What's eating my starfish??

[AmberL]

My sand sifting starfish has been chewed on! Four of its legs are half missing. One of those has part of the chewed-on piece still attached. What could have done this?? I currently have 2 clowns, 1 goldrim tang, 1 diamond goby, 3 blue damsels, 1 midas blenny, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 porcelain crabs, and 2 sand sifting starfish.

The starfish is still alive and moving around the tank. Will it regenerate its halfway missing limbs? Can I do anything to help it out?

Is it possible that I have a mantis shrimp? Could that be the culprit?

[jamesdean3]

If there is not sufficent food for a star fish to survive it will start to "eat" its own limbs as a last ditch effort to stay alive. Mind it won't actually stick its arms into its mouth, it will rather slowly detierate into itself which looks alot like its being eaten. Unfortunately most starfish can't live long term in most tanks under 150+ gallons as they consume alot and ineviitabely exhaust its food resources and you having (2) in a 90 might be the problem. Look into what i'm saying and good luck to you.


p.s. you might try and spot feed the starfish like a raw piece of shrimp on the sand bed infront of it to see if that helps give it some nutrients....again GL!

[SecretiveFish]

+1 to above.

Another thing to check is your water parameters (also check your test kits, they may not be good anymore). Starfish can be sensitive to nitrates. Do try spot feeding him and keeping your water parameters pristine as this will be you best bet to saving him.

From your list of livestock, nobody stands out as a starfish eater. Good luck!

[AmberL]

Thanks for the info. He must be starving; all my water parameters are great.
I wonder if spot feeding him will keep him alive until August; that's when my new house will be finished and we're installing a 300 gallon tank. I doubt he'll survive that long, but I'll try. I feel bad that this is happening.

[briankmarsh1980]

Your tank is way to small for 1 it is most likely dieing from starvation

[Scizzle]

is it possible you have a harlequin shrimp?
If so, I'd be pretty sure thats your problem.

(PS this was a joke)

[thomashan]

Woah, 90 gallon is too small for starfish? I ask b/c I'm in process of researching/getting one for my 65 gallon Red Sea Max 250

[stingythingy45]

What do you have for substrate?
If it's crushed coral,that would be the issue.

[xCry0x]

Originally Posted by thomashan

Woah, 90 gallon is too small for starfish? I ask b/c I'm in process of researching/getting one for my 65 gallon Red Sea Max 250

Apparently you are not far in your research. Just from liveaquria on a sand sifting star...

"This peaceful omnivore will effectively clean even the largest home aquarium of detritus and left over food. Like other starfish, the Sand Sifting Sea Star will also consume small invertebrates, including shrimp, urchins, mollusks, bivalves, or other small sea stars. As such, the Sand Sifting Sea Star should be actively fed a varied diet consisting of natural food sources, especially in well-established marine aquariums. Otherwise, this voracious feeder will quickly clean your aquarium of detritus and then burrow into your substrate, starve, and eventually begin to decay.

To foster its feeding habits, the Sand Sifting Sea Star should be kept in aquariums with large, deep sand bottoms of several inches in depth. Since it is slower moving than most fish, the Sand Sifting Sea Star should not be housed with natural predators, including Puffers."