brittlestar losing legs?

[Kigs]

it looks like it's been cut off by something... but i'm not sure, it's legs are around the fish tank, but it's still alive. there is a white patch kinda thing to where the legs have fallen off..what does this mean?

[rshimek]

Hi Vince,

...what does this mean?

It means your star is in serious trouble. :(

What is the salinity of your system? All echinoderms should be kept in tanks with the salinity equal to 36 psu (=ppt; sp. g. = 1.025 or 1.026 depending on the temperature).

See this three part series to learn about care of such animals, 1 (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/rs/index.htm),
2 (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rs/index.htm), and 3 (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rs/index.htm).

Alternatively, if salinity is not the cause of problem, predators in the system may be the cause. What other animals do you have in the system.

[Kigs]

sad to say, he/she has died... entirely to my fault, i should've paid more attention to the salinity..

thank you for the links dr.ron, I will read them to insure that my other inverts live a better life than the brittlestar.