Sand Cleaners...

[Civicman86]

i got some nassarius snails off ebay about 3 months ago. They do clean up pretty well...although i wouldn't expect them to make a huge difference if your sand is really dirty. Problem i've had is my hermits absolutely LOVE the nassarius shells and they have killed off probably hald of them to get their shells. I bought some empty hermit shells but the hermits i have dont' seem to like those...they go right for the nassarius shells. Good thing the nass snails were cheap.

Thats wierd, my hermits go after the turbo shells and I have never lost one Nass Snails. I dont think Ill be getting hermits again. Maybe blue legged ones that are more peacefull but still might not.

 

[ColdFish]

This is kind of a side to the original topic, but it got me thinking about how to care for sandsifting stars. My favorite local fish store just recently went out of business and I happened to be in the shop on the last night it was open. They were giving away any remaining livestock and I ended up taking 3 sandsifters just to give them a home. My tank is only a 50 gallon and I've wondered if they are getting enough to eat. They are fairly small, only about 1 to 1&1/2 inch across. I'm currently putting a new 90 gallon reef tank together and figured I would move a couple there once it's up and running. I've tried spot feeding by putting a little formula one in the sand and placing a starfish on top of it, but they don't seem to have much interest in it. They seem healthy and to be doing ok but I've only had them a couple weeks. Any tips on how to care for these guys?