Sea Star Lost an Arm (or Leg)

[QuothTheRaven]

Hello, I'm having some concerns with my sand sifting sea star. I've done some research on what to do in this case and I'm adraid he may be starving. I saw elsewhere that I should try feeding Reef Roids, however If my lfs doesn't have any reef roids would it work to purchase microorganisms of another kind? Phytoplankton, zooplankton etc? I'm very new to saltwater, I've been doing it for about 10 months or so and I feel like I'm always learning just one or two new things at a time that I feel I should have already known.

Here is some background on whats up with the rest of my tank. The star lost a leg yesterday and it's been swimming around a bit frantically since. I also have a sea lettuce nudibranch and it's in the top corner of the tank and hasn't moved in a couple of days. It's definitely alive, I've checked him frequently since he set up camp there. Is that a sign of the perameters being off? I've not checked yet this week but when I checked last monday they were all in the green. I don't have time to check right now, but will check them this afternoon when I get home and update the thread if necessary/relevant. I don't think anything has died, though my porclain crab tends to disappear for weeks at a time with no issue, so I suppose he could have died and caused an ammonia spike. My Anemone has also moved from it's spot between the rocks to be against the front glass pannel. He's still on the same rock. Additionally I have one banggai cardinal fish, one Turbo Snail, 2 bumblebee snails, 4 blue legged hermit crabs and 1 red legged hermit crab, and none of them appear to be acting out of the ordinary.

Thank you in advance for any help you guys can provide.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hello, I'm having some concerns with my sand sifting sea star. I've done some research on what to do in this case and I'm adraid he may be starving. I saw elsewhere that I should try feeding Reef Roids, however If my lfs doesn't have any reef roids would it work to purchase microorganisms of another kind? Phytoplankton, zooplankton etc? I'm very new to saltwater, I've been doing it for about 10 months or so and I feel like I'm always learning just one or two new things at a time that I feel I should have already known.

Here is some background on whats up with the rest of my tank. The star lost a leg yesterday and it's been swimming around a bit frantically since. I also have a sea lettuce nudibranch and it's in the top corner of the tank and hasn't moved in a couple of days. It's definitely alive, I've checked him frequently since he set up camp there. Is that a sign of the perameters being off? I've not checked yet this week but when I checked last monday they were all in the green. I don't have time to check right now, but will check them this afternoon when I get home and update the thread if necessary/relevant. I don't think anything has died, though my porclain crab tends to disappear for weeks at a time with no issue, so I suppose he could have died and caused an ammonia spike. My Anemone has also moved from it's spot between the rocks to be against the front glass pannel. He's still on the same rock. Additionally I have one banggai cardinal fish, one Turbo Snail, 2 bumblebee snails, 4 blue legged hermit crabs and 1 red legged hermit crab, and none of them appear to be acting out of the ordinary.

Thank you in advance for any help you guys can provide.

Any pics of the star and tank?

With regards to what to feed the sand sifting starfish:

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
I'd try something like clam, oyster, etc. and/or snail meat (you can find various frozen/live marine snails to try online, including conch meat, periwinkle snails, babylonian snails, etc.)

The quote below is specifically geared toward Astropecten spp. (predatory) sand sifting stars, but there is another genus of sand sifting stars called Archaster that is thought (importantly the diet was inferred, not studied in the research that this diet was pulled from) to be detritivorous (specifically, they are thought to be microphagous detritivores). I have heard but cannot confirm that Archaster spp. misidentified as Astropecten spp. may be more common in the hobby than actual Astropecten spp. are.

So, with this in mind:
- If your star is detritivorous (which may be a very big if), then you would likely want smaller foods than the suggested below (which is designed for predatory sand sifters). In this case, I'd suggest trying to mix something like TDO Chroma Boost into the sand for your stars to find.
- If your star is predatory (which may to our limited knowledge be possible at this point even if it is an Archaster sp.), then the below advice (and my advice above) is more likely to be useful.
- If your star is actually primarily a biofilm eater like Linckia spp. Protoreaster nodosus, etc. (which may also to our limited knowledge be possible for an Archaster sp.), then it's likely to die regardless of what you do or don't feed it at this point.

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
I’ve heard they climb the glass when they’re looking for food and can’t find any in the sand bed.

Generally, people recommend large tanks and waiting until your tank is established before trying these (or pretty much any) sea stars, and the star survives on detritus in the tank. Unfortunately, even in a lot of these tanks, after they finish clearing the detritus from the sand, they typically starve.

My current advice to avoid the star staving - which may or may not help, I genuinely don't know at this point (it could take someone months to years of testing it to find out for certain, as sea stars can last months without food):
Target feed the star things like clam on half shell, oyster, mussel, scallop, etc. (bivalves); snail, whelk, conch, etc. (sea snail gastropods); and a good quality omnivore food (like LRS Reef Frenzy or Fertility Frenzy). These are - according to the best sources of information I can find - the sorts of foods sand sifting stars consume in the wild, and the star should swallow these foods whole if they aren't too big - you might need to experiment a bit with the size of the pieces offered to get it sized just right, but generally I'd say err on the smaller side.

If you decide to give it a shot, let me know how it goes, and keep me updated on the long term survival of the star!

 

[Stomatopods17]

Sand sifting starfish unfortunately are one of those trap animals that turns over your sand bed, then starves to death. Its like buying a horseshoe crab, it seems appealing because its really good at what it does, hurts nothing else, but requires some really specific care to keep long term.

You need a really old tank (dirty sand) with a lot of surface area and deep sand bed to sustain one for awhile. There are ways to manually feed them but some articles state that even with manual feeding its not enough to sustain them when they get bigger, allegedly they might not even eat the food we'd give them as they eat the micro organisms themselves in the sand.

Reef roids is an interesting suggestion but I don't think that'd work for these, it eats whats in the sand, not really what's ontop or being blown around the water. You'd probably nuke the system with nitrates or algae bloom first to get reef roids to the star.

The Complete Guide to Sand Sifting Starfish Care

Sand Sifting Starfish are great saltwater aquarium cleaners. When you follow the parameters in our guide for optimal tank setup, everyone will be happy.

www.fishkeepingworld.com

Arm loss can be contributed to either injury, parasites, or first sign of dying.