So um...what would do you do with 100 sand dollars?

king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
My mom, bless her she is so sweet. She went to the beach yesterday and picked up about 100 sand dollars. She wanted to do some thing nice for my up and coming reef tank, I didn't tell her that was probably illegal.
Whats done is done, so now what do I do with them?
Can the provide anything usefull to a reef tank besides just a couple hear and there for decoration?
How do I go about curing them or whatever?
Could they be dried and crushed and put into the calcium reactor or something?
Any ideas would be nice.
 
rdub62

rdub62

Member
bleach them and hang them on the walls...sand dollars need DEEP well established sand bed...certainly more than any home aquarium could possibly hold...oh and as for crushing them up i'd say it'd be a waste...anything beneficial they would do would be while they were alive me thinks.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member


If alive return them where they were fond, did she kill them? Did you kill them?
If they are dead they are not illegal, dead ones are sold for decorations....100 ????
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3091934


If alive return them where they were fond, did she kill them? Did you kill them?
If they are dead they are not illegal, dead ones are sold for decorations....100 ????
Yea 100 is a lot. How big is your tank.
 
alix2.0

alix2.0

Active Member
haha, id understand 1 or 2, but she really brought you 100!?
thats funny. sweet, but funny. are they still alive?
 
T

tizzo

Guest
These people down here, I swear to goodness...
I see whole families where every one of them has as many as they can possibly carry leaving the beach with them. They are incredibly abundant around here, but good lord, do they really need that many!?
You mom having 100 is prolly nothin compared to what most leave with...
They are "just so stackable" I guess...
I thinking, at least by now, they are prolly dead. If she got 100 then she prolly don't know much about them. Yup, bleach and you got yourself a new chair rail border for the fish room...
 
T

tizzo

Guest
You asked how to cure them. You can either put them in your backyard and the sun and ants will do all the work, or you can fill a bucket with water and bleach. A lot of bleach. Then prime when done and viola...
 
dive girl

dive girl

Member
I see you are in Washington. You probably have a similar species as we do here in California. Usually if they are on the beach they are dead. How can you tell if they are dead you might ask... mostly color. White = dead for the most part. When you see them in stores you are looking at the skeleton which is the white part (called 'test'). Living ones down here are anywhere from dark gray to a reddish-purple and tend to have a velvety covering (little spines on them).
If they were alive, I would thank my Mom but then casually mention that giving you 100 live sand dollars is along the lines of giving you 100 puppies. Both living things and need care.
My son's girlfriend just gave me a seahorse for my birthday. I had to do the same thing. Well, that and set up a whole new tank for it.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3091934


If alive return them where they were fond, did she kill them? Did you kill them?
If they are dead they are not illegal, dead ones are sold for decorations....100 ????
They were dead. Some of them where still a little purple and mushy at the bottom, but Out of the sea for two days when She brought them home.
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/3092315
You asked how to cure them. You can either put them in your backyard and the sun and ants will do all the work, or you can fill a bucket with water and bleach. A lot of bleach. Then prime when done and viola...
Alrighty, Ill do that in the morning, Thanks
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/3092314
These people down here, I swear to goodness...
I see whole families where every one of them has as many as they can possibly carry leaving the beach with them. They are incredibly abundant around here, but good lord, do they really need that many!?
You mom having 100 is prolly nothin compared to what most leave with...
They are "just so stackable" I guess...
I thinking, at least by now, they are prolly dead. If she got 100 then she prolly don't know much about them. Yup, bleach and you got yourself a new chair rail border for the fish room...
It is in fact ILEGEL to remove live sand dollars from Collier County in Florida. There are signs at each beach entrance stating so I will take a pic today and post
 
dive girl

dive girl

Member
LOL! Dead. That's sweet. I can see my Mom doing that too.
Okay, are you crafty? Want to give them back as a gift and score points? This is what I'd do:
Go to the craft store and buy one of those wreath circles made out of grape vines and some ribbon in her favorite color.
Make a bow on the wreath with the ribbon (a nice one, wait do you have a wife or girl friend....get them to help). Then use a hot glue gun and glue the nice and white sand dollars on the wreath. Viola!
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Wait now... the sand dollars are alive! I assumed they were dead when he said he was talking about crushing them up and the calcium reactor.
Growing up, we would collect the "shells" and play with them.
Please tell me these aren't alive OP..........
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3093062
Wait now... the sand dollars are alive! I assumed they were dead when he said he was talking about crushing them up and the calcium reactor.
Growing up, we would collect the "shells" and play with them.
Please tell me these aren't alive OP..........

I think the OP has shells...
But the ones around here are live and easy to catch.
Thanks FJ, I will point that out to people in the future. I never gave it a second thought except to feel bad for the dollars...
Ft. DeSoto is where I go and see them, I don't remember seeing any signs there, but I will still make the point.
 
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