SandStar

[ltay]

Hello canreefers.

Is sandstar a good inhabitant ? I heard that it would render the sandbed sterile.

Thanks.

[DOO-E]

I heard they are exelent additions to an aquarium. They are reef safe and are great sandbed stirers. I am puting one in my tank when i can find one i will let u know how it does.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by ltay

Hello canreefers.

Is sandstar a good inhabitant ?

not if you want a functional sand bed

Originally Posted by ltay

I heard that it would render the sandbed sterile.

yup they will

Steve

[Ken]

Hi Itay, the white sand starfish Archaster typicus will deplete the sandbed, I have 6 of them in the 500 gallon tank. They cruise below the sandbed at times you can just see the outline of the star shape. They like to sift through the sand and are safe in my reef. The only problem is that that they knock over my clams quite easily. They are detritavorous creatures eating micro algae and organisms. Do I like them? Yes and No but they are part of the ecosystem. Regards Ken

[DOO-E]

I guess that they would be like any other fish or invert. They need a certain amount of surface area to live and thrive.

[Scavenger]

I concidered a sand sifting star but didn't get one for the reasons others stated here. What I did was add a blue cheek or yellow headed sleeper goby. He does a great job keeping the surface of the sand nice and clean. I can put up with the sand he kicks up into the water column when he's really going at it. I'm also concidering adding some nassarius snails. Does anyone have any comments or experience with them??? Does anyone think these are enough sifters to keep the sand bed stirred and healthy??

[Bob I]

As far as actually depleting the sandbed of life is a bit of an overstatement. They will eat some of the microorganisms, but certainly not all. Many folks keep them in their reefs with no problems. Now the yellowheaded or blue cheeked goby is far worse. Not only will it deplete youe sandbed of life, but as it grows it will do other strange things. I have a friend who has two, and it depleted his tank of hermit crabs. His gobies liked to collect them and put them in burrows and holes in the rock. That is where he found them when cleaning his tank.

[Namscam]

the gobys will really mess up your sand bed because they usually sift the sand around your rocks which will cause your rockwork to become unstable.. they will make their burrows under rocks too...I have had this done to my tank and the rocks do sometimes fall..

now these sandstar you guys are talking bout are they the same as a sand dollar??

[Scavenger]

Gobies are hermit hunters?? Thanks for that heads up. I'm gonna post a gobie thread soon, as I don't want to hi jack this thread inquiring about sandstars.

[Quinn]

I don't think any of us have conclusive data on what either Valenciennea spp. gobies or sand-sifting stars eat. I do think, however, that the gobies would have a harder time getting to the bottom of the sand-bed and consuming the microorganisms living in those areas, depending on your sand bed depth, so that may be something to consider.

As well, my understanding is that many deep sand beds are not set up or maintained properly, and therefore fail to accomplish their purpose anyways. For that reason, I wonder if the addition of a sand bed-unfriendly organism would really have any effect on filtration within the aquarium.

I haven't tested NH3, NO3, NO2 levels for a rather lengthy period of time but I don't feel that the burrowing of my V. puellaris had much of an effect on the health of my tank. If there were any reason I wouldn't buy a sand-sifting star, it would be because I would be concerned about whether it would have access to an adequate food supply. And no, these aren't the same thing as sand-dollars (which really shouldn't be available in the trade at all in my understanding).