red serpent star-splitting in half

[jeremycave615]

I have had my red serpent star for a couple of weeks. It started to split in half a couple of days ago. I do not know if it torn itself on a rock. You can see the inside of it. Don't know what is going on, as it still moves around the tank. My other fish are picking at it also. Is there anything that I should do?

 

[Anonymous]

:welcome:

I'm amazed that no one has responded to you at all so far.. - Summer months are usually slow but not this bad.

The only thing I might be able to recommend is placing it in a quarantine tank or refugium and try to keep it well fed and safely out of any potentially harmful equipment. -- A lot of tank inhabitants meet their demise at the hands of powerheads, you may want to double-check those to make sure they're truly safe.

Other than that, theres probably not much else that can be done.

Keep it safe and well fed with the best water conditions you possibly can.

Best of luck and again, welcome to reefs.org!

Norm

 

[bleedingthought]

It could be an infection. Like stated, put it somewhere safe and see if it heals up! Welcome!

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like disintegration to me.

How old is your tank? What are the parameters.

Also, acclimation you used?

Also keep in mind, they are very sensitive to changes in temp, salinity, pH etc...stability with stars is important.

You must also have a lot of live rock. While serpents will grab anything (similar to brittles) to eat, their diet is still unkown, but indications are they graze on live rock and eat encrusting sponges and other similar life.

Good luck.