Starfish dietary and help

[kable8]

Hi all,

I got this red fromia star from a LFS about 8 months ago.
The store said that they graze on algae, like flake food as well as being an omnivore.
I struggle to see how they feed in a competitive community, does anyone have any good advice for feeding and what?

The reason this has raised my concern after 8 months is that he lost a leg, he was very close to a power head when I found him so at first I though maybe it put a leg where he shouldn’t.
But now 2 other legs look like the ends are damaged.
Water parameters are all normal and have been consistent for the whole duration it has been in the tank which makes me think maybe diet?

It’s a pretty peaceful tanks so I don’t think a fish or invert would cause this.
Any ideas what else could cause this?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Despite what your LFS told you, Fromia stars are biofilm eaters (a diet we can’t replicate at this point), and they typically starve in our aquariums - for many people, the first sign they notice that something is wrong is the starfish losing limbs before the basically disintegrate.

For Fromia stars specifically, @livinlifeinBKK may be able to offer some supplemental feeding advice, but (to my understanding) it’s a pretty intensive care regimen and it may or may not be helpful depending on what species you have.

 

[kable8]

Despite what your LFS told you, Fromia stars are biofilm eaters (a diet we can’t replicate at this point), and they typically starve in our aquariums - for many people, the first sign they notice that something is wrong is the starfish losing limbs before the basically disintegrate.

For Fromia stars specifically, @livinlifeinBKK may be able to offer some supplemental feeding advice, but (to my understanding) it’s a pretty intensive care regimen and it may or may not be helpful depending on what species you have.

Thank you for the response,
As this was my fears I will do more research on feeding and see if it’s possible to get it rehabilitated

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is one of the most difficult along with Linkia stars to raise successfully and feed as they need a constant food source that is not always available. They also require steady salt level and cannot tolerate elevated nitrate levels along with needed lower temperature range of 73-77.

 

[Dan_P]

Hi all,

I got this red fromia star from a LFS about 8 months ago.
The store said that they graze on algae, like flake food as well as being an omnivore.
I struggle to see how they feed in a competitive community, does anyone have any good advice for feeding and what?

The reason this has raised my concern after 8 months is that he lost a leg, he was very close to a power head when I found him so at first I though maybe it put a leg where he shouldn’t.
But now 2 other legs look like the ends are damaged.
Water parameters are all normal and have been consistent for the whole duration it has been in the tank which makes me think maybe diet?

It’s a pretty peaceful tanks so I don’t think a fish or invert would cause this.
Any ideas what else could cause this?

@livinlifeinBKK , is this sea star starving go death?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

@Dan_P and @ISpeakForTheSeas thanks for the tag...I cant tell with certainty which species it is from those pics but yes, it's likely starving and limb loss can be a symptom of starvation in advanced stages. I'd certainly assume this to be the case if you don't know the cause and even if it isn't because of starvation, it probably has slowly been starving and after 8 months is getting very close to death. It's very unlikely it can be sustained in any tank on biofilm alone since we aren't even sure which elements are most important for nutrition in their biofilm diet. Furthermore, I've never heard of anyone being able to sustain a Fromia genus starfish for much longer than 8 months. I've heard cases of people who have kept Linckia genus starfish for years without supplemental feeding but obviously they belong to a separate genus and have different (not necessarily easier however) needs which must be met. Through supplemental feedings I've maintained one for well over a year now and 2 others past 8 months myself. Diet can even vary by species, however, and I can't guarantee this species will take the same foods my Fromia indica stars do. I'd suggest trying to spot feed a few different types of meaty shellfish as fresh as possible. DM me for more details if you'd like and I'd be happy to try and help you out more.