What do sand sifting starfish eat?

... · May 23, 2020

What will a sand sifting starfish eat, I have seen people say microfauna and detritus and I do plan on having copepods and I have a 5" deep sandbed over a 36" x 14" dimension, if I can't have these, are there any other sea stars that are beginner friendly and do not say a serpent or brittle star because I do not have those here in my country. Any suggestions?

andrewey · May 23, 2020

You nailed it- microfauna and detritus. I'm not a fan of putting a sand sifting star in a 36"x14" tank- there's simply not enough real estate to support them and most will slowly die over 3-12 months.

Do you have coral? If not, a chocolate chip star is beginner friendly and intermediate would be Protoreastor lincki. If you have coral, almost every other star beyond serpent or brittle star is pretty advanced and I'd estimate at least 20-25 stars die for every one star (usually some type of linkia) that survives outside the hands of an extremely advanced reefer.

... · May 23, 2020

andrewey said:
You nailed it- microfauna and detritus. I'm not a fan of putting a sand sifting star in a 36"x14" tank- there's simply not enough real estate to support them and most will slowly die over 3-12 months.

Do you have coral? If not, a chocolate chip star is beginner friendly and intermediate would be Protoreastor lincki. If you have coral, almost every other star beyond serpent or brittle star is pretty advanced and I'd estimate at least 20-25 stars die for every one star (usually some type of linkia) that survives outside the hands of an extremely advanced reefer.

I already have an anemone so chocolate chip I'd not a optian, but could I feed the sand sifting star? Thanks for the help by the way.

andrewey · May 23, 2020

No worries. Unfortunately, many have attempted to "seed" their sand by burying chopped bits of meaty foods. From my understanding, I don't know of anyone who has done this successfully. The few I've owned never touched anything I put in the tank including chopped/slurried clams, tilapia, squid, pellets, or mysis. They're fascinating creatures and easy to collect so they're cheap, but they're one of those animals the hobby really shouldn't be selling to most reefers.

... · May 23, 2020

andrewey said:
No worries. Unfortunately, many have attempted to "seed" their sand by burying chopped bits of meaty foods. From my understanding, I don't know of anyone who has done this successfully. The few I've owned never touched anything I put in the tank including chopped/slurried clams, tilapia, squid, pellets, or mysis. They're fascinating creatures and easy to collect so they're cheap, but they're one of those animals the hobby really shouldn't be selling to most reefers.

I do agree with you. I do like nassarius snails and I know they are basically a hardier version of the sand sifting star, I just saw my LFS had one in a 55 Gallon and he was thriving so I thought I could have one, I might get a blue licktia because I know they eat biofilm and sometimes graze on algae so I might get them ( I know they are hard to acclimate to so I plan to acclimate for 3 hours.) My LFS have some healthy blue licktias.

andrewey · May 23, 2020

I'm not a fan of blue linkias for new reefers, but if you are going to pick one up, just make sure the LFS has owned it for over a month to make sure it's not already a goner from specimen collection.

... · May 23, 2020

andrewey said:
I'm not a fan of blue linkias for new reefers, but if you are going to pick one up, just make sure the LFS has owned it for over a month to make sure it's not already a goner from specimen collection.

They have had it for 3 months and they are chubby with no white patches on them, they are usually on the just under the water surface on the glass and sometimes on the rocks.

... · May 23, 2020

andrewey said:
I'm not a fan of blue linkias for new reefers, but if you are going to pick one up, just make sure the LFS has owned it for over a month to make sure it's not already a goner from specimen collection.

I am also doing mad research on them and they said they usually graze on algae.

andrewey · May 23, 2020

If you're really serious about owning one, my suggestion would be to read this article to include with your "mad research"

Aquarium Invertebrates: Sea Stars — Linckia spp.

Although these stars require extra care in the initial selection, once a blue Linckia is successfully introduced into a large, well established aquarium with plenty of live rock to explore, they are usually quite hardy and are certainly a beautiful addition to a reef aquarium.

reefs.com

... · May 23, 2020

andrewey said:
If you're really serious about owning one, my suggestion would be to read this article to include with your "mad research"

Aquarium Invertebrates: Sea Stars — Linckia spp.

Although these stars require extra care in the initial selection, once a blue Linckia is successfully introduced into a large, well established aquarium with plenty of live rock to explore, they are usually quite hardy and are certainly a beautiful addition to a reef aquarium.

reefs.com

Already done

... · May 23, 2020

... said:
Already done
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... · May 23, 2020

... said:
Already done

It's acclimation and nutrition that's so challenging on them.

vetteguy53081 · May 23, 2020

You name it. They move through the sand bed consuming any edible item they come across especially uneaten fish food , microfauna as well as worms, snails, tiny brittle stars and even pods.

... · May 23, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
You name it. They move through the sand bed consuming any edible item they come across especially uneaten fish food , microfauna as well as worms, snails, tiny brittle stars and even pods.

I know they are compatible with nassarius because my LFS had a pair for a while and I do plan on having a Pod Population and maybe a macroalgae reacted to house some chaeto for the pods to populate and will sand sifting stars eat a pincushion urchin or a fire shrimp?

vetteguy53081 · May 23, 2020

... said:
I know they are compatible with nassarius because my LFS had a pair for a while and I do plan on having a Pod Population and maybe a macroalgae reacted to house some chaeto for the pods to populate and will sand sifting stars eat a pincushion urchin or a fire shrimp?

Those should be safe