How many sand sifting starfish for a 135...
 

So... What do you guys recommend? Is there anything else besides the starfish and cucumbers that will clean the sand extremely well... I would like to get a tiger tail cucumber, but I cannot find them anywhere, except on line...

Nassarius Snails. I prefer them to anything listed above.

If you want a live sand bed, don't add sand sifting stars
Erik

I agree with Kreeger1,
I had 3 in my 120g after they ate all the good stuff, they started to die. I have a gold head goby, he moves a lot of sand.

I also agree with comments on starfish. They need a very well established large system with a deep sand bed to survive long term. I would also reccomend Nassarious snails, cerith snails. You might want to look into a pair of Diamond gobies.

diamond goby and cerith snails. I do have a sand sifter, one in my 180. He is about 2 years old. Hopefully he will continue to live long. I would not put more than 1 in your 120

yeah, watch out for the sand sifting stars....very hungryh species that may even wreak havoc on your corals one day

Worms, and a healthy dose of flake food every week or so... Right before the lights go out. Let it settle.

Stay away from the SS star. They shouldn't even be sold in this hobby but I guess they're easy to catch. Nearly all are doomed to die in a tank and they only strip your sand of all beneficial life. And they can not be spot fed so don't even bother.

I prefer nasarrius snails.

One more vote for the Nassarius snails...if you can find them, try the Tongan Giant Nassarius, they look exactly like the normally purchased smaller Nassarius (like Reeftopia sends) except these guys are about the size of Turbo Snails or large Conch's (shell size is approx 1"+ in length) - got two in our 125 along with a handfull of the little guys and when they are all out at night roaming it looks like the parents took the kids for a walk..LOL )

I also agree with everyone they are not good for our reefs, and will eat all the good stuff in the sand and end up dying from starvation!

Dang.. should have read this thread before. I added sand yesterday and got 2 SS in 120g.

What is the good stuff they eat out of the sand?

The stuff that actually does the cleaning. There are a few different species in the hobby, but most feed on infauna in the sand. That's the little animals like nearly microscopic worms, snails, and "pods," which are the critters that actually clean the sand. All the stars do is stir the sand so it [i]looks[/i] clean. Most species don't eat detritus or algae in any appreciable amount, especially when other food is available.