Sand sifting star and leopard wrasse?
- Thread starter Cliving1
- Start date
homer1475
New member
Worked fine for me, that is until the star ate all the microfauna and slowly starved to death. Still have the leopard though.
I would never put another sand sifting star in my tank again unless I had 200G or better to work with. They jut eat and eat until they devastate your microfauna population. Then they obviously starve to death and die. Just seems like a crappy way to die to me.
I would never put another sand sifting star in my tank again unless I had 200G or better to work with. They jut eat and eat until they devastate your microfauna population. Then they obviously starve to death and die. Just seems like a crappy way to die to me.
Tastee
Member
You give me hope my Sand Sifter starfish will be ok long term - been in my 65g for 5 months now and doing really well. The first one I put in only lived for 2 months but I only had two fish at that time. The tank is fully stocked with fish (8) now, plus a Shrimp and Hermit crab, and this has been enough to provide it with enough food so far.
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Cliving1
New member
Have you noticed the star bothering the wrasse at all? I guess this question could be opened to all sand burrowing wrasse.
mcgyvr
New member
Never seen it bother the wrasse..
IowaReefer
New member
I have had them both together for 5+ years now, no issues. However, the star begins to look pretty rough if I reduce feeding leading me to believe the starvation stories. I will not replace this one if it dies.
WVfishguy
New member
I had a couple of sand sifters in a 75, pretty much forgot about them. Later, I had an incredible overabundance of bristle worms. Not dozens, but hundreds. Everyone on RC said I MUST be overfeeding, or the bristle worms would not be there. But I fed very sparingly - it was only a quarantine tank with one or two small fish.
Eventually, the worm population became ridiculous - the bottom of the tank was carpeted with bristle worms. But before I could begin siphoning them out, the worms died en mass and crashed the tank.
I figured it out eventually.
I believe the forgotten sand sifters died, perhaps one at a time, and provided food for the worms. When the stars were gone, so was the food source. The worms died, polluted the water, and crashed the tank.
It's the only tank crash I've ever had in 50 years of this hobby.
Eventually, the worm population became ridiculous - the bottom of the tank was carpeted with bristle worms. But before I could begin siphoning them out, the worms died en mass and crashed the tank.
I figured it out eventually.
I believe the forgotten sand sifters died, perhaps one at a time, and provided food for the worms. When the stars were gone, so was the food source. The worms died, polluted the water, and crashed the tank.
It's the only tank crash I've ever had in 50 years of this hobby.
RioReefr
New member
I don't if this helps, but pretty much I had the same experience with a sand-sifting star as others -- it lasted about 6 months in a 32G.
Contrary to what the LFS says, it does not "clean" the sand. It does NOT eat detritus or left-over food, but the microfauna.
At first it is "cool" watching it glide across the SB, but then after a couple of months one of its arms will start dwindle and becomes a stubbly. Then another arm will start to dwindle. Shortly after (in my case), I saw it bury itself in the sand and then never to surface again. I suspect the clean-up crew (hermit crabs) ate the remains.
Personally, I will never get another one unless I had a huge tank with a lot of sand.
If you really want to keep the sand clean, I could recommend a Lawnmower Blenny. Mind is awesome and eats up everything in sight. Definitely not a showcase fish (quite ugly actually), but does a remarkable job of eating algae and constantly cleaning crap off the bottom.
Contrary to what the LFS says, it does not "clean" the sand. It does NOT eat detritus or left-over food, but the microfauna.
At first it is "cool" watching it glide across the SB, but then after a couple of months one of its arms will start dwindle and becomes a stubbly. Then another arm will start to dwindle. Shortly after (in my case), I saw it bury itself in the sand and then never to surface again. I suspect the clean-up crew (hermit crabs) ate the remains.
Personally, I will never get another one unless I had a huge tank with a lot of sand.
If you really want to keep the sand clean, I could recommend a Lawnmower Blenny. Mind is awesome and eats up everything in sight. Definitely not a showcase fish (quite ugly actually), but does a remarkable job of eating algae and constantly cleaning crap off the bottom.
There are better sand cleaners out there. Sea cucumbers, serpent or brittle stars, and fighting conches are three good choices. Don't add more than one of each so they don't starve.
