I just got a orange starfish a couple days ago and now its starting to "curl". 4 of its legs are basically limp and/or curled off the glass, and 1 leg is holdin on. I noticed it does this mainly when the light is off. Is this normal? Is it sick\dying?
Curly starfish??
- Thread starter JonPM
- Start date
It's not good. The curling indicates that the vascular structure of the leg was damaged, and the star can't control those parts of it's legs any longer. This does sound like a linkia, and they are very difficult to find in good shape. They are sensitive to parameter changes, and have to be slowly acclimated. Since this seldom happens in LFS, it means most of those available for sale will be in rough shape.
Watch yours closely. It sounds like it is too far gone to me--4 legs is an awful lot--but as long as there is one good leg and the central disk is in good shape, it might make it. If that last leg goes too, remove it before it pollutes the tank. You'll also want to watch the other inverts in there--hermits especially will go after an injured star and kill it.
Watch yours closely. It sounds like it is too far gone to me--4 legs is an awful lot--but as long as there is one good leg and the central disk is in good shape, it might make it. If that last leg goes too, remove it before it pollutes the tank. You'll also want to watch the other inverts in there--hermits especially will go after an injured star and kill it.
Excuse my ignorance with star fish, but don't they regrow limbs if they are damaged/removed? I'd hate to have to remove its legs, but if that will help it in the long run I'd be willing.
Yes, they can, but there has to be a healthy disk, and enough of one leg to feed itself and be mobile. The problem here is that we're not talking about damage llike a cut, or being pinched, but rather ruptures of the vascular system. They typically do not survive. If the disk is damaged, removing the legs will not be helpful. Trying to remove them yourself could cause more trauma than it's already experiencing. I don't think cutting off the damaged legs will be helpful at this point, and could be detrimental.
Update
Ok, well it seems that there are 3 good legs instead of just 1, my mistake. Any chances on the star fish pulling through?
In case it doesn't survive, any tips on picking good star fish and keeping them? Should I stay away from these orange linkia star fish? Which other ones are hard to keep? thanks for all your help guys and girls
Ok, well it seems that there are 3 good legs instead of just 1, my mistake. Any chances on the star fish pulling through?
In case it doesn't survive, any tips on picking good star fish and keeping them? Should I stay away from these orange linkia star fish? Which other ones are hard to keep? thanks for all your help guys and girls
Linkia stars are pretty hard to keep. They need a very well established tank with a lot of live rock. The easiest to keep are probably brittle stars but, you won't see much of them. It would really depend on what else you have in your tank and want in your tank. A lot of stars are predators and could eat lots of the other critters out of your tank.
hth
chris
hth
chris