Sand Sifting Seastar

[Enygma_0]

All,

I am still a SW aquarium newb. I have a 29g tank setup and cycled completely. I bought a sand sifting seastar yesterday and it is now on the glass? Is this normal?

[darb2]

welcome to AA 8)
Most stars will go where the food is.
could you post a pic?

[seaham358]

My SS goes on the glass every once in a while, not very often.....what type of sand do you have and how deep is it.....

[Enygma_0]

My sand is 3-4 inches deep and 40 lbs of Fiji Pink Sand ARAG Alive. Well one bag of regular, one bag of Arag-Alive. At any rate my pictures of my tank are under my profile and here is a picture of my starfish.

[Enygma_0]

Oh and I took him off of the glass and put him back into the sand, and again he climbed back onto the glass. Is this very abnormal? I just bought him yesterday and he was in the sand for most of the night and in the morning he came out and climbed up on the glass. Any suggestions?

[quarryshark]

I have 2 and they do go on the glass once is awhile. They especially did this when I first brought them home. I have had them for 7 months and they are fat and sassy. Until last month, I only had a 2" sand bed. Now with the 4" sand bed, they are in heaven 8) . You can see one of mine in my gallery.
I wouldn't worry about it.

[SpeckledGrouper]

I have two in my 180g and they have never climbed the glass.

[Sparky]

I also got one...he has never went on the glass. Maybe it is because your sand bed is fairly new, and you don't have enough for him to eat. Maybe that is why he is on the glass, searching for food. They sift the sand looking for food. I have a 4-5 inch bed in my tank, and in some spots it is actually more like 6-7 inches deep. It is 125 gallon tank with lots of life in the sand, so that may be why mine doesn't climb the glass. Maybe....?????

Mike

[quarryshark]

it may be worth mentioning that since he is a new arrival, this may be him "checking out" his surrounding. I know you are getting a lot of conflicting opinons here. I would give it a few days and then get back to us.
Every animal if different, if they all responded the same to captivity, it would be rather boring.

[Enygma_0]

Thanks for all the responses. I am going to keep my eye on him over the next fe days and I will keep you posted. Hopefully he should have enough food to survive? Do I need to over feed I have almost no algea growth on my tank and glass, so that is a bit why I am confused. Hopefully all should turn out well.

[quarryshark]

I have tried to target feed mine, they always reject it (unlike my other stars). As long as you have a good live sand bed he should be happy. Its a pretty tough star.

[Enygma_0]

Happy to know my SS Starfish is doing good, it almost always stays down in the bed, however I frequently don't see it bury itself. However there is LOADS of stuff for him to eat on the surface, I am sure that's why it stays near the top.