Starfish & Livesand..Good or Bad

wickedwes

wickedwes

Member
I have a 110 gal. long tank recently set up. I have 125# of Nature's Ocean & Arag-Alive sand mixed with 40# of "dead" sand (about 3" bed) and about 80# of live Fiji & Carribean rock. All levels are fine. I ordered one of the clean up crews from this site (Market Leader)and it included 4 brittle stars and 2 serpent stars. I have read that the starfish are bad for a live sand bed beacuse they feed on the live organisms in the sand. Are they bad and should I get rid of them?
Thanks
Wes
[ June 22, 2001: Message edited by: wickedwes ]
 
@knight

@knight

Member
according to Dr. Ron Shimek, yes, but i dont think brittle/serpent stars would cause a problem. I have them in my 4" dsb tank with no problem, but I keep my sand well fed.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Brittles and Serpents are common detrivores for the marine aquarium, with the exception of, perhaps, some brittles that have been know to be destructive to corals and other reef inhabitants. However, as you received your pkg from this site, I am sure that you have aquaria-safe cleaning crew. So, no, don't get rid of them, they can be quiet valuable to you in keeping the sand bed clean. However, be wary of getting just any kind of star as these creatures are pretatory, can grow too large and can damage valuable corals.
 
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