Starfish Dying?

[mcritter86]

When I got home today I saw my Serpent Starfish with two holes in his head!! He is moving around normally. Tested my water with zero ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. Salt is 1.024. Everything else in the tank has been thriving for months, the starfish has been in since Feb. Was it just it's time or did he scratch his head per say? Was going to give him 48 hours to see if it heals.

Sorry, my camera sucks for aquarium pics.

 

[little_fish]

check for stray voltage, they tend to dissolve like that when you have stray voltage

Identifying, Locating and Curing Stray Voltage in a Saltwater Aquarium

 

[mcritter86]

If I fix that, will it heal? If there is stray voltage.

 

[little_fish]

if the center disc is disintegrating, i dont think there is much hope for him healing no matter what the cause is. But its worthwhile to figure out what cause this that way you can prevent any other inverts from being effected.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Was he exposed to air?

Also, double check your tests with another kit. Starfish are very susceptible to high nitrates. One of the symptoms is disintegrating.

 

[mcritter86]

Has not been in air unless he climbed out of the tank and back in while I am at work. Will take my water to the LFS for testing. According to my API kit I have had 0 nitrates since May after I added a protein skimmer.
The center of the disc is okay, its just on two sides.
Going to unplug everything but one powerhead, the heater, and protein skimmer until I can get my DMM from work tomorrow. I'm sure everything can survive the night.