HELP! Something VERY wrong with my brittlestar! [pic]

[Fretfreak13]

I've had him for about five or six months now. He normally stays hidden like all brittles do and just sticks his arms out, but today when I fed the tank he came out a little in the corner of the tank. It's not unusual cause that's where he normally hangs out, so I took the opportunity to go look at him and was totally alarmed to see that most of the tissue on the top of his body (the disk part) was GONE! It's a rather small tank made up of pretty much four or five large pieces of rock. They really don't shift at all, and if they did I would have noticed so I really don't think anything fell on him.

He lives with two clownfish and a lawnmower blenny. Couple hermits and narci snails in there too, but that's it.

The tank is a 1 year old 29 gallon. Ammonia tests 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20. I don't have any other tests and I don't dose anything in the tank. I have always used de-chlorinated tap water. He is still lively, all the little stickerhairs on the underside of his arms are moving. I went to pick him up to try to get a better pick but he immediately held fast to some rock and retreated back into his normal area where I can't get to him. He also took food that was floating by before I even noticed.

Shed any light, or is my little guy a goner? I've seen him out within the past month and there was NOTHING like this on him. There is also a piece of what looks like poop coming out of the middle, but due to his condition I don't think that's it... It looks like there's skeleton showing around the sides of the big hole.. I feel so bad, it looks unbearably painful..

 

[ritter6788]

I've heard of this happening to starfish. I think it's usually caused by low salinity, stray voltage or some other out of whack parameter. I've never heard of one recovering either. That's what they do when they are dying, they fall apart or sort of melt away.

 

[tom499]

its happened to me when my test kit expired and i didn't notice. my nitrates where to high. salinity is another common culprit. mine lost all his legs too. managed to nurse him back to health by putting him on top of food for almost three weeks.the damage to his central disc might be to much for it to handle though..

 

[Fretfreak13]

Aw, this is so sad...Do starfish feel pain? Can I put the poor thing out of its misery somehow? I don't have a refractometer, and I USED to have a hydrometer but its cracked and even more inaccurate than normal now... I'm going to do a large water change today to see if I can help the mystery problem (probably salinity), but I believe your right. I can't see ME coming back from an enormous hole in my torso...

Thanks guys..

 

[ritter6788]

How are you going to do a large water change if you can't measure the salinity of the water you are adding?

 

[SurrealSerenity]

Star fish do not feel pain, if I am correct they have no brain.

 

[akindbro4u]

ha ha ha ...... he isn't missing anything he is upside down, and the stuff is him taking a dump.