Sand Sifting Starfish Dead, Eaten !!!

[Civicdemon]

So this morning i came home and noticed my StartFish looked really weird. I went to move it a little and then noticed the legs where detached and there was a bit of guts comming out of it like something had eaten all around the center and just eaten the legs to where they diconnect from the body. The only farly new thing i have in the tank is a blue leg hermit, who is now moving around alot more. i got the hermit around 1 week ago and it was staying on my rocks for a good 4 days, he then molted and then hit the sand bed. Im thinking it was his doing but im not 100%. Should i move him to the sump ??? Im planning on getting another sand sifting star, maybe even 2. What do you guys think ???? Keep in mind i had mine for over 4 months and was doing great. i would even feed it 2 times a week with a piece of squid or shrimp.

 

[Penner]

Same thing happen to our ss starfish only a couple weeks ago and we had him for almost a year. Nothing new to the tank either. No idea what happened. Hope someone can shed some light on this too.

 

[Waddi]

Sand sifting starfish eat Microfauna in the sand, they can really decimate it quickly, even in a large tank.
Maybe that is what happened, just ran out of food and died.

 

[Civicdemon]

But why would the Legs Detach ??? And mine would eat The squid and shrimp. So i dont think it was starving. I was reading that sometimes they detach there legs to split of into another start, but I dont think that was the case with mine.

 

[little_fish]

When they die they dissolve like that. In your case, i suspect it starved to death.

Penner - what type of starfish do you have? The linkea (sp?) and formia (sp?) are very susceptible to poor water conditions and bacteria infections, which leads to their death.

 

[Civicdemon]

I have ben doing some more reading and some people say its bad to have sand sifting start fish. because they get rid of all the good stuff you actually want in the sand. Is this true ?????

I also have a Blue Linkea, Seems to be doing good. even do its alwys hiding.

I Think i might just get a fighting conch or 2 and some more nassariouse snails for my tank to keep the sand stired up a bit. Im starting to get light green and brownish algea on the sand bed again. It usually goes away for the 2 weeks untill the last 3 days before my water change. I dont think i have a good enuf clean up crew to keep the ditriouse of the sand bed. all my readings are good do.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 at the most
PH 8.0 Shift from early morning from 7.9 to 8.1
Salinity is kept at 1.025
Calcium is at 470 ish
KH is at 10
Phos 0
Only thing i have not test is Mag. Should i get a test kit for this ???

 

[little_fish]

I think you are fine not testing mag. I also think you will be much better off with an army of Nass snails for the sand bed

 

[Civicdemon]

Witch ones are the Better looking nassariouse. the ones with the lighter shells ??? I think its the Tonga one but im not sure.

 

[little_fish]

It really doesnt matter

 

[FishyReef]

I started with the small nass snails and then as their population dwindled I replaced them with the super nassarius snails. I like both - the small ones can get into smaller places, but the big ones seem to do a more noticeable job cleaning. I also have 2 fighting conches, which are probably my favorite cleaners!

If you try another starfish, I'd go for a brittle star (just not the green ones) as they will help with detritous that gets into your rocks.

If you're noticing algae growth on your sand in the last few days before your water change, you might want to up your schedule from every two weeks to every week or every week and a half. Just a thought :)

 

[chichimom79]

+1 Nassarius snails are indispensable and much better suited for our tanks than a sand sifting star. :)

 

[Civicdemon]

Yeah i just got one fighting conch and about 10the tonga nassariouse. Still eant aboit another 20. But i picked up a pretty big candy cane coral for a good price.