HELP Serpent Sea Star BIG Hole :[

[Jisko]

Today I woke up to find that my Serpent Sea Star has a big hole or white spot covering its whole circle.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

dang thats not good. not eating? predators?

 

[AcroNem]

It happens, but sometimes it kills them. My huge purple serpent has done it twice now, but times because it tried to eat something too big and it ripped out the top. Mine lived and healed up but just keep an eye on it in case it does start to disintegrate.

 

[Jisko]

The only thing in the tank is a Clarkii and a peppermint shrimp. Seeing how the Clarkii is scared of his own shadow I don't see him messing with the serpent.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Have you been feeding? Im no star expert but Im pretty sure the are active hunters and scavengers opportunists in the wild not. bristles have spines to trap food and will also scavenge.

 

[Jisko]

For the passed week I've only had flakes as I'm at college right now and forgot my frozen food at home. I'm going home today to get the food but I think it might be a little late :[

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

For the passed week I've only had flakes as I'm at college right now and forgot my frozen food at home. I'm going home today to get the food but I think it might be a little late :[

a fresh shrimp from the store is actually fine for them as well as clams and oysters and fish.
Hopeing for the best.

Read up on our friend paul B here on the board.

 

[Jisko]

Is there a chance the Serpent will survive?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Oh and I gotta add, do you know what your PH and ammonia are?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Is there a chance the Serpent will survive?

yes

 

[aaron23]

with good water quality anything is possible

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Welcome to reef2reef btw. Sorry its under such harsh circumstance.

 

[Jisko]

One second I'll do some test and find out. sorry for late reply

 

[Jisko]

The PH is around 8.0 and the ammonia is hard to tell the test came at a very light green yellowish color but this might be because I did a cleaning last night so some of the algae might of got mixed up. Thats just my thought I'm far from an expert.

ammonia around .25

 

[kingrl2]

Mine did that exact same thing, was very disturbing. Sadly, he did not make it. I never figured out what happened, but it was very sickening and sad to watch him. He had been in the tank for about 3 years when it happened.

Good luck, I have heard stories about them healing and pulling through. So, maybe your outcome will be better than mine

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

The PH is around 8.0 and the ammonia is hard to tell the test came at a very light green yellowish color but this might be because I did a cleaning last night so some of the algae might of got mixed up. Thats just my thought I'm far from an expert.

ammonia around .25

not bad in the ph. the am is high. do you have or use seachem prime or a bacterial additive? ammonia is not good in the tank, youll want to get that lower. Test again later, they can be wrong.
cleaning i dont think will affect your ammonia.

 

[Davesgt]

What is your salinity? The reason ive asked is because ive had multiple starfish over the years and when the salinity gets out of whack they can shed arms or even get holes in the top of them, is it possible the water you changed when you cleaned was either high or low?

 

[Jisko]

Right now I'm using PhosGuard because I had a hair algae problem for awhile but that has cleared up now.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Your looking for a water conditioner.(in freshwater terms) generally they are bacterial. it eats the ammonia. good for when the system (cycle) is overloaded.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

What is your salinity? The reason ive asked is because ive had multiple starfish over the years and when the salinity gets out of whack they can shed arms or even get holes in the top of them, is it possible the water you changed when you cleaned was either high or low?

good point.