Sand sifting star on its last (rotting) leg

royalgramma

New Member
I am also having problems with my Sand sifter. I hope to try to feed it and perhaps save its life. If anyone has any suggestions on food I would appreiciate it. All of the local fish stores sell these stars and if I would have known I most certanly would not have bought mine.
 

xtreeme

Member
You can only find a older big tank to give to or some will take food. Ours takes sun dried gurami when I feed fish he comes out of sand. This is the BURROWING star fish or sea star (there is no sand sifting star fish that is just a hoby name). Mine had lost some of the leg low salt in tank at lfs. Its coming back and I know its not starving hes getting larger. There are two kinds sold as BSS one has sucker feet other has little legs like needles. It has the suction feet and climbs the glass off and on. Some think the ones with sucker feet is better for these tank.
These DO eat crustacians etc in the ocean they have two stomaches one is for live food when they finish the live food if has shell they spit out. Search google for burrowing sea star.
I dont know the scientific class etc but this is striped just like the pics you see. Search the net for more info.
http://www.answers.com/topic/asteroi...logical-family
Sea stars are carnivorous, preying on sponges, shellfish, crabs, corals, worms, and even on other echinoderms. Most are generalists, feeding on anything that is too slow to escape, such as mussels and clams, whilst others are specialized feeders preying exclusively on sponges, corals, bivalves, or algae. Prey is located by the chemical odors emanating from its waste products or by small movements that betray its presence when detected by a sea star. Food preferences can change depending on availability of prey, which change geographically and seasonally. Even weather conditions in temperate species and reproductive state (usually during gonad growth) affects dietary requirements.
Feeding strategies can be divided into those that are scavengers, feeding mainly on decaying fish and invertebrates; those that are deposit feeders, filling their stomachs with mud from which they extract microscopic organisms and organic matter; and those that are suspension feeders, filtering prey and food particles from the water (e.g., Novodinia antillensis).
 
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