Sand sifting seastar help

[dingus890]

Hello all

My question is I have a 55 gallon tank that has 4-5" DSB and 65 pounds of LR. It is 4 months old and the Live Rock is from a tank that was 3 years old. I have a sand sifting star I got back in Sept.to help clean the sand bed. He has been doing very well cleaning my sand bed.He has grown since I got him. One problem is the sand is now spotless(Good for me but bad for him) and I noticed he is climbing on rocks and the glass. I have heard this is not normal for them so I think he is starting to starve and is searching for food elsewhere.
I tried putting some nori/spirulina seaweed in the sand for him and under him but he wasn't interested. I tried shrimp pellets and mysis. Not sure if he ate them. What would you guys recommend to supplement the diet to keep this beautiful star happy.I have heard some say clam meat and raw shrimp.%%
What do you do for your sand sifting stars?
Thank you for any help and suggestions.

 

[bang guy]

Ophiura will know the real answer so take her word for it above anything I have to say.
IMO adding or replacing 50 - 100 pounds of fresh live sand pulled directly from the seabed will provide your Star with another 6 months of life.

 

[spanko]

Yeah agree with bang with the exception I would probably return the start to the LFS sor some in store credit. I don't think you will ever make it in a 55 trying to keep it alive. And beyond that why keep decimating the population of things in your sandbed.

 

[dingus890]

I got a PM from Ophiura but she said It is either a hit or miss, and in most cases with spot feeding, usually a miss but keep trying different things.
I would try to get a credit for it at my LFS but I got it in a mail order and my closest LFS is 2 hours away.
Spanko are sand sifting stars bad for tanks? I really enjoy the seastar but I don't want to be hindering my tank from having it.
Thank you guys for the help.

 

[spanko]

Only in smaller systems me thinks. Simply because they can destroy the flora and fauna quickly. Then with out proper nourishment they die. I think systems in the hundreds of gallons with well established sand beds are more likely to keep these creatures.
Ophiura is the expert here on these creatures though and who you should take your lead from.

 

[bang guy]

Sand Sifters are bad for deep live sandbeds. What you now have is mostly just wet sand with bacteria. That's fine for biologic filtration but it won't be able to complete the nitrogen cycle. The last step where Nitrate is converted to Nitrogen gas is critically hampered without sandbed infauna.
There are other ways to remove Nitrate but right now you have a deep sand bed without any infauna to keep it healthy. It will begin to clump and then it will start to build up Sulphur dioxide. Soon it will be a ticking time bomb waiting to release toxins.
You can easily reseed the sand bed with fresh live sand but the Starfish will have to go or it will simply eat the micro-organisms before they can prosper.

 

[dingus890]

Thank you guys so much for this info.

So much for my DSB..lol I will see if I can get credit for him at my LFS.

 

[reefkprz]

dont beat yourself up over it a lot of people are misled into believeing a sand sifting star is one of the best sand bed cleaners. generally by people who dont know better yet, or by the lfs employee, who only knows what they are told to say.
if you want to go the spot feeding route try meatier foods a couple mysis or squid pieces (preferably small ones as they prey on small animals in the sand bed) nori/seaweed isnt really a major part of their diet. I would try partially burying a pice of meaty food and setting the star on top of it. as mentioned before its really hit of miss as they arent really scavangers so much as predators on live stuff.
I personally would send it back to the LFS. the amount of damage (this word is relative) that a single sand sifting star can do to a sand beds biodiversity is amazing.

 

[dingus890]

Thanks
I wish SWF.com had a disclaimer saying all this before I bought it online..lol
It just says provide a DSB for it.

I just had a small spike in Ammonia and Nitrite that I posted about awile back and it killed a few of my fish. I wonder if the star had anything to do with that like Bang Guy said "Soon it(the DSB) will be a ticking time bomb waiting to release toxins."
I will look for a new home for the star. If not is there anyway to keep him? The tank will be invert only. Will dosing the tank with live Rotifers,copepods ect. every month or so keep the sand bed alive and the star happy?
I really do enjoy him...lol
Again thank you guys for all this info. you've helped so much.

 

[bang guy]

This is what a healthy, functioning sandbed looks like. Compare it to yours. Without the infauna moving water and sand around the lower layer will become stagnant.

 

[dingus890]

Yes my other 3 tanks all have sand like that.But not in my 55 gallon from the starfish I guess

The tank is only 3 months old tho but still. I do have some pink worms some amphipods in the sand. I have an area in the back where the starfish cannot get.It's like my little in tank refugium.
So far my only LFS which I never buy from(as it is a chain store

) said they would not take it.

I don't know what to do....

 

[andezzzy]

Originally Posted by dingus890
http:///forum/post/3169687
Yes my other 3 tanks all have sand like that.But not in my 55 gallon from the starfish I guess

The tank is only 3 months old tho but still. I do have some pink worms some amphipods in the sand. I have an area in the back where the starfish cannot get.It's like my little in tank refugium.
So far my only LFS which I never buy from(as it is a chain store

) said they would not take it.

I don't know what to do....
ive had my sandsifting sea star for about a year and a half now. ive never really had any problems. Sometimes he will go on the glass but very seldom. i have about a 3 1/2 in sand bed and appears to be a very healthy sandbed all my params are normal. all i feed is mysis shrimp and zooplex, and an occasional shrimp pellet. Like stated before its a hit or miss kind of situation.

 

[racingtiger03]

I don't want to sound crazy or anything.. but I have a sand sifting star in my 29 gallon, the sand bed looks fine (like pictured above) and is anywhere from 1" to 4.5" in various areas. The star is about 4" in diameter, and has only climbed on the glass a couple times in the 3 months I've had him. He seems to be doing well. I never directly spot feed, but occasionally overfeed cyclops purposely so he can get some extra food on the sand bed. (I do that once every week). The tank hasn't been established extremely long either, only since June. The nut at the LFS told me they were fine for new systems and my gf flipped over the cute little star fishy.. lol. So it's been in there since, and I haven't had any problem. For all I know though he could be slowly dying.. but I don't feel that he is because he rarely climbs on the glass, and never on the rockwork. So I guess mine is one of those rare "hits" *shrug*. Guess I'll know in a few months if he's starving or not.. Hopefully not! I'm giving mine a chance because my gf will shoot me if we get rid of the star without it dying first.. lol.