sand sifting star

[craig_will2513]

hi all i recently (1 month) ago added 2 sand sifting stars to my tank.. however during the acclimatisation time one managed to escape into the tank after only a few mins. i think it has died.. iv seen one and i know its the same one as one arm is missing. but i havnt seen the other one.. iv tested the water and the amonia has started to rise so this is what i think.. the one that got out and didnt acclimatise has burrowed into my sand and died and this is why my amonia is up.. so iv taken out all the rock and began to search the sand but cant find it anywhere.. is it possible it has decomposed after such a short time or maybe my hermits have eaten him.. iv seen no sign of any body or not seen the hermits eating anything.... iam completly confussed on this one any ideas people...

 

[slitherbomb]

Sand shifting stars often starve in an aquarium. 1 would be excessive, but 2 is wayyyyyyyyy too much. It is probably not decomposed, just in the sand. It probably hasn't died either. Keep looking.

 

[craig_will2513]

thanks. but iv looked and its no where to be seen.i didnt know they have problems in aquariums..i see the one star everyday he is very active but the other one is no where to be seen

 

[slitherbomb]

They usually only do well in very established systems with dsb.

 

[carey]

It very well could be in the sandbed somewhere, or maybe it jsu burrowed and died. have you had any ammonia spikes? They are notorious for starving under the sand and decomposing. Part of the reason I havent gotten one yet, I'm too faint of heart. lol

 

[craig_will2513]

yeah i thought it has died but iv taken all the rock out and combed the sand and its just not there lol.. could it have decomposed already or have been eaten.

 

[carey]

Depends on your cleanup crew. osme are very efficient, but the stars are usually kinda big so it should have been hard to miss a spike no matter hwo good they are. Those stars will literally burrow to the glass and hang out there.

What you could do is feed some food into the sand and see if anything goes for it. Like use a turkey baster and stick it in and squirt. I've read that you can supplement their food source that way. I don't have one but that is what I;ve come up with in my research,.

 

[craig_will2513]

well i have 20 manila hermits and ten turban snails.. i know they are hard to keep but i can not find him or even a body. so do you mean just put the baster into the sand and inject food into it.. what food can i use

 

[carey]

I wouldnt go crazy with the food but you could use regular frozen food. You said you still have one star left right? I;m sure he would appreciate the food as well.

 

[mr_X]

they don't eat that. they eat microfauna. you are just going to make your ammonia problems worse. i would do a water change or two and see what happens.

 

[carey]

Am I just not getting the right information?

Saltwater Aquarium Starfish for Marine Reef Aquariums: Sand Sifting Sea Star

 

[mr_X]

that's completely untrue. it will not eat meaty foods.

 

[carey]

I learned something today.

Is there any site that you feel is accurate? Alot of us go by liveaqauria and if what you say is true then alot of people are gonna have issues at some point due to the misinformation.

 

[jahardage]

I feed mine chopped frozen shrimp weekly that is placed under the sand. He moves right to it and gobbles it up.

 

[mr_X]

well, i have noticed a lot of the sites have copied and pasted information that may or may not be accurate, for various reasons. some things we thought were true, have since been disproved, and some things were just plain overlooked IMO.
i don't know any one place for information. i try to gather it from as many sources as are available.

-how do you know he moves right to it if it's under the sand?

 

[jahardage]

Because I know exactly where I place it. I always plant two because sometime my goby acts mischievous and will try to dig one up. Within 15 minutes the star will surface from under the sand where he is and move to directly over where one is planted and start going down for it. I always plant them within a few inches of where he is already under the sand. I watch him do it everytime because I think it is so cool.

 

[mr_X]

interesting. i have never witnessed anything like this and neither have 99.9% of the reef keepers before me. is it possible there are 2 species that resemble one another?

 

[jahardage]

I read somewhere that there are as many as 7 species that all look very similar. Don't know how much truth there is to that though.

 

[mr_X]

there must be some if you are 100% sure it's eating meaty foods, and it's not just the bristle worms or nassarius snails eating it.