Whats eating my sand sifting star

[CincyJDH]

Hi all, long time reader, first time poster.

I have a sand sifter that keeps dwindling. He only has 2 full legs left. I'm curious if anyone here has had this issue. Also I've added crab food to the feeding schedule to see if I could entice the crabs awa7 from the star. No avail, so I'm thinking it's not the 2 emerald crabs. If it is my shrimp, could I supplement its diet with something so he stops eating my star?
Currently the tank is fallow as I'm trying to burn of ich. Only 3 weeks left.
As always, any help is greatly appreciated.
I have:
1 peppermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
1 Conch
5-8 hermit crabs, most green legs, 1 red leg 1 blue leg
Roughly 10 snails
In my 28 gallon JBJ Biocube.

 

[Chuk]

That can happen if they run out of food. They can mow through the sand bed of a 28 gallon stripping it clean if micro fauna in a matter of weeks. How long have you had it?

 

[LesPoissons]

Nothing is eating him, hes starving. They are very hard to keep despite LFS selling them as super easy. I have a 6 foot tank and couldnt keep one sustained. Sorry

 

[CincyJDH]

That can happen if they run out of food. They can mow through the sand bed of a 28 gallon stripping it clean if micro fauna in a matter of weeks. How long have you had it?

I've had it since the beginning of June. So 2 and a half months.

 

[CincyJDH]

Nothing is eating him, hes starving. They are very hard to keep despite LFS selling them as super easy. I have a 6 foot tank and couldnt keep one sustained. Sorry

That's what I was afraid of. Can I supplement his diet with anything?

 

[OpenOcean33]

I know a lot of people say its starving and it could be , but I am able to sustain a sand sifter in my tank for nearly two years now and have had him since 2 months after tank was up an running, a star fish I had right before disengrated like this. Maybe its water parameters, acclimation, also I was told not to allow them to touch the air so a water to water transfer. Not sure though I really hope we can get you an answer

 

[CincyJDH]

Thank you! I will do another water test soon, and post my results.

 

[redfishbluefish]

This poor guy is starving....and I'm not sure he's save-able. But I'd still try. Most starfish are meat eaters and require a meat diet. I'd immediately go out and buy a couple clams and freeze them. Once frozen, shuck them and cut off pieces to hand feed the starfish. Hopefully he still has enough life to "smell" the clam and immediately take it into his mouth. Good luck.

 

[CincyJDH]

Thank you, I will try that.

 

[Tastee]

I agree, sadly he is starving. Sand Sifters live on microfauna and they can strip a bed quickly, particularly one that is not mature and in a tank without a decent bio-load. When I first setup my 65g tank I added one thinking it was a good starter CUC member along with a couple of Hermit crabs and a few (large) snails. 3 weeks later it had starved.

8 months later when I had my tank stocked with fish and corals I added another one. He (Jeff, Jefferson Starfish) has now been in the tank 15 months and is going great guns. I need to ensure he has plenty of room to move (e.g. no corals in his way on the sand bed) so he has a good range, otherwise he is trapped in a small area. Over time however he has learnt to eat pellets and I feed a mix of baby and small pellets. The baby ones are good - drop fairly quickly to the sandbed and he and the other inverts come out looking for them.

I keep a close eye on him. When he climbs the glass or comes out soon after feeding I know he has denuded his sandbed and is hungry so I make sure there are plenty of baby pellets to go around. I alternate between pellets and frozen food so there is plenty of opportunity for him to feed. I also keep a close eye on his leg length - I want to see him with long, fine, fingers!

 

[CincyJDH]

Update on my sand sifter...
I did not supplement diet. Nor did I change foods. I did however add a 2 new fish and I removed the 2 emerald crabs. He has started to grow back and spends alot less time on the glass looking for food.
Just wanted to give everyone an update as I have a feeling it was the emerald crabs causing most of the issue. Granted, it could have been a lack of nutrition as well. But alls well that ends well.

 

[CincyJDH]

Update on my sand sifter...
I did not supplement diet. Nor did I change foods. I did however add a 2 new fish and I removed the 2 emerald crabs. He has started to grow back and spends alot less time on the glass looking for food.
Just wanted to give everyone an update as I have a feeling it was the emerald crabs causing most of the issue. Granted, it could have been a lack of nutrition as well. But alls well that ends well.

And to add, since my tank was fallow, but now isn't, it's safe to assume as well, the water now has more nutrients for the star to eat. Thinking about it, this is probably the main cause of the degradation in the first place.

 

[Tastee]

Glad to hear he is hanging in and the regrowth of his legs looks very positive. Spending less time on the glass is a good thing in my opinion - it’s great to see them out and about but realistically all it means is that they are getting hungry.