Question on Serpent Stars

[Jewelle1954]

Hi all,
I have a question about my serpent stars. I have two of them and they appear to be doing well. The only thing is, they seem so hungry all the time. When I feed the fish, their arms come out from under the rock they're under, grabbing at bits of the food. I have watched the tank into the middle of the night, 3 AM or so, on occasion and I have never seen either of them out looking for food. Is there something I can do? Are they really that hungry? Also, how do you target feed a star? I read an article on thawed frozen shrimp and putting it under the star's body. This is fine, but when I put any amount of frozen then thawed shrimp or whatever, it immediately falls apart. I can't imagine being able to target feed them with this kind of food. Any help will be appreciated. I am fairly new to SW but have had FW tanks since I was a child. Thanks!
Jewelle

 

[BL1]

Serpent stars are opportunistic scavengers and will always seem hungry just like almost everything else in our tanks. The reason you always see their arms when you feed your tank is because they "smell" the food and are trying to grab theirs from the water column. You don't need to spot feed them, they will find leftover food in your tank and eat it, helping keep your tank clean at the same time.
Between my two tanks I've got 4 serpent stars, I've never spot fed any of them and they're all doing just fine.

 

[marcah]

brians got you covered..
howdy and welcome to the site..:D

 

[AmberSunrise]

I give my serpent a slice of thawed shrimp once a week but I have a smaller tank and my fish pretty much eat all the pieces of food I give so I dont feel he would find much on the ground.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

 

[Jewelle1954]

Hey, Brian. Thanks for the info; it's good to know.

 

[Bifferwine]

If you place a piece of food on the star's leg (using tweezers or something like that), it will wrap it's leg around it and draw the food into its mouth. That's how you would target feed it.

Welcome to the site!

 

[motorcyclereefer]

Welcome to livingreefs.

 

[ErinCahir]

Welcome to the site! Everyone has you covered...