Nassarius snail or sand shifting star fish

[RickNavyDad]

New to all this, and recently turned on the lights. Needless to say I have algae growing. The trochus, Atlantic grazers, and hermits are doing their job keeping everything at bay. I have a gobie and a pistol shrimp, who have staked their rock and corner. I want to add a star or nassarius snails to stir the sand, but will they disturb the pistol shrimp or should I care? Kind of don't want to upset the shrimp but do want to stir the sand. Do they just stay away from each other? Any thoughts appreciated or am I over thinking this, lol.

 

[Operator Wrasse]

Depends how big your tank is. I have a 75G that was started with captive-aged live rock. I have all the critters you mentioned above and have absolutely zero issues. Be aware that sand sifting stars need a pretty healthy (read: full of food) sandbed to eat from. If you have a new tank, your sand probably isn't mature enough for the star. Stick to the nassarius snails for now.

 

[RickNavyDad]

Depends how big your tank is. I have a 75G that was started with captive-aged live rock. I have all the critters you mentioned above and have absolutely zero issues. Be aware that sand sifting stars need a pretty healthy (read: full of food) sandbed to eat from. If you have a new tank, your sand probably isn't mature enough for the star. Stick to the nassarius snails for now.

Thank you, it's a 40b with about a 1 to 1.5 inch sand bed about 4 months old.

 

[Operator Wrasse]

Yeah, stick to the snails... A sand sifter might be able to hack it at about the year mark. You'll learn lots in the next 8 months and finally understand what everyone means when their tank "matured".

 

[blaxsun]

Just a tip about the Nassarius snails (at least the orange spotted ones): they are always "late to the dinner table", and you'll rarely see them until after you've fed the rest of your reef inhabitants. Then they all surface and make a beeline in random directions across the tank. This includes up the sides of the tank, out along the rim, down the side and occasionally across the floor.

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquarium]

Does nassarius snails need feeding or will they turn the sand and survive just with that? Also how many do you recommend for 20 lbs live sand in 12 gallon nano 6 months mature.

 

[blaxsun]

Does nassarius snails need feeding or will they turn the sand and survive just with that? Also how many do you recommend for 20 lbs live sand in 12 gallon nano 6 months mature.

They will spent most of their lives in the substrate but can emerge to occasionally snack on seaweed. I usually drop a few small rocks in with SeaVeggies wrapped on top with an elastic. They do scavenge literally anything that smells like it might be food. So if you're feeding seaweed anyway you should be good.

I have eight (8) orange-spotted and two (2) regular nassarius snails in my 160 gallon display, so I'd say 1 would probably be sufficient (or 2 really small ones). The orange-spotted are typically a lot larger than regular nassarius.

 

[RickNavyDad]

Just a tip about the Nassarius snails (at least the orange spotted ones): they are always "late to the dinner table", and you'll rarely see them until after you've fed the rest of your reef inhabitants. Then they all surface and make a beeline in random directions across the tank. This includes up the sides of the tank, out along the rim, down the side and occasionally across the floor.

I think I've seen some posts or comments about putting pellets in the sand to feed them, so they stay feed

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquarium]

They will spent most of their lives in the substrate but can emerge to occasionally snack on seaweed. I usually drop a few small rocks in with SeaVeggies wrapped on top with an elastic. They do scavenge literally anything that smells like it might be food. So if you're feeding seaweed anyway you should be good.

I have eight (8) orange-spotted and two (2) regular nassarius snails in my 160 gallon display, so I'd say 1 would probably be sufficient (or 2 really small ones). The orange-spotted are typically a lot larger than regular nassarius.

Are they the better choice to turn over sand than the star? I wanted to get one or the other.

Let me show you my sand bed. I have two 12 gallon systems each with 20 lbs live sand.

 

[blaxsun]

Are they the better choice to turn over sand than the star? I wanted to get one or the other. Let me show you my sand bed. I have two 12 gallon systems each with 20 lbs live sand.

Yes, mainly because I think you'll find the sand sifting starfish are probably a tad big for your size tank. Do keep in-mind that the nassarius snails aren't constantly turning over your sandbed. They usually find a spot they like, bury down to the glass and remain there until they get hungry at which point it's wash, rinse and repeat. The sand-sifting starfish are also primarily nocturnal, so you won't see them during the day much.

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquarium]

Yes, mainly because I think you'll find the sand sifting starfish are probably a tad big for your size tank. Do keep in-mind that the nassarius snails aren't constantly turning over your sandbed. They usually find a spot they like, bury down to the glass and remain there until they get hungry at which point it's wash, rinse and repeat. The sand-sifting starfish are also primarily nocturnal, so you won't see them during the day much.

Okay thanks, I just would like some of that sand to be moved around and had both on my past tanks and remember the star fish moved more sand but died in my 90 gallon and 12 gallon cubes of the past.

Wish they were smaller so could place one in each but do they destroy the sandbed with time? Eat all the good of the bed?