Help..crab eating my starfish!!!

[plaereef]

Just bought a sand sifting starfish 1 week ago and noticed a missing limb the other day and the following day lost another limb. I saw the star fish getting tugged under some rock work and noticed a brown crab pulling on it. I can't find my sea serpant star anymore and figured I already lost that, now what can I do to save my new sand sifter? I have a 240 gallons and attempting to pull out the crab manually is quite difficult especially having 200lbs of live rock. Any suggestion is greatly appreciated.

[Blown 346]

Unfortunatly the starfish will probably end up dying since it is a easy target for a nuisance crab to prey on since it is slow and cant defend itself. Unless you have another tank, if so I woul dmove the star there to heal.

I would set up some traps to get the crab out.

[plaereef]

Still looking for the star fish before its too late. Is there a trap out there for little critters like this? If so where can I find it.

[Blown 346]

You can actually make your own.

This is what you will need.

1. plastic water bottle
2. freeze dried Krill, squid, shrimp or any type of food, these work best.

Take the water bottle and cut it about 4 inches from the mouth opening. Take the front of the water bottle and place it backwards ( the part you drink from into the other part of the bottle) into the other half of the bottle. Bait the trap with food and set it near any rock you think the crab is in.

The trap will let the crab climp in for the food, but it wont be able to get out since it cant climp up.

[bertoni]

The sands-sifting starfish isn't going to last long, in any case, since they can't be fed. It might be dying already, which might be the reason the crab is going after it in the first place, although crabs can always be a problem.

[Salamander]

The crab is just eating a star that's already dying. Its only doing its job and scavenging so don't worry about removing it.

SS stars can' last in our tanks. They eat micro fauna in the sand bed and quickly exhaust it, doing more harm to your tank than any benefit. Once their prey is gone they starve and literally fall to pieces as they die a slow miserable death. There is no way to spot feed them. You can't feed anything that's in their diet (which is kinda a mystery). Some people claim theirs eats food they offer or is healthy, but no. It doesn't, and they just haven't had the star long enough for it to die. They can slowly starve over a period of a few to 18 months. But they do starve and die.

SS stars are another life form that don't belong in our tanks and should not be in the trade. But unfortunately they must be easy to catch and plentiful so that makes them cheap and available. If everyone would quit buying these then maybe the suppliers wouldn't carry them and the continual death sentence would be lifted.

Sorry for the rant. Nothing personal. I just hate seeing creatures for sale that can't survive in our hobby.

Sorry to say but your star is a goner with no last minute reprieve.

[plaereef]

1. Brown 346 thanks for the info, I think this might work for the crab.

2. Salamander: The star was doing a great job sifting my 3 inch sand bed in 240 gallons. I really don't think the starfish can deplete the nutritional supply in the tank within a matter of days. As a matter of fact, it was crawling location to location sifting sand, and thats only one quarter of the tank. I witnessed the crab pulling on the star fish, but it got away with 3 arms left and going strong then bury itself to a different location. Anyways I still need to remove the crab out of my tank to save my other linka star fish (those I have for many years).

[ROB2005]

Salamander is right. Those stars are voracious eaters of the sandbed fauna which are needed for those that need to keep the sandbed live. Your tank is quite big enough for them, but I would never want a sandsifter that while they do a great job of turning the sand over, they are destroying the life necessary for the "live" factor of the sandbed.

[Blown 346]

I have had my SS star in my 90 gallon for over 3 years withoput a problem. I think they can be kept but within a established system and a healthy sand bed.

[plaereef]

My tank is over 4 years old and the sand bed is well established and three inches deep. I witness the sand sifter dig down until totally submerged but was never sure how far. I also never realize how much they can deplete their supply of nutrient until this thread. But by now I think its a lost cause because I cant find him anymore after hours of searching and digging. I will surely attempt to capture the nussiance
crab.:mad: