sand sifting stars vs sand dollars

[mrkmas]

I have a sand sifter in a reef tank as was wondering if a sand dollar being added to the tank would cause any kind of problems. The tank definitely has the room for more sand sifters so I doubt the sand dollar would starve. Wondering if the sand dollar is more, less, or equally as hardy compared to a sand sifting star.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by mrkmas

I have a sand sifter in a reef tank as was wondering if a sand dollar being added to the tank would cause any kind of problems. The tank definitely has the room for more sand sifters so I doubt the sand dollar would starve. Wondering if the sand dollar is more, less, or equally as hardy compared to a sand sifting star.

Actually the sand sifting sea star will eventually starve.

[olemiss reb]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Actually the sand sifting sea star will eventually starve.

Agreed and everything I have read concerning sand dollars is that there are so many different species, each having a very specific diet, they are all doomed to starve in a captive environment.

[mrkmas]

You think 1 sand sifter in a 125 with plenty of sand will starve? I was think i could go for another 2 or possibly 3 of them. The sand always seems to be dirty so I figured they would have plenty of food.

I took note of the comment regarding the variety of sand dollar's and as a result have take that off the table as a possible addition to the tank.

[SushiGirl]

They don't really eat the "dirt" in the sand, they eat the live creatures and leftover meaty food. The "dirt" just looks like it's gone because they're constantly moving the sand and turning it over.

[mrkmas]

Yah, the sand always has all kinds of junk in it so I figured the sand sifter would be happy and not starve. I dont keep my tank ridiculously clean just for him.

[bobbychullo]

from what i've read both have poor survivability in captive marine tanks.

unless you have been at this awhile and have expert level husbandry would either of these be recommended for your tank.

i've read that a sand sifting starfish can exhaust its supply of food in a 90 gallon within a few weeks depending on how deep the sand bed is.

[snorvich]

+1 with the above. But it sounds like the original poster does not really believe.

[ozzyvega]

I'm interested in these comments about sandsifters not making it long. I've had one in my 75g for bout six months now. Before that he was in a 24 aquapod for bout a year and in a 46 bowfront bout six months before that . He's still working hard. Not that I don't belive they could starve but how can you be so matter of fact. When I've seen them in others tanks for years and thrive. I don't overfeed he gets applet no food from me its all picked up before it gets to him he has to be relying on sandbed alone. Please not tryin to argue, just my two cents.

[SwiftysReef]

I've had mine for about a year and a half in a 90 gallon. There is no extra care for it and it is still doing good. I only have about an inch and a half of sand in my tank too. And also the girl I bought the tank from had it for about 6 months prior in the same tank. I don't over feed either. So I would say not all creatures are created equal and there are too many variables for one to say it would starve. Just because I've have had success with one doesn't mean it would survive in another similar setup...I just feel it is based more on the individual itself. But I would have to say they should only be kept in larger systems.

[mndfreeze]

I would expect a sand sifting star of mature size would most likely need a tank with a nice fuge set up, be very mature, NOT be a super clean high SPS tank with minimal junk floating around.

For something like that you would almost want a pretty 'dirty' (not bad water params dirty) tank with as much packed in microlife of all varieties as possible. Similar to how you see some peoples tanks with thousands of dusters.. in order to have that sort of dusterbloom you have to have tons of stuff for them to eat and reproduce with. Most hardcore SPS tanks for example do not have that sort of water.

[AJSTITAN14]

2 years seems to be the point at which starving sand sifting stars start to die off. So as far as I'm concerned it simply has not been enough time elapsed for the stars mentioned in this thread to finally fall over dead. We see way more 2 years and dead reports here than 4 years and doing fine for stars in tanks under 200g.

You don't have to take our word for it either since we are just repeating what the experts like Fenner and Calfo have already said.

[snorvich]

+1 And of course the animals they eat from the sand bed are beneficial.

[ozzyvega]

Who are Fenner and Calfo? Authors, biologists or... can't find info on them. Would like to see what they say. Thanx.

[olemiss reb]

Originally Posted by ozzyvega

Who are Fenner and Calfo? Authors, biologists or... can't find info on them. Would like to see what they say. Thanx.

Bob Fenner and Anthony Calfo-- they know a thing or two about saltwater.

[klrreef]

+1 to above posts. Sand dollars need ALOT of stuff in the sand,that they can eat, and the sp. of sand dollar plays a role in that. Since the sand sifting stars get huge,once full grown, the star and the dollar would be ,in a sense, fighting over finding food in the sand. Eventually one or both of them would starve.

[AJSTITAN14]

I just spent a few minutes trying to find the post about tank size but I wasn't successful.

Anyway, dead star threads are the most common in this forum after general ID requests.

If we take Ozzyvega's star as an example it has lived for over two years but this time is divided into stints in 3 separate tanks. Each new tank would have a fully stocked sand bed for the star to devour barring the presence of any other type of animal that feeds in the same manner. So transferring the star would more or less start the starvation cycle over again every time it got a new tank to forage in. Same thing for SwiftysReef's star. OP is rehabbing a neglected tank he bought off someone early this year so again same story: not enough time to say.

We aren't here to beat anyone up, especially the inexperienced. But in 2 years of reading this forum we have seen a lot of reports of stars disintegrating in undersized tanks at the 18-24 month time period.