starfish lost a leg?

[reef cuber]

I have a small sand sifting starfish and yesterday I saw that he was missing a limb. I don't have any shrimp except a peppermint, plus various crabs. Any idea on who the culprit would be?

 

[billdogg]

Starvation. It is dying.

Sandsifting Stars have an abysmal track record in all but the largest and well established tanks.

 

[mcgyvr]

yep...
Nitrate results? They don't tolerate nitrates well at all from my experience and can loose legs/die from it..
And certainly starvation..

I've been lucky so far and have 1 doing good in my 40b tank but I wouldn't put it into anything smaller and even that is a bit "small" for a sand sifter..

 

[TYC]

You mention various crabs, what type r they? could be from crabs if they dont have enough food in tank and also depending on where ur live rocks came from. I had a tank with live rocks directly from the ocean with hitchhikers, thought I had removed all of the bad crabs but few still survived and after few weeks my serpent star was missing a limb. After isolating the star fish in the same tank, its limb grew back.

 

[thegrun]

How big is your tank? Sand sifting starfish require a very large tank and even then they often starve after stripping the sand of all nutrients. Generally they are not recommended for anything but the biggest of tanks, and even then they are destructive to the overall health of a tank.

 

[rum3002576]

my sand sifter just lost 2 limbs last week, he got caught in my powerhead. he seems to be doing fine now. hes in a 220 gallon

 

[heathlindner25]

Two starving starfish

 

[ca1ore]

Right, limb loss is usually the beginning of the disintegration process.

 

[rum3002576]

Mines not starving. All his damage was from my power head

 

[albano]

my sand sifter just lost 2 limbs last week, he got caught in my powerhead. he seems to be doing fine now. hes in a 220 gallon

Mines not starving. All his damage was from my power head

Unfortunately, they usually starve to death... When that happens, don't buy another one.

 

[mcgyvr]

Just for information..
My sand sifting starfish (about 5" across) is doing great/looks very healthy/full,etc... in my 40B tank and has been so for over a year now...
I only have 1 fish too (a leopard wrasse) that I NEVER feed.. Its doing just fine too..
So there is no additional food input into my tank.
My sand looks great.. Tons of "critters"/worms,etc.." in it..

IMO the "starvation" blah blah is a little overblown in this hobby..

So I guess.. results may vary and yes its only a year but.. it is what it is..
BTW I started with all dry rock/sand and the only input of "critters" was via about 20 different coral frags..

 

[sde1500]

Not saying the starving is/isn't true, but most of the info like that seems to be passed thread to thread around here, with most claims coming from people who've never had the creature that they are talking about.

 

[mcgyvr]

Not saying the starving is/isn't true, but most of the info like that seems to be passed thread to thread around here, with most claims coming from people who've never had the creature that they are talking about.

Welcome to Reef Central and the internet :lolspin:

 

[albano]

Not saying the starving is/isn't true, but most of the info like that seems to be passed thread to thread around here, with most claims coming from people who've never had the creature that they are talking about.

I was never part of your focus group!

 

[Bronnerboy]

I had one sand sifting starfish get caught in my power head and lose a limb. I have since added a sponge filter to my power head and the starfish has regrown about 75% of that lost limb. If you don't have any exposed power heads in your tank then I would assume starvation.

 

[ca1ore]

Not saying the starving is/isn't true, but most of the info like that seems to be passed thread to thread around here, with most claims coming from people who've never had the creature that they are talking about.

Vast majority of stars are not enduring in our tanks (both personal experience and anecdotal reports form other hobbyists). They do OK for a while and then begin to disintegrate. Whether they starved or died from something else (perhaps delayed reaction to supply chain stress) is immaterial to the process of disintegration.

 

[TYC]

I've had brittle star fish with no problem and never lost limb from starvation. I fed them small pieces of shrimp every 2 weeks or so whenever I fed the anemone...If u think they're starving and there's not enough food in the tank for them u should feed them pieces of shrimp.

 

[ca1ore]

I've had brittle star fish with no problem and never lost limb from starvation. I fed them small pieces of shrimp every 2 weeks or so whenever I fed the anemone...If u think they're starving and there's not enough food in the tank for them u should feed them pieces of shrimp.

Right, the perils of assumptions. I should have noted that brittle/serpent stars are completely different. They are easy and certain species will proliferate all over your tank. The non brittles are much harder.