What is eating my starfish?

[snookedsteve]

So, I was looking at my tank the other day and noticed that my sand sifting starfish was missing the tips of all its legs. I am not sure what would eat him. I have only added a CBS. The only other thing that I can think of is that it might be a hermit. I have a rogue hermit that I am not sure of the species. It is not a red or blue leg. It is bigger and has the markings resembling a sally light foot. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[small triggers]

most likely its water quality if it looks like they are disintegrating...check all your parameters, do a water change, but most of the time they dont come back from it once its started...

 

[hiredgun18]

Size of tank? It's probaly starving and withering away slowly..

 

[small triggers]

OH yeah,, sand sifting star,,, they need a HUGE sand bed to survive, like only 1 for a 500g tank...

 

[bcollett]

I have a Sand Sifter in my tank also, its only a 90gal. But to prevent it from starving i take some of my thawd food that i usually dump in the tank for the fish, and inject it in to the sand bed, with a turkey baster, near the star fish when i see it out. and sure enough it senses the food, moves over to that spot and starts to burry itself. They definitely aren't maintenance free by any means if you dont have a really large sand bed for them. I'm not sure what might be causing what you're seeing though.. sorry

 

[dcrrlb]

My step fater has a 150gal. w/a ton of sand and his lost the tips and eventually all of the legs due to poor water quality and lack of food.

 

[btldreef]

Probably poor water quality or it's starving as stated above.
How old is this tank?
Start feeding it some fish food. Turn off your pumps/power heads and inject food right onto the sand bed. Sand sifting starfish need established tanks OR you have to feed them. Luckily they're a species that can be fed unlike some of the other starfish. When you feed it, keep an eye on the CBS and the hermit, this will be the best time to see them all in the same places since they'll all sense the food. If either picks on the starfish, there's your answer. If neither do, but the starfish finds the food immediately, well, it was starving.

 

[ophiura]

The first sign of starvation or acclimation shock is disintegration of the arm tips. How long have you had it? Most will die in this characteristic fashion in our systems in about a year to 18 months. But if it is less than a month, this may well be acclimation shock. What are your parameters?