Sand Dollars??

[hotelbravo]

I remember as a kid digging my toes into the sand at the beach and finding live unbroken sand dollars. Many only the size of a dime. Now I know they are a type of sea urchin but I have never heard of someone putting them in their aquarium.. Is there a reason why??

 

[Betta132]

They filter feed. They sit tipped on edge, filtering food out of the water. Unfortunately, they need VERY large tanks to get enough food, otherwise they just gradually starve. I wouldn't suggest it.
They are quite neat, aren't they? Pretty colors. Shame they don't keep the colors after they die. We find little ones on our trips down to Galveston, and we refer to them as "sand pennies".

 

[Calappidae]

Sand Dollars are heart urchins. They're no different from sandsifting starfish; they need a deep sandbed, survive on food in the sandbed, and the eventually starve. They do not use the water column to catch food (filterfeed).


Nobody collects them alive because they are usually dead on the beach when you find them, and when we do get them in successfully they are just doomed to starve anyway, which lessens the demand for them.

 

[Betta132]

...then what am I remembering? Weird. What looks like a sand dollar and balances on its edge in the sand?
Because that makes a LOT more sense, given that they're flat urchins.

EDIT: http://cheryl-anne.com/seaside-sand-dollars/sdollars2012.pdf They do filter-feed to some extent. If they're too crowded, they balance on their sides and gather food from the water instead of crawling around for food. Google 'sand dollars feeding' and there's a few pictures of them doing that.

It's possible to get them alive. Just go out to about 3 feet of water and poke around in the sand until you find something hard. It's usually either a snail, a small sand dollar, or a crab.

 

[hotelbravo]

thanks guys this has been very helpful!