pink bubble brittle star looses leg!

So, i am slowly taking down my 36 gal corner and setting up a 90 gal. I was taking most of the LR out of the 36 gallon, and i dropped a piece, apparently scaring the "LEG" out of my starfish, lol. We noticed a few hours later that the leg was still crawling around the tank... creepy. Well, its been 6 days, and the leg is still crawling around the tank. I thought maybe it was just the tiny bit of flow running through the tank, but nope, its crawling. Is this normal, or is my tank haunted lol. The starfish seems to be doing fine with his stump tho.

 

I have no clue, but creepy! ha

 

Yes normal.

What until you see it go after food or try to eat, now that is truely creepy.

 

yes i just watched it try to feed itself, lol. how long will it live without a body?

 

I have no idea. I have heard they need to have at least a small piece of the main body ( mouth and associated nervous system). Mine was in a very large tank and I lost track of it. :-/

 

this is interesting. I had a small serpent star lose a leg a couple months back, but I think a crab might have eaten it. I had kept track of it for a week or so(it was only the tip of the leg) then it was gone.

 

Well my 90 is still showing .25 of ammonia, so i will keep this tank up for now and will see how long the leg lives. it has none of the body attached. it broke off about 1" away from the body. it is about 6" long

 

Well, its now been 11 days, and the leg is still alive! Its really creepy, but that tank will come down this week so either way it wont live too much longer!

 

13 days and counting...
Yesterday, the leg was barely moving, and i thought it was on its way out, but today, the leg is quite active. I am taking down and cleaning out my 36 gallon, and since the leg is still alive i am moving it to the fuge of my 90 gallon to see how long it lives. it is turning white at the proximal end where it broke off. i figure it is slowly dying from that end, but what do you guys think. Is my little "experiment" worth it, and if the leg dies and i dont catch it within a few hours will it throw my tank off?

 

That is awsome. I thought to myself "I can see it moving a little for a couple hours," but 13 days! That's insane. I would say it would add some ammonia. Not sure how much. Other than that I don't think it would nuke the tank or anything.