Sand Dollar

[falesdk]

I found on eBay that I can buy live sand dollars for my aquarium...is this a bad idea? I've never heard of it before and can't find any info on them in aquarium use...

Does anyone have live sand dollars or know anything about this?

 

[graveyardworm]

From what I understand they require a large sand bed, something like 10 sq feet per individual. You also have to be wary and make certain the sand dollar is truly a tropical species. There are temperate ones readily available, and their reef tank survival is even poorer than the tropical ones.

 

[bkwudzjeep]

A friend of mine got one from the gulf (they are everywhere) and put it in his tank. He never saw it again......

I have read that they will eat lots of your sand critters, and then slowly starve out.

 

[graveyardworm]

There seems to be some controversy regarding what they eat, and certainly there may be different species eating different things. According to Marine invertebrates " Herbivors. Ingest sediments and eat diatoms, other microalgae, and bacteria. May feed on algae in suspension. "

 

[romunov]

Pass.