starfish lost a leg

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clark4feathers

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
422
Location
california
starfish has lost the tip of its arm...a marble starfish...does this mean it is going to die? as of late my luck has been horrible. :-( I acclimated him in a acclimate tank(which I am not impressed with) for 21/2 hours...I know he is probably stressed...long journey to get here.
 
It will grow back and your star fish will be fine even if it is stressed out. I would look at what is in your tank that ate it off if it lost it in your tank. What is in your tank with it?
 
diamond gobie, fire fish and a percula clown that is it...I think the starfish munched on some of my shrooms last night oh forgot the very funny cleaner shrimp.
 
I would be very careful as to me it sounds like something is eating it. Look for hitch hikers on your live rock, maybe a mantis shrimp. As for the corals you could have gotten a none coral safe starfish or a mantis shrimp can be doing that too.
 
Mantis shrimp look like the ones in the link below.

mantis shrim - Google Search

Do you hear a constant clicking in your tank at night after lights go out or maybe while the lights are on. Because if you do then it is a mantis.
 
the cleaner fish is most likely the culprit. I just recently pulled my marble out of the tank because there were pieces of him missing. Pretty much at the spot where the leg attaches to the middle. My star was getting somewhat washed out looking, so I figured it was only a matter of time. Several times I found my cleaner shrimp clinging to the star while on the window. There were pieces of the star just below on the sand when the cleaner shrimp was picking away. If you have a separate tank, you may consider splitting them up until the star gets used to things.
 
Did you check your water there might be a little spike in the amonia that makes them just start to die and fall apart because i noticed mine doing the same thing and he just went off and died. there also may be a worm in your tank i would fresh water dip him and pick him up to see if he is very limp and turn him over to. you might also have a pistol shrimp that could be picking on him.
 
hermits, cleaner shrimps will eat a starfish that is dying. They will eat the dead areas of the starfish. Give us some readings so we can eliminate the water as a source of the problem.
 
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