sand sifting star?

[evil Nick]

SO I did a bit of research a while ago about substrate turnover and threw in some snails and such. I also read from others who stated sifting stars where great. I went to the LFS (2 of them) and both said yup theyre great for cleaning and turning the sand.

I put one in the tank (30 gallon) and started doing more reading and now keep seeing how bad they are. They will decimate your sandbed of life then die.

Im wondering if this is always a 100% situation? Could they be fed pieces of food such as shrimp and such or do they ignore this type of feeding and just look for live organisms to eat?

I was thinking of taking it back and getting an orange linckia instead but I dont think the LFS would honor any type of return on this and Id basically be eating the cash (only 11$ tho).

What do you guys think, worst and best scenerios are. Better yet your experiences with them.

[bribo12]

Most stars do horrific on our systems. The linkia won't fair much better as they tend to just slowly wither away. In a large and established enough tank it may do ok but usually they slowly die if they are not dying already. The only ones that tend to do well are serpents or brittle stars.

[evil Nick]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Most stars do horrific on our systems. The linkia won't fair much better as they tend to just slowly wither away. In a large and established enough tank it may do ok but usually they slowly die if they are not dying already. The only ones that tend to do well are serpents or brittle stars.

can they be spot fed (either one)?

[melosu58]

Linknia stars feed on microbes in the tank. Large tanks might do OK but not a small tank. Here are some I have had over the years.

[evil Nick]

are there any safe stars besides brittles? I like them but they just pretty much hang out under rocks all day

[Sniperhank]

There are very few reef safe stars available in the hobby. There is a lot that is unknown about many stars, to include what some of them even eat. These are then collected and sold, then people wonder why they end up dying. It is a long process to starve, just like the mandarins that are gorgeous, but sadly way too cheap to prevent spontaneous purchases and their eventual demise.
Fromia starfish are considered easier to keep than linkia, but the basic idea is that they eat the same micro organisms. Only mature systems will keep any non serpent star alive.

[evil Nick]

My main concern with a serpent/brittle star is that
1) they do nothing but hide in the rocks
2) once it's gets too huge it would be impossible to get out of said rocks.

Does this every become a problem with them? If not then maybe I'll try to swap this out.
I was going to get a couple shrimp, cut a piece and try to spot feed him first. Might take a couple goes which is why I would buy more than one. If he doesn't eat it I'll remove it and try a fresh piece the next day. If still nothing after a few I'll remove him
He shouldn't be hard to find under my sub since he really only has the front 1/3rd he can really access.
The rest is pretty much all rock.
Does this plan seem futile? I would say if they're this difficult he's going to more than likely die in the store anyway so at least I can give it a shot.

[54seaweed]

My main concern with a serpent/brittle star is that
1) they do nothing but hide in the rocks
2) once it's gets too huge it would be impossible to get out of said rocks.

my serpents come out to feed but yes spend most of there time in the rocks ,
yes some serpents get rather large I have 8 of them the smallest is about 6 inch
the largest is just shy of 24in ,

he just puts his arms out at feeding , he did quite fin in my 37g till I upgraded to my 90 . serpents do good in about any size tank as they don't move around to much , I get a kick out of them just reaching out from the rocks ,

some wander around the tank if its a new environment for them usually trying to escape by climbing anything it can grab .just think about seeing arms like this reaching out of the rocks everywhere it's kind of neat , this guy is around 8 yrs old and he is the most active . you should see him crowning in the sand when I add feeder shrimp waiting to catch his prey .

[evil Nick]

Originally Posted by 54seaweed

my serpents come out to feed but yes spend most of there time in the rocks ,
yes some serpents get rather large I have 8 of them the smallest is about 6 inch
the largest is just shy of 24in ,

he just puts his arms out at feeding , he did quite fin in my 37g till I upgraded to my 90 . serpents do good in about any size tank as they don't move around to much , I get a kick out of them just reaching out from the rocks ,

some wander around the tank if its a new environment for them usually trying to escape by climbing anything it can grab .just think about seeing arms like this reaching out of the rocks everywhere it's kind of neat , this guy is around 8 yrs old and he is the most active . you should see him crowning in the sand when I add feeder shrimp waiting to catch his prey .

maybe Ill pick one up

[melosu58]

Whatever type you get make sure they are never exposed to air. Not even for a second.

[evil Nick]

Originally Posted by melosu58

Whatever type you get make sure they are never exposed to air. Not even for a second.

now is that for all starfish? Im pretty sure the one I bought (sifter) was removed from the tank to be put in the bag. I know for a fact in his frag tank he had a couple orange stars being eaten by urchins and when he was trying to peel them to put them in a safe tank they were removed from water as well.

[54seaweed]

Originally Posted by evil Nick

now is that for all starfish? Im pretty sure the one I bought (sifter) was removed from the tank to be put in the bag. I know for a fact in his frag tank he had a couple orange stars being eaten by urchins and when he was trying to peel them to put them in a safe tank they were removed from water as well.

star fish should never have contact with air once they are they go down hill fast
sponge , feather dusters , even nems theres a few others just can't think of them right now!

if the urchins are eating them than they already are dyeing

[bribo12]

IMO the whole exposure to air thing is ridiculous. Why would a class of animals (some of which that can be found in tidal areas) have issues when exposed to air. It just doesn't make sense evolutionary wise. I see linkia a and fromias with limbs out of the water all the time at stores. Also, do we honestly believe that at some point from ocean to your tank they weren't exposed to air?

My serpent star has been exposed to air tons of times and I've had it for 4 years...

Linkia stars and others tend to whither away for no reason and I believe the whole no exposure to air is just a kind of an attempt of people to explain their random declines.

[54seaweed]

I can see where your going with this as yes I've seen stars latched to rocks at low tide myself but from another perspective you have to also look at it from a different view
me I no way claim to be a expert but sometimes we just follow what is said by many research study's ,

I know they say urchins are another that shouldn't be in contact with air , but if you look at every public aquarium they have them in the touch tank and they spend a lot of time in contact with air so are star fish .

now the thing we don't know is how long do these creatures survive from that exposure , they are left behind at the aquarium as we go home and never seeing those creatures again .
I never seen the after effect so I don't know, I can only go by what is read and said .

but at the same time I wouldn't want to experience it on my livestock , why would anyone want to take and risk there livestock to air exposure that experts claim to be fatal to these creatures.

so it's a draw , do I risk air exposure or do I play it safe and avoid air exposure .

[melosu58]

Yes you will see the legs sticking out of the water but you never see the mouth out of water. That is the part that needs to be under water. If you grab a starfish and pull him out the bag then the mouth is drawing in air which is lethal to the starfish a few weeks down the air. Why do so many companies tell you to not expose them to air. Look at the stars at Liveaquaria and other sites and you will see the warning. Here is the description of your sand sifting star. See the warning on there.


Saltwater Aquarium Starfish for Marine Reef Aquariums: Sand Sifting Sea Star

[bribo12]

I'm just saying I've never seen any reputable scientific paper that states this. Liveaquaria says the same thing about brittle and serpent stars...

Not trying to start an argument lol I'm just saying. Urchins have the exact same type of water vascular system as stars. Until someone can provide me scientific proof I'm gonna be a doubter

Sorry op I will let this thread get back on track!