Just don't know the answer, advice please?

[MelanieF]

So from what I've gathered starfish prey on clams...

Is it at all possible to keep a sand sifting starfish in the same tank as clams that are placed on the sand?

I know this is a potentially stupid question but with my deep sand bed I would really like to include the sand sifting starfish and I'm having a hard time passing on the beauty of the clams in the local fish store...

I have a bunch of Nassarius and Cerith snails but they don't quite get deep enough in the sand bed for my liking. If the starfish isn't going to get along with clams what other options do I have? (I intend to keep the deep sand bed before any suggestions are made on that...)

Thanks in advance!

For any who saw the horrifying pics of my tank crash, it's back up and running after much effort. Couple of things will be done differently from now on so once again my signature below has humbled me... :lol:

 

[Ninong]

So from what I've gathered starfish prey on clams...

You would have to be more specific than that. Some sea stars prey on almost anything but many do not. Which of the thousands of species are you asking about?

Is it at all possible to keep a sand sifting starfish in the same tank as clams that are placed on the sand?

Sure. These sea stars eat only sand bed infauna. They will not touch your clams. They do require a very large area of open sand bed to thrive. A single 10 cm sand sifting sea star will require at least a couple of square meters of sand bed surface to survive.

I know this is a potentially stupid question but with my deep sand bed I would really like to include the sand sifting starfish and I'm having a hard time passing on the beauty of the clams in the local fish store...

It won't touch your clams. It will, however, wipe out all of the beneficial critters (macro and micro) in your sand bed in short order. You shouldn't consider one of these unless your tank is at least 300 gallons with a lot of open sand area.

I have a bunch of Nassarius and Cerith snails but they don't quite get deep enough in the sand bed for my liking. If the starfish isn't going to get along with clams what other options do I have? (I intend to keep the deep sand bed before any suggestions are made on that...)

Options to do what? If you are asking about bioturbation of your sediments, the sand bed infauna do that -- all those tiny wormy critters and microcrustaceans in the sand that keep the sediments moving.

 

[Mihai]

Exactly as ninong said!
M.