Sand-sifting Starfish Care

[schooncw]

I know someone who is enquiring about the care of sand-sifting starfish. My understanding, is that they need a larger, mature aquarium with a decent sand-bed. He insists that a 10 gallon is suitable and cites several websites confirming this.
Any experts out there, that can give advice I can pass along?
Thanks.

 

[Stomatopods17]

A tang fits better in a 10 gallon, at least it won't starve!

In all seriousness though, sand sifters are borderline a throwaway pet, they clean your sandbed and then starve to death after, even in very large tanks this happens unless its a very well established one with deep sand and little to no competition. I would not recommend one below a 2 year old 125 gallon if you're getting it as a long term pet, thats your best odds and I only know a handful who've kept them more than a year.

There's just very little ways to supplement their diet, they don't necessarily just eat whatever they find they eat the micro bacteria living in the sand and them scooting around in it shifts the sand to stay clean.

My alternative recommendations: serpent starfish and tiger conch, the former for a cool star that can survive in a 10, the later for a sand sifter.

 

[schooncw]

Thanks for the reply and I agree. He insists that he can feed it adequately enough to keep it alive and my position, is that he should pass on it.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

10 gallons is awfully small for a starfish that gets up to a foot in diameter.

I'd try something like clam, oyster, etc. and/or snail meat (you can find various frozen/live marine snails to try online, including conch meat, periwinkle snails, babylonian snails, etc.)

The quote below is specifically geared toward Astropecten spp. (predatory) sand sifting stars, but there is another genus of sand sifting stars called Archaster that is thought (importantly the diet was inferred, not studied in the research that this diet was pulled from) to be detritivorous (specifically, they are thought to be microphagous detritivores). I have heard but cannot confirm that Archaster spp. misidentified as Astropecten spp. may be more common in the hobby than actual Astropecten spp. are.

So, with this in mind:
- If your star is detritivorous (which may be a very big if), then you would likely want smaller foods than the suggested below (which is designed for predatory sand sifters). In this case, I'd suggest trying to mix something like TDO Chroma Boost into the sand for your stars to find.
- If your star is predatory (which may to our limited knowledge be possible at this point even if it is an Archaster sp.), then the below advice (and my advice above) is more likely to be useful.
- If your star is actually primarily a biofilm eater like Linckia spp. Protoreaster nodosus, etc. (which may also to our limited knowledge be possible for an Archaster sp.), then it's likely to die regardless of what you do or don't feed it at this point.

I’ve heard they climb the glass when they’re looking for food and can’t find any in the sand bed.

Generally, people recommend large tanks and waiting until your tank is established before trying these (or pretty much any) sea stars, and the star survives on detritus in the tank. Unfortunately, even in a lot of these tanks, after they finish clearing the detritus from the sand, they typically starve.

My current advice to avoid the star staving - which may or may not help, I genuinely don't know at this point (it could take someone months to years of testing it to find out for certain, as sea stars can last months without food):
Target feed the star things like clam on half shell, oyster, mussel, scallop, etc. (bivalves); snail, whelk, conch, etc. (sea snail gastropods); and a good quality omnivore food (like LRS Reef Frenzy or Fertility Frenzy). These are - according to the best sources of information I can find - the sorts of foods sand sifting stars consume in the wild, and the star should swallow these foods whole if they aren't too big - you might need to experiment a bit with the size of the pieces offered to get it sized just right, but generally I'd say err on the smaller side.

If you decide to give it a shot, let me know how it goes, and keep me updated on the long term survival of the star!

Edit: just to add - most starfish do starve in our tanks. If the person really wants a starfish for a 10 gallon tank, they'd be much better off with a serpent/brittle starfish of some variety, or (if they insist on having a real starfish) going with some Aquilonastra starfish (commonly known in the hobby as Asterina starfish).

 

[albano]

waste of time and money… not going to survive!

 

[schooncw]

Thank you for your reply. My position, is that the sand-sifter needs a larger and more mature aquarium and that other inverts are better suited for a 10 gallon.
Why should anyone even need a sand -sifter for 10 gallon anyway? One that if given the proper element, you would not even see?

 

[schooncw]

waste of time and money… not going to survive!

Agreed

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I wouldn't recommend it. They require serious dedication and supplemental feeding to survive. It isn't at all impossible but I don't think many people are willing to put in the effort.

 

[schooncw]

I wouldn't recommend it. They require serious dedication and supplemental feeding to survive. It isn't at all impossible but I don't think many people are willing to put in the effort.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[schooncw]

10 gallons is awfully small for a starfish that gets up to a foot in diameter.


Edit: just to add - most starfish do starve in our tanks. If the person really wants a starfish for a 10 gallon tank, they'd be much better off with a serpent/brittle starfish of some variety, or (if they insist on having a real starfish) going with some Aquilonastra starfish (commonly known in the hobby as Asterina starfish).

