Sand Sifting Star

[machinas]

I found one in my tank, must have gotten stuck to a piece of live rock I bought. re these generally hard to keep?

[exacta123]

they will normaly starve to death, How deep is your sand bed?

[FavaBean]

IMO/IME they are easy to keep....I have had mine for over two years without any problems....I use to have him in my 29 but then put him into my 55....I even took him out of the water to do that....In a 24 I think it would just depend on your sand bed like exacta stated...hope that helps
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a161/ShareSumWithMe/d17aae70.jpg

[bertoni]

Most of them seem to starve to death over a period of time. There are many species of starfish, though, so knowing exactly what you have could be difficult. If you're interested in having live sand, the true sandsifters prey on sandbed animals and can eat most everything fairly rapidly.

[ajwatson21]

I bought one several months ago. I have a 55 gallon and wanted to prevent it from starving to death so a friend & I have a plan (hopefully it continues to work). I keep the starfish until my sand is clean and then I pass the starfish along to his tank (75 gal.) until his tank looks clean. Lastly, we put it in one more tank (55 gal.) until it is clean before we start the cycle again. So far it has worked perfect and will hopefully prevent starvation. All 3 tanks look great and the starfish seems to be doing well! So maybe you could find a buddy to pass your starfish to for a little bit. Just an idea that has worked so far for us.

[Avi]

This Starfish discussion is always lively. I've been chiming in on them because my experience with starfish has been to the contrary of what is generally written about them, with the exception of Fromias and I don't have enough experience with those to really comment. I have three Linkias that have been doing very well for a good deal of time...but the thread is about Sandsifters. I have two in my tank. This one's been in the tank for just about one year. It was obtained when the reef was over a year old and there's a substantial amount of live rock. It lost an entire "arm" due to a powerhead intake and

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v58/Avrumeleh/SandSifter42006LR0112.jpg

as you can see, it's regenerating. Would this take place if the Starfish was not getting sufficient nutrition? Of course, I don't know for certain, but I'd think not. What I'm pointing out is that there might be a lot of reasons why some Starfish, sandsifters and other, don't do well in a reef, but I think that more needs to be learned about them before the conclusions that are so widely found in the literature about them are considered so conclusive.

ajwatson, I do like that idea of shifting the Starfish around though...shows they can handle a lot of stress.

[Ironman]

Mine lasted about 8 months in my 110 before it died. Not sure why.

[machinas]

It isnt sitting on the sand bed, its on the back part of the tank and its very small, a little less than an inch in diameter, Ill try to get a picture on here, unfortunately my usb cord got busted up so I dont know when that might be.

[bertoni]

Well, of the three "Linckia" starfishes Avi has mentioned, I'm only convinced one of them is a Linckia, and 5 months doesn't mean much for these animals. I'm also not completely sure the starfish pictured is a sand-sifter in the biologists' sense of the term.

[Avi]

Bertoni...Your mention of "five months," I think, refers to another post where I mentioned that the Blue Linckia is in my reef for only about that amount of time. But that isn't the whole story, is it? By mentioning only that Starfish, you seem to suggest that the other two that I mentioned with detail....the red/orange and the purple....aren't relevant to the discussion. In fact, they are. You know that the same's been said, with respect to the purported unsuitability of the red/orange and the purples in home reefs, and you also know that wrote that I've had them for a lot longer than five months and that I wrote of the full regeneration of the red/orange's leg, as well. That the red/orange and the purple Starfish that I also have may well not be Linckias is really quite beside the point, now, isn't it? Besides, the idea that they aren't Linckias, in some technical way, is very debatable. And not so important to the discussion as whether the blues, red/oranges and purples as well as the unrelated Sandsifters that are so commonly available in the aquarium hobby, are reasonable candidates for successful inclusion in a reef tank

You mention that the Starfish in the photo I posted above isn't, in some technical way, the one that is known as the Sand-Sifting Starfish to "biologists." Well, at the risk of offending all the biologists that are reading these threads, I'd point out that the one that FavaBean and I depicted are representative of the Sand-Sifters that we're all talking about, here. They are the kind that are universally referred to in the marine aquarium hobby, as Sandsifting Starfish.

So, that being said, I don't really understand why you seem so invested in the notion that these and other Starfish can't be kept in reef tanks. You're showing a cynacism that doesn't appear to be open to any other ideas than what a lot of people say, many, if not most of whom have never kept any kind of Starfish, and are only repeating, so as to be helpful, what they themselves have read. Why would you do that? You are generally so well versed in this hobby and very helpful, too. I commend you for that.

Generally, I'm very conservative about what I put into my reef. I will not put any Angelfish, for example, in my reef other than one that is objectively acknowledged to be reef safe, despite the temptation of a Flame or a Bicolor or other more colorful Angelfish than, say, the Swallowtail that I do have. But the Starfish aren't destructive in any way and so trying them...with fairly long term success...suggests, at least, that you can't believe everything you read about every single thing.

I maintain that, regardless of what's been written about Starfish of varying kinds, like the Sandsifters, Linkias, Tamaria, etc. There's a lot that remains to be proven and there's nothing wrong with being cautious about keeping them....even extra-cautious in terms of handling, acclimating, etc. And, if they are put into a well-established tank, preferably fairly large with larger amounts of live rock, there's a good chance of success. By the way, there is plenty of information out there that supports the ability of these Starfish to be maitained in aquariums. If someone want to try them, I'd recommend reading everything they could find first, even the negative stuff.

Now if someone can tell me where I can get a hold of a green Linckia....Linckia guildingi...I'd sure appreciate it.

[AZDesertRat]

I put a sand sifting star in a 100G established reef with a 5" deep sand bed full of life. In less than 3 months my sand bed looked like the zgobi desert with absolutely nothing alive in it. It took 6 months of reseeding with bottles of Ocean Pods and cups of live sand to get it back anywhere near where it had been previously.
I would never recommend a sand sifting star to anyone if you intend to have afully functioning deep sand bed. You are much better off with snails and maybe a fighting conch as they only eat detritus and not live pods.

[Black Phantom]

Your "little" starfish sounds like it may be an Asterina. How many appendages does it have?

[Avi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7219465#post7219465 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AZDesertRat
I put a sand sifting star in a 100G established reef with a 5" deep sand bed full of life. In less than 3 months my sand bed looked like the zgobi desert with absolutely nothing alive in it. It took 6 months of reseeding with bottles of Ocean Pods and cups of live sand to get it back anywhere near where it had been previously.

AZD...I'm just curious as to why you would put a Sandsifting Starfish in a reef with a deep sand bed in the first place? Aside from taking pods...and it's even debatable that they take them or all of them, though you seem to have had that happen in your instance...why would you put something in your reef that would jeapardize the sandbed itself?

[bertoni]

Wow, long post.

I pointed out the id issue because I am not sure that the animals were identified correctly at all. Same for the "sand-sifting" stars. As far as being "invested" or "cynical", we don't in general know what a lot of these creatures eat, and they have horrible survival records, as far as we can tell. A success here or there doesn't mean much, IMO.