brad burditt
New member
just bought one a week ago dose anyone no the life span
thanks brad
thanks brad
sand dollars
- Thread starter brad burditt
- Start date
Salamander
Active member
In a reef tank its pretty short lived from what I hear. I think they're used to cooler more temperate waters. They also eat micro fauna in the sand and will eventually starve while destroying the beneficial life in your sand. Kinda like what you could expect from a sand sifting starfish.
dr.darkness
New member
Not to sound like a jerk but, don't trust the LFS and don't buy something because it's neat, ask here first it will save you a lot of head aches.
redfishsc
New member
+1, and again, nothing rude whatsoever meant by this, but sand dollars are one of the worst choices for a reef tank unless you have a MASSIVE tank with a huge DSB for it to poke around in.
I'm not totally sure what they feed on other than detritus and maybe small worms/microfauna. You just aren't going to have enough of that in the average reef tank to support one.
I'd personally return the sand dollar to the LFS, if they give you any flack, print this thread and also google "sand dollar reef" and print out any number of threads from other forums saying the same thing.
there are thousands and thousands around the beaches of our house in the Bahamas and believe me that water is warmer right now than any of your fish tanks. The shallow water there ( where most the big nice reefs are) is like a hot bath this time of year. Mid 80's right now. That said I found a live baby sand dollar one day and put it in my tank. It buried itself and I could see it moving around underground for a few minutes and that was the last time I saw it. It could be doing well or dead. Either way it is pointless to put on in a tank.
brad burditt
New member
well i had it so far for about two weeks and i think i seen it yesterday but it was a fifteen dollar add on so i guess if it dies i dont feel so bad rather then my purple tang to die well thanks ppl if any more info please tell
avshockey311
New member
That last comment brad is the reason why that LFS will get more of them in and sell them to other misinformed customers. Maybe taking it back and showing them these posts as stated above will change their minds also. Worth a try IMO.
brad burditt
New member
well the one store i go to is in it for the money where im in it for the hobby so as long as he makes a buck he dosent care but from here on out like a couple post ago stated ill start asking before i buy
RicksReefs
New member
Yes, it's so much better when cheap life dies.
it was cheap, so it's life isn't worth much...
Dante_JoseCuerv
New member
IIRC the natural lifespan of a lot of these inverts like urchins, corals, starfish and those critters is indefinite (they usually die of disease or predetation). At least that's the theory. In the aquaria it's a different story. Still, buying one because it doesn't seem like it'll be a big loss is a bit hasty. I have a small sand dollar in my tank that thankfully is doing well. I bought it because I was horribly misinformed. It has grown a bit and so far it's happy and healthy.
