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Guest
My two Stars are laying on top of each other and I assume they are mating. Has anyone else witnessed this and is it possible to procreate in a tank?
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BrianPlankis
If you are talking about a sand sifting star (Astropecten polycanthus) then they are probably not mating. It is possible, but generally mating is only done when the sea stars have an excess of food (mating takes a lot of energy). Unless you have an extremely large tank, sand sifting stars usually do not get enough food to mate. But a couple of questions:
1. How large is your tank and how many square feet is your open sandbed?
2. Did you just get the sea stars? It is possible they would still have a store of energy from the wild and are mating. I do not know anything about their biology and the likelihood of any young surviving though.
Brian
1. How large is your tank and how many square feet is your open sandbed?
2. Did you just get the sea stars? It is possible they would still have a store of energy from the wild and are mating. I do not know anything about their biology and the likelihood of any young surviving though.
Brian
OP
OP
Guest
The tank is a 175 BF and I would guess that I have about 5'sq of sandbed. The stars have been in the tank almost a year.
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BrianPlankis
Well, you've had your stars survive longer than most, so that is a good thing. It is generally considered important to have several square meters to support one of these starfish for anything longer than a year or two. More information on them can be found in this article under sandsifters:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rs/index.php
What would be REALLY interesting is if you get baby sea stars that survive, be sure to report back if you do.
Brian
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rs/index.php
What would be REALLY interesting is if you get baby sea stars that survive, be sure to report back if you do.
Brian