I've got numerous asterina's for rehoming

 

[vetteguy53081]

I know someone who is enquiring about the care of sand-sifting starfish. My understanding, is that they need a larger, mature aquarium with a decent sand-bed. He insists that a 10 gallon is suitable and cites several websites confirming this.
Any experts out there, that can give advice I can pass along?
Thanks.

Thet are peaceful and reef safe with minimal requirements. They dont tolerate ph, salinity and nitrate swings well. They have a wide diet consisting of typical sand ingredients: detritus and small bristleworms, pods, detritus, mysid shrimp , uneaten food, scallops and bivalve cousins, smaller stars and even smaller urchins.
20 gallon is more ideal but more important is that they get a constant food source or they will weaken and quickly die

 

[schooncw]

Thet are peaceful and reef safe with minimal requirements. They dont tolerate ph, salinity and nitrate swings well. They have a wide diet consisting of typical sand ingredients: detritus and small bristleworms, pods, detritus, mysid shrimp , uneaten food, scallops and bivalve cousins, smaller stars and even smaller urchins.
20 gallon is more ideal but more important is that they get a constant food source or they will weaken and quickly die

Agreed, which is why I think a small tank is unsuitable. One, because stability on a small tank is difficult but more importantly, it will wipe the sand bed quickly and no matter the best efforts, will be very difficult to feed properly

 

[shakacuz]

Thanks for the reply and I agree. He insists that he can feed it adequately enough to keep it alive and my position, is that he should pass on it.

not even supplemental feedings will keep it alive. their appetite is voracious.

 

[schooncw]

not even supplemental feedings will keep it alive. their appetite is voracious.

Agreed

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

not even supplemental feedings will keep it alive. their appetite is voracious.

I wasn't aware of that species appetite. Where did you learn about this? Starfish in general are a topic of particular interest I have.

 

[schooncw]

I wasn't aware of that species appetite. Where did you learn about this? Starfish in general are a topic of particular interest I have.

The Complete Guide to Sand Sifting Starfish Care

Sand Sifting Starfish are great saltwater aquarium cleaners. When you follow the parameters in our guide for optimal tank setup, everyone will be happy.

www.fishkeepingworld.com

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

The Complete Guide to Sand Sifting Starfish Care

Sand Sifting Starfish are great saltwater aquarium cleaners. When you follow the parameters in our guide for optimal tank setup, everyone will be happy.

www.fishkeepingworld.com

I appreciate you pointed me to that thread but I would tend to be more convinced if there were citations of any kind, research performed, or if the information was written by someone who had a background in these specific organisms... it's very general to be honest and I'm not sure it's actually based on any studies at all. That's particularly important in the case of organisms studied very sparsely such as starfish.

 

[schooncw]

I appreciate you pointed me to that thread but I would tend to be more convinced if there were citations of any kind, research performed, or if the information was written by someone who had a background in these specific organisms... it's very general to be honest and I'm not sure it's actually based on any studies at all. That's particularly important in the case of organisms studied very sparsely such as starfish.

Well then, goooogle is your friend. I have been a hobbyist all of my life and in the aquatic industry, as a Distributor/Manufacturer Sales Rep for many years and this is my clear understanding and belief. I would advise contacting some of the public aquariums-such as the Baltimore Aquarium, which my company has worked extensively with-and other organizations, who do not depend on selling these creatures to the public and have a vested interest in doing so .
Many of the articles out there, are written by people/companies with an interest in selling product, no matter the environmental cost or likelihood that the creature will not survive.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Well then, goooogle is your friend. I have been a hobbyist all of my life and in the aquatic industry, as a Distributor/Manufacturer Sales Rep for many years and this is my clear understanding and belief. I would advise contacting some of the public aquariums-such as the Baltimore Aquarium, which my company has worked extensively with-and other organizations, who do not depend on selling these creatures to the public and have a vested interest in doing so .
Many of the articles out there, are written by people/companies with an interest in selling product, no matter the environmental cost or likelihood that the creature will not survive.

Yeah, I did Google the species actually and wasn't able to locate very much specific information at all. That's why I don't think you can really say one way or the other. If I were to directly contact the Baltimore aquarium what would they actually be able to tell me regarding the species? Are theirs starving and they know that the reason for death is starvation? The biology of echinoderms is so vastly different than that of practically any other organism, why do we think we just "know" that this is the case? Perhaps the differing parameters led to clumping or a reduction on coelomocytes which led to death...perhaps it does of SSWD....who knows why they commonly die without evidence or any species specific studies?

 

[shakacuz]

I wasn't aware of that species appetite. Where did you learn about this? Starfish in general are a topic of particular interest I have.

based on my own personal experience. like most starfish they’re always on the “go” eating as they move and such