Star fish wit hole but still alive!

[beamer]

Ok my star fish has a big hole but is still eating and is alive! Why does he have this hole? I've had him for over a year and never had problems with him until this...

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af108/sajr08/c013bb6e.jpg

[Janus]

Is this a sudden development, or did it happen over time?

[beamer]

Sudden but he already died. I caught my dogface picking at his top. He had no top at all and he just died today.

[jeittreim]

sorry to hear about that beamer. I had the same thing happen to my brittlestar a number of years ago. turns out the cage on one of my powerheads had come off and he had gotten stuck to it. the entire top of him was missing and every time he ate the food would just float through the top. believe it or not, he survived and eventually recovered like new.

[beamer]

I tried to put him in a different tank but I didn't know of anybody that can take care of him without him getting chewed up by other fishes. My dam puffer ate him all up!