Sand sifting star lost a leg and a half

[austinsdad]

Got two of'm in a 75g. The other is just fine. There's a 2 1/2" fine sand bed, 80-90lbs of rock. Been with me for 8 months with no problems. 2 brittle stars, 2 percs, yellow tang, foxface rabbitfish, purple firefish, neon goby, and 2 b/g chromis. Of course a bunch of hermits (electric blue, red legged), snails, cleaner shrimp, & pepermints.

What could be the culprit? Something deep in the sand maybe? Can't imagine any of the tankmates having him for lunch.

 

[quarryshark]

Maybe a rock shifted and he got stuck. I don't know, just a reach.

 

[steve-s]

Could actually be none of the above. One thing I have heard about these stars is the loss of a limb could be a sign of malnutrition. One of the problems with SS stars is they can clean a sanbed of any real food stuffs quite quickly depending on the size of tank. Considering your other 2 stars, surface foods would be quickly consumed as well.

If you are not already, try target feeding the star. Either bury some small meaty food near the star or wait till after lights out when they are more prone to surface movement and place it under a leg.

Cheers
Steve