help...my starfish has holes in it

[somedude]

i just happened to walk by my tank and noticed my red brittle/serpent star has five evenely spaced holes in it. or maybe four. either way, is this normal? my tank is well established and none of my other starfish are showing any signs of stress.

i just want to know what is happening. is it dying or turning into more starfish? i need to get a picture up because i have never seen this and can't find any useful information anywhere.

~alex

 

[somedude]

with flash...

 

[olemiss reb]

Dying. I had a yellow brittle do the same, mine was from a botched acclimation.

 

[somedude]

ah crap that sux. i had him for quite a while now. never any problems then this. and he never hurt any of my fish. why is it always the good ones that die and the ones you hate live forever...

~alex

 

[Overgreen]

Is it always just chilling out in the open like that? Mine never comes out from under it's rock. Only see it's tenatacles and that's it.

 

[somedude]

yeah he was pretty comfortable [or at least i thought] always roaming the tank. so far the holes are bigger now, but he is still alive and responsive to light and touch. he is my favorite guy in the tank so i really don't want him to die, but i guess it happens. he has lived quite a long time and grew to nearly 24" across. i guess i have been more lucky than most to keep him so long. i already have another on order with my lfs. hopefully the new one lives as long.

~alex

 

[somedude]

and i still don't know what causes this type of deterioration. he still has all limbs intact and there are no spines falling off. this type of damage is very unusual to me.

~alex