Brittle starfish

[Calireefer92]

hey reefer I have a brittle starfish and he’s been hiding for the last month and a half now he’s trying to escape any ideas if this is normal?

 

[Flippers4pups]

hey reefer I have a brittle starfish and he’s been hiding for the last month and a half now he’s trying to escape any ideas if this is normal?

Escape as in “out of the tank” escape?

 

[Calireefer92]

Escape as in “out of the tank” escape?

I have a Red Sea reefer 425 So earlier he ended up going into the back of overflow. And came back out and now he’s running around the tank. As I mentioned earlier I’ve had him for over a month and he would never come out of the rock. Now he’s climbing on the glass

 

[Flippers4pups]

I have a Red Sea reefer 425 So earlier he ended up going into the back of overflow. And came back out and now he’s running around the tank. As I mentioned earlier I’ve had him for over a month and he would never come out of the rock. Now he’s climbing on the glass

Could be looking for food.

 

[Calireefer92]

Could be looking for food.

I feed him frozen qurill by hand

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I have a little one that climbs the glass frequently. Usually they are either happy or falling apart.

 

[Calireefer92]

I have a little one that climbs the glass frequently. Usually they are either happy or falling apart.

What do you mean by falling apart?

 

[saltyhog]

That seems like strange behavior to me. I've had mine 6 years and the only time I've seen all of him was when I tore down the tank to move. The rest of the time I just see a few arms sticking out of the rock work.

This is a picture of him on moving day. He was about 3" across when I got him.

 

[sfin52]

A brittle star running around tank may be looking to escape due to eater issues. What's your numbers

 

[Flippers4pups]

That seems like strange behavior to me. I've had mine 6 years and the only time I've seen all of him was when I tore down the tank to move. The rest of the time I just see a few arms sticking out of the rock work.

This is a picture of him on moving day. He was about 3" across when I got him.

6 years is a long time! Nice!

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

What do you mean by falling apart?

Dying...

 

[Tastee]

My first sand sifting starfish started climbing the glass when it was starving and eventually died. That was very early in my tank when there was little bio-load.

My current one has been in the tank 5 months now (with a much bigger bio-load) and is very happy and heathy. He too (we call him Jeff - Jefferson Starfish) climbs the glass regularly.

So just climbing the glass isn’t necessarily a sign of a problem. I keep a very close eye on Jeff’s legs - whilst they are long and have a distinct mobile point he is healthy. If they start to shrink and become stubby that will tell me he is starving. I’m sure your brittle star has an equivalent characteristic to look for.