brittle star.

[RJAG]

I've had this star for over 4 years but it disappeared about a week ago.
only yesterday did it reappear with one leg missing, then to my horror I
found it this morning out in front of the rock work (unusual for this unless
it was feeding time) and all its legs were gone. only stumps remained,
although one leg is twitching around on the gravel.
the only additions were a yellow tang, a couple of clowns and a peppermint
shrimp which has gone to ground and we don't know if its dead or not.
any suggestions for this has been the hardiest of creatures and I know their
time with us is limited but I fear something has changed. would the
increased nitrate level of the extra fish have caused this (my calerpa
hasn't kicked in yet in the refugium).

TIA

Robin.

P.s. is there any way to control the flow of an OR 6500 without it rattling
around the sump making a vicious noise. 40gallon tank with 4 powerheads for
circulation, a prizm skimmer and a Rio 1700 return pump. one chamber filled
with ceramic media and a second with calerpa.

[George]

"RJAG" > wrote in message
...
> I've had this star for over 4 years but it disappeared about a week ago.
> only yesterday did it reappear with one leg missing, then to my horror I
> found it this morning out in front of the rock work (unusual for this
> unless it was feeding time) and all its legs were gone. only stumps
> remained, although one leg is twitching around on the gravel.
> the only additions were a yellow tang, a couple of clowns and a
> peppermint shrimp which has gone to ground and we don't know if its dead
> or not.
> any suggestions for this has been the hardiest of creatures and I know
> their time with us is limited but I fear something has changed. would the
> increased nitrate level of the extra fish have caused this (my calerpa
> hasn't kicked in yet in the refugium).
>
> TIA
>
> Robin.

The peppermint shrimp almost surely fell victim to the brittle star, since
they just can't get enough of the little guys. Nitrate has little adverse
affect on brittle stars. I have a brittle star that I've had in my reef
tank for over 10 years. It is indeed, the hardest reef animal I've ever
seen. It is over 18" across (limb to limb). I don't know what caused your
problem. It seems like he may have got caught in an appliance (like a pump
or something). Mine lost the tip or an arm once when a rock shifted and
pinched it off. And another time, I had an anemone die, and the brittle
star ate it before I could remove the thing. It really did a number on him.
It burned a hole completely through it's body. It hid for months, and when
it finally came out, it was healed. If you don't have any more incidents
like this one, it should re-generate the limbs and be just fine.
Otherwise, I'd do a thorough search to try to find the cause. Chances are,
whatever it is, it is still in the tank.

>
> P.s. is there any way to control the flow of an OR 6500 without it
> rattling around the sump making a vicious noise. 40gallon tank with 4
> powerheads for circulation, a prizm skimmer and a Rio 1700 return pump.
> one chamber filled with ceramic media and a second with calerpa.
>

Can't help you there. I have a homemade wavemaker that sounds like a
toilet flushing every 60 seconds.

[Marc Levenson]

Hi Robin,

Go to your local fish store, and buy some filter pads made
for Eheim filters. It is a open cell-cast foam, and is
aquarium safe. Use scissors to cut it to the shape you
need, and place it under your pump.

Marc


RJAG wrote:

>
> P.s. is there any way to control the flow of an OR 6500 without it rattling
> around the sump making a vicious noise. 40gallon tank with 4 powerheads for
> circulation, a prizm skimmer and a Rio 1700 return pump. one chamber filled
> with ceramic media and a second with calerpa.
>
>

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