Feather star (sea lilly) curled up

[Princessjjmo]

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a video of a feather seastar and mentioned how gorgeous it was. My sweet boyfriend decided to surprise me with one.

I'm the fish lover. He's never had any interest but he's slowly getting interested. He wasnt aware how hard they are to take care of in captivity or the high mortality rate. And unfortunately it was ordered online and there's no lfs in my area.

There's really not a whole lot of information out there- but I think wanted to see if this behavior is normal. I have my hands tied and I'm so unsure of what to do. He's curled up like a little cupcake.

Im not confident in mailing him back. I posted on Facebook to see if there were any other saltwater hobbyists in my area that are maybe a bit more advanced than I am, as I've only been in saltwater for almost a year (freshwater over 10).

My parameters::

Temp 77
Salinity: 1.024
Ammonia: undetectable
Ph: 8
No2-: undetectable
No3-: 20ppm

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Crinoids are really tough to keep alive. Did this one move itself to that location, or did you place it there? I ask because they typically retract during the day, but will open their arms at night in the current to feed, and I don't think there is enough current where it is at.

These require very stable aquariums with perfect water conditions, and then, feeding them is an issue. I mostly see people trying live rotifers and phytoplankton. Maybe live brine shrimp, but I think that is too large for them. The "filter feeding" foods on the market don't seem to work well./

To be honest, I've stopped trying to keep these. If it starts to drop bits of its arm or pinnules, it is pretty much done for....sorry!

Jay