Sand sifting stars... Your exp...

[Troylee]

I have kept them since I got in the hobby and never had any issues what so ever... But I have read numerous times it wipes out your sand bed and they die... That has got to be so far from the truth I have had 2 for years they have been with me in every tank... What's been your exp????

 

[Saltgator]

Had a few in my days. Always sifting. Only lost mine to a rock that shifted. Like them alot. Looking to possibly pick another up this weekend to assist Cyano on sand bed.

 

[Wesley42079]

I had to purchase another one a few weeks ago. The 1st one I've had worked great, if he wasn't sifting the sand, he would bury himself under it. I loved how my sand was always clean, thanks to him. However one day, I noticed spots of algae in a few corners and wondered why I hadn't seen him in a few days. I checked my sump (Biocube 29), but he was no where to be found.

So now I have a second starfish. He is a worker too, just not as great as the first.

 

[_sludgefactory]

I prefer cucs, they dont deplete your sand bed near as much. Ive always heard stars will wipe everything out then slowy starve to death. I had one before and he live for about 2 years and then slowly one day stated to dissovle. My cuc works all day, but i still have worms in my bed and hes been going strong for like 3 years now.

 

[Dave3112]

I have had them before. I don't think they ever "wiped out" my sand bed. I do think they eat some of the beneficial things in the sand bed but not enough to do alot of harm. I lost mine when I moved from CA to AL and ever since I have used Cucumbers. They are ugly as sin but they do a great job of cleaning the sand!

 

[Troylee]

^^^^lol.... My wife and kids like them more than anything in my tank.... I have 2 in my cube right now and there doing great.... Hmmm

 

[bct15]

I had one in my clown tank and the hermits destroyed it. It dropped off all of it's legs to distract the hermits and was just a nub crawling around, which it eventually was discovered and eaten by the hermits too. The whole process took about a day to unfold.

 

[LittleDabOSalt]

I added one a few days ago and after reading through here, I'm hopeful that he does well and helps sift through what the Goby isn't. We always worried about the cucs possibly nuking our tank, at least we'd heard that and hoped for less of an impact if something happened to the star.

 

[goldenboy]

I would say the key question is how big and deep is your sand bed? I mean sure a starfish may do great in a 200-300 gallon with a 4 inch dsb tons of food for it. =) wonder what the minimum would be to keep these guys alive.

 

[Troylee]

Well my tank is 30x30 and has a 2" sand bed... No issues thus far.... Let me remind you the sand was brand new 6 mOnths ago....

 

[Steven R]

i have had mine in a 46 gallon bow front with 3 to 4 inches of sand since he was only a half inch in diameter and he's now 4 inches in diameter and i still have plenty of pods but no worms. he does a great job a removing algae and even goes up the glass some times. he has run of the hole bed except for my blue spot shrimp goby who really does not sift to much. in my observation it is a welcome addition to a healthy thriving system that has a refugium on it so that the starfish has a constant food renewal taking place. they also need a lot of room to (run). Overall i think they are great if all the requirements are met.