Sand shifting starfish climbing tank glass

AyeAye

Reefing newb
Hi guys,

Every now and then my sand shifting star is regularly climbing my tank glass, then when it reaches the top, it falls down flat on its back. Then it self rights itself somehow, then repeats the process.
anyone know why a sand dwelling starfish does this?

Many thanks

AyeAye
 
Boredom....

Or maybe it is looking for more food. Is there any wounds on the starfish? You may have a voltage leak in the tank he is trying to run from. Just an idea.
 
they eat alge right? the sand bed is full of the stuff still. so is the glass. i never clean the inside glass, i leave it to my snails and all the other..littler things i can't identify that live on it. could the star be after them? or it finds it easier to eat alge off glass?

Hes buried himself now.

I'm thinking maybe he reacts to the garlic laced red seaweed I put in earlier, emerald crab goes nuts for the stuff.
 
They don't eat algae. They eat microfauna (very small animals) in the sand. Which is why they starve to death. They deplete their food source very quickly. What is your tank's temperature? If it gets too hot or too cold, it's not uncommon for inverts to try to "escape". Your tank is too small for him in any case, I'd take him back to the store and get a more suitable kind of starfish. There are lots that are pretty, reef safe and that we can take care of and meet their feeding needs in our tanks.
 
temp is 24C.

what you say would explain its attempts to scale the glass, its after the "microfauna" currently there.

I'll see about sending him back. I have not seen sand shifting starfish food sold in my LFS, I'd be interested to know how they keep theirs alive. (8 in one 60g display only tank).

What can I do to keep him alive in the mean time?
 
temp is 24C.

what you say would explain its attempts to scale the glass, its after the "microfauna" currently there.

I'll see about sending him back. I have not seen sand shifting starfish food sold in my LFS, I'd be interested to know how they keep theirs alive. (8 in one 60g display only tank).

What can I do to keep him alive in the mean time?

The thing is that the store doesn't need to keep them alive. They need to sell them. That is their goal.
 
scratch that I was wrong they're still alive some of them 20+, they look a little different now.. swimming like tadpoles
 
Actually i think i was right the first time the Cleaner shrimp babies must still be all dead. Instead the Emerald crab is giving birth now more than 200. The Cleaner shrimp is trying to eat them.

meh if they don't get eaten, they'll starve. if its phyto plankton they eat I can't get any in time...:(
 
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