Sand sifting Sea Star, any good for sand bed?

ronkhoo · 03/12/2007, 03:31 PM

Hi fellow reefers,

I brought a Astropecten polyacanthus home last week to help my DBS.

Once in my tank, burrow into the sand very quickly. I though it will walk on the sand just like my 6-year-old cumber did. A sinking feeling tells me it is hunting for my pod s and worms ;O

My sandbed averages about 3.5 inch deep on a 36"x18" foot print. the tank is about 10 years old.

Do you have one of those? How you like them? Should I take it out?

All comment sare welcomed.

Travis L. Stevens · 03/12/2007, 03:32 PM

Actually, the Sand Sifter Star does eat the microfauna in your sandbed. They are a double edged knife. On one side, they do help keep things in suspension by moving the sand, but then they eat the things that would normally eat what is being stirred. I personally think that these animals are better left in the wild.

bph0013 · 03/12/2007, 04:17 PM

I second that statement. They'll feed on your beneficial microfauna and starve after they eat everything. Really, imo, they are not advantageous over cucs or other sandstirrers that are detrivores.

AZDesertRat · 03/12/2007, 04:24 PM

Your DSB will stand for Dead Sand Bed in very short order. I rank adding a Sand Sifting Star as my number 1 stupidest mistake I have ever made in my 17 years in the reef hobby. It wiped out my 100G DSB in a matter of two months and it took over 6 months of adding cups of donated live sandand bottles of ocean pods to get it back anywhere near where it was originally.

dippin61 · 03/12/2007, 04:41 PM

Sad to see i answer this many times a day, so i apologize for just copy and pasting from another thread that i responded to. but here goes.

Part of the problem with SS stars, are they are NOT scavengers. They dont scavenge, and they dont eat detritus.

They are PREDATORS. Meaning they hunt for their food. And generally they are not eating pods. They are eating the micro/macro fauna/infauna of your sand bed. The spaghetti worms, small animals less the 50 microns in size.

They hunt and eat all day long, every day. So you can imagine the damage he can do to a sandbed in a relatively short amount of time. And the less sand you have, the easier it is for them to reach everywhere in the sand, not giving your fauna the proper amount of time to reproduce.

They generally wont target feed either, because

1. They dont like dead food.
2. The food you are trying to feed them, is generally too big, and not their normal food.

SS stars mostly wont eat shrimp etc etc.. they just dont want them.

So what your gonna see is, that after months, and months, and months, and even close to a year, they will start to starve and die. A SS star, can deplete the life of a 75g 5 inch sand bed in as little as 6-8 weeks. After that, all you have is just sand, no fauna, and a dying star.

SS stars are not meant for this hobby IMO. They should be left in the ocean, or put into huge tanks of 200g or more, with at least 6-8" of sand bed, being recharged every few months, for continued HEALTHY existence of the animal.

And if you ever see a SS star not in the sand, and on the glass, he is starving. It means he is looking for food, and cant find it.

03/12/2007, 03:31 PM	#1
ronkhoo Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 21	Sand sifting Sea Star, any good for sand bed? Hi fellow reefers, I brought a Astropecten polyacanthus home last week to help my DBS. Once in my tank, burrow into the sand very quickly. I though it will walk on the sand just like my 6-year-old cumber did. A sinking feeling tells me it is hunting for my pod s and worms ;O My sandbed averages about 3.5 inch deep on a 36"x18" foot print. the tank is about 10 years old. Do you have one of those? How you like them? Should I take it out? All comment sare welcomed. __________________ 65G 36"x18x24 + 10G sump TEK T5 6x39W DAS BX-1 skimmer, bio balls LPS and Softies, 70lbs LR, 2" sand Est. Since 1999 Current Tank Info: 65G LPS and Softies

03/12/2007, 03:32 PM	#2
Travis L. Stevens Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Perry, OK Posts: 13,946	Actually, the Sand Sifter Star does eat the microfauna in your sandbed. They are a double edged knife. On one side, they do help keep things in suspension by moving the sand, but then they eat the things that would normally eat what is being stirred. I personally think that these animals are better left in the wild. __________________ Travis Stevens Current Tank Info: Restarting 28g Bowfront

03/12/2007, 04:17 PM	#3
bph0013 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Denton, Texas Posts: 317	I second that statement. They'll feed on your beneficial microfauna and starve after they eat everything. Really, imo, they are not advantageous over cucs or other sandstirrers that are detrivores. __________________ Ben Current Tank Info: 40br SPS Reef, 20H sump/refugium, L3MS on a ARO 250W E-ballast, 250w XM 20k bulb, 2 x Tunze 6025 NS, Tunze 9005 DOC Skimmer, Mag 5 return

03/12/2007, 04:41 PM	#5
dippin61 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,897	Sad to see i answer this many times a day, so i apologize for just copy and pasting from another thread that i responded to. but here goes. Part of the problem with SS stars, are they are NOT scavengers. They dont scavenge, and they dont eat detritus. They are PREDATORS. Meaning they hunt for their food. And generally they are not eating pods. They are eating the micro/macro fauna/infauna of your sand bed. The spaghetti worms, small animals less the 50 microns in size. They hunt and eat all day long, every day. So you can imagine the damage he can do to a sandbed in a relatively short amount of time. And the less sand you have, the easier it is for them to reach everywhere in the sand, not giving your fauna the proper amount of time to reproduce. They generally wont target feed either, because 1. They dont like dead food. 2. The food you are trying to feed them, is generally too big, and not their normal food. SS stars mostly wont eat shrimp etc etc.. they just dont want them. So what your gonna see is, that after months, and months, and months, and even close to a year, they will start to starve and die. A SS star, can deplete the life of a 75g 5 inch sand bed in as little as 6-8 weeks. After that, all you have is just sand, no fauna, and a dying star. SS stars are not meant for this hobby IMO. They should be left in the ocean, or put into huge tanks of 200g or more, with at least 6-8" of sand bed, being recharged every few months, for continued HEALTHY existence of the animal. And if you ever see a SS star not in the sand, and on the glass, he is starving. It means he is looking for food, and cant find it. __________________ Reefers Law: It can take about 48 hours to brown, and 48 weeks to color back up! Current Tank Info: 55 Gallon BB Low Iron Glass, Dual 110w VHO Actinics, 250w PFO MH 20k XM

03/12/2007, 04:24 PM	#4
AZDesertRat Moved On Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: NW Phoenix Posts: 16,621	Your DSB will stand for Dead Sand Bed in very short order. I rank adding a Sand Sifting Star as my number 1 stupidest mistake I have ever made in my 17 years in the reef hobby. It wiped out my 100G DSB in a matter of two months and it took over 6 months of adding cups of donated live sandand bottles of ocean pods to get it back anywhere near where it was originally.