Blue Linkia in bad shape-Need Help

[GMH320]

I just came home to find my blue linkia in bad shape. It seemed to be "shriveled" and one arm had a white blotch, almost as if the blue skin had peeled off. I've had it for over 4 months and it seemed to be doing great until today. All water perameters a normal and everything else in the tank, corals and fish, are fine. I've moved it into the refugium because the cleaner shrimp were picking on it. Can anyone suggest a treatment? At first I thought it was actually dead until one arm started moving up the glass, thats how bad it looked. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JennM]

I've done amputations

I cut off the bad leg well past the necrosis, then dipped the linckia in either a Tech D dip (per package instructions) OR 40 drops Lugols solution to 1 gallon tank water. I dipped them for about 10 minutes to kill infection.

Jenn

 

[GMH320]

Thanks Jenn, I was hoping that someone would have a less drastic cure to try first. I'll gets some Lugals tomorrow and see if that does some good. If not I'll have to operate...

 

[JennM]

the first cut is the hardest

I tried just disinfecting, not removing the rotting tissue, but it didn't stop it. The amputation was a drastic measure, but it worked. If you go that route, get a sharp blade like an exacto knife or something sharp like a razorblade (or a scalpel would be best!) make sure it's clean, and make as clean a cut as possible for best results.

Jenn

 

[olinf]

Has your water temperature increased recently? I have done a great deal of work on an El Nino associated vibriosis that affects sea stars and many other echinoderms in the Gulf of California. It seems that echinoderm immune responses are very temperature dependant. A rise of only 2-3 degrees can cause massive outbreaks of ulcerations and necrosis. Treatment? Well, I have had success with streptomycin or tetracycline in hospital tanks as well as a drop in temperature. I haven't tried lugols, but I would suspect that it would be successful as well.
Olin

 

[GMH320]

I hope this guy has insurance, I charge an arm and a leg for surgery

 

[naesco]

Good one!

 

[Anonymous]

Linckia's have a poor record of survival in captivity. If you lose him, please don't get another one.

They require very careful acclimation i.e. a couple of days, and are also rather specialized microalgae feeders.