Feeding a starfish?

[Bill P]

I have a brittle starfish. Not a green one. A banded one. Anyway, I want to be sure that it gets enough food, so I'm expecting that I will need to target-feed the little beastie.

My question is: How? I have tried putting all kinds of stuff on the bottom of the tank, right in front of it. That always seems to make it become very active, but it never actually eats what I have given it. It just runs around the tank for a half an hour or so, and then climbs back into the live rock.

I guess this must suggest that it's getting what it needs. But it isn't like I have a big giant tank with an infinite supply of edible matter laying around, either.

Should I just keep doing what I'm doing, and assume that when the pickings get slim enough on the bottom of the tank, the starfish will become more interested in what I offer?

How often do they actually need to eat?

I have been offering frozen chunks of cyclopeeze and mysis shrimp -- are there better things to try?

 

[mellowyellow]

Hi. I've seen my brittle stars eat the thawed shrimp that makes it to the bottom if they're hungry. I also saw one dispose of an expired chromis. I was amazed. I don't know where the star put it all. Interesting. They are noctural animals. So perhaps feeding it with the shrimp after the lights go out at night would hasten its feeding. It's worth a try.