Urgent Copperband

I have had this copperband for 6 months and it was eating great. When I got home tonight I notice my britle star trying to grab the copperband and him hanging out in the corner. Just tried to feed it and it won't eat (usually always eats great). Then I noticed his left side looks funny...see pictures

:-[:-[

Can I do anything to help or can I medicate my reef tank..??

Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

I would throw the star in the fuge for a while. Isolate the fish. He's probably in shock.

 

Hopefully the poor guys gills are intact and his scales weren't punctured.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

my star fish is WAY to big to fit in my fuge...? Why is the cb in shock. do you see the nonuniform area near his gill?

 

It's possible her got a little too curious about the star and it got one of its sharp ends on him.. I do see the area on the cb. Is there a way you can isolate him, to prevent further damage for now?

I put a call into a friend who has the same combo in his tank and forwarded the pictures. I'll let you know what he says.

 

pardon my crappy english... i dont speak that bad. I've been up for 27 hours.

 

Thank you sir! It just looks like a couple of his scales have been damaged or rubbed off. No red just white?

 

Green serpent stars do catch and eat fish. The serpent will try it again, it is a learned behavior. Spot feeding the serpent seems to make no difference. Your poor fish, at least you caught him just in time.

 

Make sure you're serpent star is being fed regularly. It is common for some to think they are scavengers. But true, they are hunters and they do eat live fish. If you don't already have one, a pair of feeding tongs may be a good investment.

Feeding Prong

Getting food directly to the star is important. Keep it nice and full. If it gets hungry it goes on the hunt. Its all but impossible to "over feed" the starfish.
Try frozen whole shrimp or something of the sort. Talk to you LFS.

I'm glad you caught this before a different outcome. Hopefully your fish will calm down for it's near death experience, and regain its appetite.

 

Thanks for all the help! I did (not on purpose) stop feed the star fish as I have become more and more focused on my corals. So I guess the damaged scales on the cb could be from the brittle stars "arms".

1. So could I just go to the grocery store and buy uncooked frozen shrip?
2. Is the damage to the cb look like death is eminent?

thanks for all the help. i will post an updated pic of the poor guy tomorrow.