Red sea star feeding question

bearman88 · Apr 3, 2023

Hello, I just picked up a ~2.5" red sea star. I've heard they need nori seaweed supplemented. Just curious how much, how often, and where should I place the clip? at the very bottom of the tank, or up higher etc.? Seems like CuC will get the nori if too low.

Any other tips for this guy for long term success?

blaxsun · Apr 3, 2023

I like feeding off a rock, ie: rubber band 1/4 sheet to a small rock and leave in the sand bed. I would try and place it near your starfish to see if he's interested in it or not (and yes, other CUC/fish will probably avail themselves - even if positioned up higher).

bearman88 · Apr 4, 2023

blaxsun said:
I like feeding off a rock, ie: rubber band 1/4 sheet to a small rock and leave in the sand bed. I would try and place it near your starfish to see if he's interested in it or not (and yes, other CUC/fish will probably avail themselves - even if positioned up higher).

That sounds smart, any idea how often I should try to feed him? I was going to use about a 2"x2" strip of nori.

blaxsun · Apr 4, 2023

bearman88 said:
That sounds smart, any idea how often I should try to feed him? I was going to use about a 2"x2" strip of nori.

It's going to vary, but I take a sheet of SeaVeggies and tear it into 4 pieces (roughly 1.5" x 1.5" each) and rubberband those to separate rocks.

I'd probably start with one rock and see how fast it gets consumed. If it's still uneaten after a few hours, remove, let dry and try it again the next day.

The creatures in my tank have learned to love "seaweed mornings", and they make short work of 5-6 rocks in about 30-45 seconds...

bearman88 · Apr 4, 2023

blaxsun said:
It's going to vary, but I take a sheet of SeaVeggies and tear it into 4 pieces (roughly 1.5" x 1.5" each) and rubberband those to separate rocks.

I'd probably start with one rock and see how fast it gets consumed. If it's still uneaten after a few hours, remove, let dry and try it again the next day.

The creatures in my tank have learned to love "seaweed mornings", and they make short work of 5-6 rocks in about 30-45 seconds...

Great ideas, thank you. I'm on the downhill battle of GHA.. if he has plenty of that to consume, I suppose the starfish may not be interested in the nori. I just placed a piece right on top of him so let's see what happens.

blaxsun · Apr 4, 2023

bearman88 said:
Great ideas, thank you. I'm on the downhill battle of GHA.. if he has plenty of that to consume, I suppose the starfish may not be interested in the nori. I just placed a piece right on top of him so let's see what happens.

I haven't had great success with starfish (other than the brittle ones), so hopefully he'll at least check out your GHA. Some critters that are known for tackling GHA are ring cowries, spiny astrea snails, lawnmower blenny (they can be very particular about their diet) and abalone. Emerald crabs can also work on GHA but the challenge is when other (tastier) food is introduced they tend to bore quickly (they're kind of algae snobs).

Stomatopods17 · Apr 6, 2023

Do you know which kind of a red star fish it is?

If its a fromia it will eat the film that grows in the tank naturally rather than any seaweed. If its a knobby red sea star it'll eat pretty much anything, you can even hand stick a piece of krill under it.

Fromia's are trickier to keep long term because their diet is more specialized.

bearman88 · Apr 10, 2023

Stomatopods17 said:
Do you know which kind of a red star fish it is?

If its a fromia it will eat the film that grows in the tank naturally rather than any seaweed. If its a knobby red sea star it'll eat pretty much anything, you can even hand stick a piece of krill under it.

Fromia's are trickier to keep long term because their diet is more specialized.

Fromia it appears. He has only stayed on my rocks and only moved a few inches in the week I've had it.

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 10, 2023

How big is your tank? Outlook usually isn't very positive for Fromias...i should know as i conducted an entire study on them...

bearman88 · Apr 10, 2023

livinlifeinBKK said:
How big is your tank? Outlook usually isn't very positive for Fromias...i should know as i conducted an entire study on them...

Red Sea Reefer 250 (65g)

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 10, 2023

bearman88 said:
Red Sea Reefer 250 (65g)

You should definitely offer additional food in that case

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 10, 2023

Can you post a pic...there are plenty of red starfish out there and even among the Fromia genus diets vary...i really doubt he'll have much interest in seaweed though...but you can always give it a shot...

bearman88 · Apr 10, 2023

livinlifeinBKK said:
Can you post a pic...there are plenty of red starfish out there and even among the Fromia genus diets vary...i really doubt he'll have much interest in seaweed though...but you can always give it a shot...

kinda blurry, let me know if I should retake

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 10, 2023

bearman88 said:
kinda blurry, let me know if I should retake

It's kind of hard to tell in the pic but if i had to guess, I'd say F. milleporella...they eat biofilm and during my study they would show any interest in the foods that the F. indica starfish loved even...

bearman88 · Apr 14, 2023

@livinlifeinBKK I need to do a water change, but my red star has been at the top of tank/water line, currently snoozing on my return spout. Can I gently nudge him off, very carefully? I just don't want to stress it.

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 14, 2023

bearman88 said:
@livinlifeinBKK I need to do a water change, but my red star has been at the top of tank/water line, currently snoozing on my return spout. Can I gently nudge him off, very carefully? I just don't want to stress it.

Yes, you can nudge him off and it won't cause any harm. He would also be fine with you doing the water change and leaving him there however...stars can withstand being out of water for a short time contrary to popular belief. I'd nudge him off though personally.

bearman88 · Apr 24, 2023

@livinlifeinBKK

Well I think this star is starting it's demise. A few days ago I noticed some white lesions on the top of body. The picture makes it look worse, but it is spreading more each day. He seems to completely ignore any of the seaweed I place beside him. Today I watched him put a leg over the seaweed, but quickly moved on past it.

He is moving fairly quickly all over my tank today.

Think I should try to get him out and return to LFS to save it? Any other ideas? I feel guilty about this impulse purchase now.

bearman88 · Apr 26, 2023

@livinlifeinBKK
update: he's doing better, the spots have reduced. He's back to hanging out on my glass, he prefers to keep one leg out of the water it seems. Fingers crossed.

Should I be concerned if he isn't eating the seaweed? anything else i should supplement?

Stomatopods17 · Apr 27, 2023

Its a fromia so it isnt going to eat anything you give it.

they eat microfilm algae, basically either the tank has enough or it doesn't, only thing i could suggest is a rock from an older tank to maybe seed more of it.

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 28, 2023

bearman88 said:
@livinlifeinBKK
update: he's doing better, the spots have reduced. He's back to hanging out on my glass, he prefers to keep one leg out of the water it seems. Fingers crossed.

Should I be concerned if he isn't eating the seaweed? anything else i should supplement?

Try feeding a variety of fresh seafoods...I'm not surprised the seaweed didn't work out although since they've rarely been kept successfully it is good to try anything and see how it goes. While their natural diet is in fact biofilm, it's untrue that no Fromia genus stars will eat any alternative foods. This is something I know from experience. However, it does depend on the species what foods they will take.
It's great that the spots have reduced! At this point I would focus on finding a food source he will eat and worry about the leg out of the water and possible reasons later.