chance of survival while he is still relatively healthy than to to experiment at his jeopardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoolander Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 He's in my tank now and I have a DSB so we will see how he fares. Thanks again, Franklin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 Have you had any advice about the leg? It was good meeting you. My daughter wants to know if she can visit the starfish. She would get excited when it climbed on the glass. I wasn't happy since I heard it was a food searching technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoolander Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I have not but the star seems to be doing well in the sand so I'm going to wait and see what happens. You can let her know she can visit him if she'd like although with that sand bed I'm not sure how often I will even be seeing him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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