need advice on feeding a sea star

[apu701]

hi first sea star owner here. i got a small red fromia about 2 inches. perfect specimen alteast on looks. i kinda rescued him from an LFS which has 3 other dead starfish in it. figured it might do better in my tank. so anyway i bought it home.

my tank is about 6 months old. its a 24g nano with 20 lbs of live rock in it. ifigured he is small and might do ok in my small tank. tried researching what to feed it and how much and how? im having trouble with the stupid search feature.

i did drip acclimate for 2 hours not 4 like everyone else did. i think i got too impatient. it was in water with salinity at 1.023 and my tank has it at 1.025. my paramaters are all within normal ranges.

any advice on what to feed? i tried putting a flake near its leg but the flake just ends up breaking away. should i try a wafer of cyclopleeze? anything else i should try to feed and how?

thank you very much. Tony

[greenbean36191]

They typically don't take to target feeding. No one knows what they eat, but the best guess is that they graze on biofilms that grow on the tank surfaces. Despite their small size, they don't tend to do well long term in tanks with less than 100 lbs of established rock. The other stars dying in the same tank also don't bode well for this guy.

[apu701]

my god!! who is that girl on ur avator??

anyway.. i figured he probly would go better in my tank vs the store.. he probly would be better in another bigger tank.

im just gonna do my best to try putting some foods near him.. something like those wafers...

he is kinda on top of my water level and has an arm or two off the glass and on the surgface of the water... is this normal?

[greenbean36191]

Yes, that's normal. A line of scum tends to accumulate near the surface of the water and that's what these guys seem to eat.

As far as rescuing animals from the store goes, generally it's not a good idea. I know it was done with good intentions, and I've been tempted to do it myself, but realize that the store stocks what sells. If you buy a star to save it, they know there is market for them and buy more to replace the one you bought. It's hard to do and seems really inhumane, but if you see animals in bad condition at the shop, it's best to let them die there. Especially with inverts, the chance of being able to save them is very low anyway since the damage is usually done long before they show outward signs.

[aseminolelady]

Hi-I am fairly new to the sw hobby myself,but--I have a brittle star in my 90 gal reef and have had it for about 3 weeks (maybe longer), and it is doing very well.
I feed the inhabitants frozen brine and pellets(alternate between the 2) and the star seems to be very happy so far. You might want to try that , and also check out www.saltwaterfish.com. You may be able to find out more info there.I have purchased alot from them and haven't lost anything yet, and they also have a 15 day gurantee on their fish etc.
Hope this helps you.

[Chad Vossen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10908494#post10908494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aseminolelady
Hi-I am fairly new to the sw hobby myself,but--I have a brittle star in my 90 gal reef and have had it for about 3 weeks (maybe longer), and it is doing very well.
I feed the inhabitants frozen brine and pellets(alternate between the 2) and the star seems to be very happy so far. You might want to try that , and also check out www.saltwaterfish.com. You may be able to find out more info there.I have purchased alot from them and haven't lost anything yet, and they also have a 15 day gurantee on their fish etc.
Hope this helps you.

keep in mind though, starfish tend to have different diets. chocolate chip starfish, brittle starfish, serpent starfish tend to eat foods that we provide them, where as linkia and fromia have a relatively unknown diet and we assume they eat a biofilm off the rocks. something we cant easily provide in a smaller tank.

[Wrench]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10940186#post10940186 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by armagedon48
... linkia and fromia have a relatively unknown diet and we assume they eat a biofilm off the rocks. something we cant easily provide in a smaller tank.


A Linkia will readily accept meaty foods when placed near it's oral disc. I feed mine small pieces of clam or fish a few times a week. It's becoming trained and comes to the same spot in the tank on those days :lol:

I also hand feed my brittle stars. When they smell food of any type they will come out of the rocks. Hold a piece of food near them and they'll grab it.

[sfarid123]

My orange fromia feeds only film algae on glass and on rocks. They seem to be most happy when you supp your tank with lots of Iodine.

I think thats a Maxim girl avator, she is cute !

[ginger7286]

I do not have any star fish but I have 5 britle stars in my tank. I feed them a variety of foods. Every other day I feed frozen Reef Prime and they skim the bottom for the detirus on the off feeding days. they are doing extremely well, but like Armagedon48 stated they eat different foods depending on the species. Good Luck with her.

[Dingo Dog]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10881949#post10881949 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
the best guess is that they graze on biofilms that grow on the tank surfaces.

This is interesting. I noticed my new Linkia appeared to be grazing while attached to the glass but that concerned me because part of the starfish was sticking above the water line. I didn't want any part of if being exposed to air. I finally placed it on some LR where it's been since and seems to be happy.

Did I do a good thing or a bad thing by taking it off the glass?

[greenbean36191]

Well you cut its meal short, but that's about it. Stars are not sensitive to air exposure. Next time just leave it alone.