feeding cocktail shrimp

[stevefromga2000]

i just wanted to let you guys know that i had been having some problems with my starfish, he wasn't moving around a lot and was looking pretty bad. finally, today i went and bought some cocktail shrimp - i had been told that he would eat it - and put a small chunk on the bottom of the tank. then i grabbed patrick (the starfish) and sat him on top of the chunk of food. it was the most movement i have seen out of him in a long time. he moved right over top of it and it looks like he is eating it. also, i put a few other small chunks into the water for my banded shrimp and my fish, and pierre - the banded shrimp - got all excited and snatched up a piece as quick as i moved my hand away from it. anyways, just wanted to share with you all.

[roka64]

I think they sometimes need to be spot fed, if there is not enough food in the tank.

[melosu58]

Just be careful that all the pieces are eaten and not left somewhere to foul up your tank. What type star is he?

[tecwzrd]

I feed my star one fingernail sized piece once every other week. I eat shrimp myself quite a bit so I usually have it but don’t be embarrassed to ask for 1 shrimp at the fish counter because usually they will just give to you for free You can use frozen as long as you thaw it but buying fresh unfrozen is healthier.

Stars are extremely sensitive to any changes in temp/ph/sg and no3 over 10 ppm. They usually are not recommend to anyone with a tank less then 6 months old due to the unstable nature of newer tanks. Doing regular 10%-15% pwc weekly is critical to their long term survival.

If I have to do a pwc larger then 30% (lately I have due to traveling so much) I remove my star to a clean aerated bucket and re-acclimate him to my tank for a couple of hours with the drip method just to keep him from shock.

[stevefromga2000]

that explains a lot. i have been having some strange reading with my tank parameters lately, so maybe that is why he's been acting funny. thanks for the advice