Sand Sifting Star

[Mr.Fish]

Yesterday I read an article in this months aquarium fish magazine which
stated that Sand Sifter Stars are not benefical for your tank it said that they eat the microfauna in your sand beds and not the waste and debris created by the rest of tanks residents. Is this true? are they good to keep or not. I have one in my 75gallon reef tank. Should I return it to my LFS or not? :?

 

[ophiuroid]

The certainly do not eat debris and waste. There are not too many animals that eat waste. They eat much of the life in a DSB, and are not recommended for a system using a DSB.

So, yes, if you want a properly functioning DSB, return it.

 

[robbinson]

Ophiuroid is right about what they eat and what they don't eat - but you don't have to remove him from your system. They are beneficial as sand sifters (as are some gobies) - always a good idea to have some sand sifters in a reef. I had a burrowing (sand sifting) star fish in my 120g reef for years with no problems (he ultimately fell prey to some bristtle worms - since removed and I plan to replace him with another - he was my son's favorite specimen - they are fascinating to watch). A single specimen will not consume enough of the good stuff to adversely impact, in any meaningful way, your sand bed (IMO).

 

[ophiuroid]

Yes, this definitely comes down to personal opinion.

These animals cover pretty wide areas in the wild and can consume a lot of food. Ultimately, they tend to starve in our tanks.
Geez robbinson, what kind of bristleworms do you have that ate it? I'd be afraid to get my hands in there! Typically, bristleworms scavenge, and will consume dead (or dying) animals. I am suspicious that they attacked and killed an otherwise healthy specimen unless you have some of the really bad guys.

Anyway, I generally find that they are not recommended for anyone using a DSB, regardless of tank size. I bet there are a bunch of threads on this topic if you do a search (here and on RC or any other board). You can get every opinion you want!

 

[Reefguide]

I returned mine to the LFS. He did a great job keeping the top of my sand bed clean, but that why ppl don't like them. From my research into this topic I came to the conclsion that he would eventually die, and eat all the DSB critters in the meanwhile...

 

[robbinson]

I did some more digging after reading ophiuroid's reply and was surprised by the consistently negative recommendation for this starfish in the reef - at least if you use a DSB. I personally don't use a DSB, but rather a 1.5" to 2" pink somoa sand bed in my 120g reef. I'll dig a bit deeper before deciding to add another to my tank (though I did keep this starfish in my reef tank for about 3 years).

 

[attempt]

I just purchased a sand sifting star this past weekend, my LFS said that it would be beneficial to me for the reason being, all my levels are at zero except for nitrates which come in at a constant 20ppm. They think it is may be coming from my sandbed (approx 2.5 - 3'" deep) I also bought a few burrowing snails, i believe he called them fighting conk snails (not sure of the spelling) (for all you long timers who may remember him, its CoralDoc's shop)
the only thing is the star seems to prefer the glass walls to the sandbed.