Feather starfish won't eat.

[dbesser1]

I recently bought a Feather Starfish. Can't get it to eat anything. Have tried shrimp, krill, and pieces of squid and clams. Curious if anyone knows of anything that it will eat >:[

 

[uhuru]

If it's truly a feather star and not a basket star you should be feeding much smaller food particles. They usually don't ship well and need tlc to recover. Try cyclopeeze, baby brine shrimp, Rotifers, nutramar ova, fauna Marin ultra min F, fauna Marin zoa food, coral captive E... Try stirring up your sand bed and dosing phytoplankton. Check out the fauna Marin forum and non photosynthetic forum.

 

[uhuru]

Feed multiple times throughout the day. Maintain stable water params.

 

[olemiss reb]

They're a filter feeder and have one of the very worst survival rates of anything you can keep in a home tank. You are going to need to spot feed it every night a few hours after lights go out.

I've never attempted one, never plan to, but I would try phyto, rotifiers, cyclo, and maybe ova.



http://www.nova.edu/ocean/messing/crinoids/10 Crinoid diets.html

 

[dbesser1]

Ooooo that might be why. I have phyto so I will have to try the direct feed.

 

[uhuru]

I would do more than that.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Part of the trouble with feather stars is not all of them eat the same thing therefore it is very hard to care for most of them. Next time maybe try to research stuff before you buy it.

Mine ate frozen cylopeeze. They had sticky arms. I'm assuming yours does not as they seem to be less common.

 

[uhuru]

There is actually a lot of research out there on what they eat. If you're interested I have a ton of research papers on it. Also contact aquabacs he has written a good article as well. They are suspension feeders, and when healthy can eat a wide range of suitable sized particles, including detritus and bacteria.