sand-sifting starfish

[congerorama]

Hi all,

I've been researching sand-sifting starfish, and I want people's opinions and wisdom from experience when it comes to keeping these guys. I've read mixed opinions on them so far, some saying they are a great addition to a tank for keeping the sand clean, and other saying that they will usually starve to death within a few months.

I've got a 90 gallon tank with a deep sand bed. Is there any truth to the whole "they'll starve to death" comments? I don't want to bring home an animal just to starve it (as well as decimate my sandbed!). Would it be beneficial, or detrimental, for a DSB? Any advice and experience is greatly appreciated!

 

[seesick]

Why a sand sifting star? They are not much to look at, if you are looking for something to sift your sand “Decimate Your Sand Bed”
Get a diamond watchman goby The sand will be Cleaned and pilled up for you…

 

[congerorama]

well I wanted a starfish for my tank, however most types are not reef safe. But mainly, I wanted to sand cleaning abilities, and figured I could kill two birds with one stone with a sand-sifting starfish.

What do you mean by "piled up?" Since I;'ve got a deep sand bed, I need to keep it at at least 4" depth, or it will disrupt the denitrifying bacteria that keeps my nitrates at zero. It sounds like a diamond watchman will dig holes and make piles? I don't think I want that...

 

[seesick]

will dig into the substrate and sift the sand through its mouth for food, then discarding the sand out its gills. It also burrow a hole in the sand that it will use as its home.
They are burrow dwellers and will pile the sand up by its home

Guess you are using Berlin method.. You don’t need a DSB to keep nitrates at Zero, I am bare bottom and nitrates are at zero. Do you have a plenum in your DSB?

 

[congerorama]

No plenum. I'll give a quick tank description here:

90 gallons, 150 lbs liverock, 4" sandbed. Two Koralia #4 powerheads. Custom-made sump, two chambers, one for skimmer/heater, other for return pump and carbon/phosban reactor. Skimmer is an AquaC EV-180.

So my filtration depends on good flow around and through my liverock, my deep sand bed, and my skimmer.

Out of curiosity, how do you keep nitrates at zero going bare-bottom? Massive amounts of liverock and really good skimming?

 

[devoman]

I have two sandsifting starfish in my 210. I've had them about 10 or 11 months now. They seem to be doing fine. They have grown from about 3" across to about 4" during that time. I do have a fairly heavy fish load in my tank which probably provides extra food for them. My sand bed is only about 1-2" deep.

Much of the time I don't see them as they are under the sand. They come out when I feed the fish and move around. Then they go under again.

Quite often I notice the two starfish sitting on top of each other for many hours at a time. Not sure what that means breeding or just togetherness.

They do seem to keep the sand clean and do a nice job for me.

 

[puffin04]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14778355#post14778355 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seesick
will dig into the substrate and sift the sand through its mouth for food, then discarding the sand out its gills. It also burrow a hole in the sand that it will use as its home.
They are burrow dwellers and will pile the sand up by its home

Guess you are using Berlin method.. You don’t need a DSB to keep nitrates at Zero, I am bare bottom and nitrates are at zero. Do you have a plenum in your DSB?

Agreed!!!

Steffen Sparks