No Pods...

vickicj

vickicj

Member
I've had my mini-reef tank set up since February and I have no pods that I can see anywhere - my original LFS (whom I don't patronize anymore because he didn't know what the heck he was doing!) sold me a sand sifting starfish from the get-go...is this why I have no pods? I have seen on other threads here that a sand-sifter is pretty much a no-no and will starve after a while because he'll deplete the sand bed...should I try to see if my new LFS will take him? Should I keep him? My water is fine except my nitrates run 20 to 40 but everything else stays spot on...please advise if I should keep the star and not worry about no pods or what....also, I am thinking about getting a linkia star - should I? :notsure:
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
IMO stay away from stars. It's true that sandsifters deplete the substrate of beneficial bacteria.
Do you do weekly water changes to try and lower the nitrates? :D
 
vickicj

vickicj

Member
Yes, I do about 10%weekly with RO water, doesn't seem to change anything...I did just start shortening the light cycle, was running the lights 12 hours a day and I read that that might also contribute to higher nitrates, so maybe that will help. I have an emperor 400 plus a protein skimmer and I think a pretty small bio-load, only have one clown, one goby, one coral beauty, one damsel and a cleaner shrimp....
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator

Originally posted by VickiCJ
sold me a sand sifting starfish from the get-go...is this why I have no pods
Yep.
 
vickicj

vickicj

Member
Bang Guy, should I keep the sand-sifter or give him to my LFS? Or is it no problem that there aren't any visible pods whatsoever? :notsure:
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Without worms & bugs a sand bed that deep will turn anaerobic. After several years anaerobic sandbeds can become troublesome Phosphate sinks.
If it were my tank I would remove the starfish and buy some high quality live sand (not the bagged stuff) to replenish the sand bed infauna.
 
vickicj

vickicj

Member
Thanks Bang Guy, I've been reading the posts here at SWF.com since i got into this and your advice is always good, plus you are trusted by everyone I've come across - SO, I will take your advice! I've talked to my LFS and they'll take him off my hands...since I already have the amt. that I have, should I get rid of some of the sand that's there or just add to it? I would like a deeper sand bed, so as long as that's not a problem I'd like to just add more....
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
Bang,
I am in a very similar sidualtion with my tank. I have a 92 reef, and my sand bed is 2''. I have had my sand swifting goby for 5 month.. and he ate almost 90% or so of my pods!Recently, i have heard to change a large volume after getting rid of him. How large of a volume would you reccomend out of 80 lbs of LS? I really need to replenish my LS with more life. Also, would it cause an ammonia spike if i do that change?
Thanks
 
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