black and white banded serpent star fish, body looks diseased

[shinosuke]

Hello,

I've had a black and white banded harlequin serpent star fish for about a year now in my 12g nano tank. Usually I don't see him too much, and I haven't seen him out for about a week or two. I saw him come out today for a bit, and he was acting very sluggish and slow.

Besides that, his whole body was caved in and bumpy/brown looking, it looked like someone had dumped some acid on his back and it had burnt into him. Last week I added 2 small chromis (1 of which has since disappeared), a few various snails, and a feather duster. Besides that I've got a large jawfish, a spiny red starfish, a couple hermits and snails, and a few various soft corals with an orange plate coral.

Is this some kind of starfish disease, or has something attacked him? Is it cureable, or should I take him ouit?

Thank you,

Adam D.

 

[Myrddraal]

What is your alk at? I had an alk crash (from ~9.5 down to ~7.8) that killed my red brittle star. He looked much as you describe, caved in and bumpy.

 

[shinosuke]

Hi Jayson,

Wheel of Time fan, huh? The first 7 or so books were great, they kind of fell off from there.

I don't know what my alk is at, but I have a red spiny brittle star that's been in the tank just as long (probably about a year) and who's doing great. He's always out and about, actively feeding.

I actually just fed the harlequin star a few pieces of pellet food. He's so weak he couldn't even get them into his mouth after about a minute of passing them along his tentacles. After a minute or so, the red spiny came up and stole the food from him.

I'm pretty worried about this guy, he's been with me since the start of the tank pretty much. However, I don't want him to affect or hurt anything else in there. Did your star recover?

Should I take him out and give him a quick painless death, or let him try and make a comeback?

Thank you,

Adam D.