Blue Starfish - It's skins falling off!!!

[ABSC]

I'm pressuming this isn't normal but our blue starfish seems to have chunks of skin falling from it's underneath. We haven't noticed it hurt itself although it did manage to squeeze it's self into a rock the other day and get itself back out although it's done this before so we're really clueless why it's doing this. Has anyone else exxperienced the same things as this and can give me any advice?? We don't know whether to leave him in the tank to see if he'll get better or take him out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[greenbean36191]

This is extremely common. This is how they look as they're dying. Starvation and osmotic shock are the two most common causes. The former taking several months to over a year to manifest and the latter taking less than 2 weeks.

 

[ABSC]

Thanks for your reply.

I don't think it's starvation as we feed the tank 2 times a day with frozen mysis shrimp, krill, brine shrimp etc, can you tell me a little more about osmotic shock?

 

[greenbean36191]

None of those foods are feeding the sea star. These guys are thought to feed primarily on organic films that form on hard surfaces, but no one really knows for sure what they eat. As a result, they need a large surface area to graze. If it's in the 260 L in your signature, then starvation is extremely likely as this is a small tank for them. They typically need about 380 L or more to do well, depending on the amount of LR and how established it is.

Osmotic shock is just the damage resulting from large changes in salinity. Typically it's a result of poor acclimation.

 

[ABSC]

Thanks for that. So I think we'll have to do the necessary and pull it out as the camel shrimp seem to be feeding off him now. For future reference do you think I should leave a side of the tank when cleaning so that snails etc can feed?

 

[Jojoyojimbi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13228571#post13228571 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ABSC
Thanks for that. So I think we'll have to do the necessary and pull it out as the camel shrimp seem to be feeding off him now. For future reference do you think I should leave a side of the tank when cleaning so that snails etc can feed?

i do

 

[HappySkittles]

yes you should leave a side of the tank "dirty"
i was always told not to go for a sterile look
i only clean the sides of the tank that people actually look through usually the front and maybe one side but i never clean the back glass

 

[greenbean36191]

There's no need to leave the glass dirty. It will make no difference in your ability to keep things like sea stars and if you have an appropriately sized clean up crew there should be enough for them to eat on the rocks alone. Leaving the tank dirtier just to help out the clean up crew defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.