Sand-sifting Starfish?

[STiTCH87]

I am thinking about getting a sand-sifting star to help aerate my sandbed because there is brown diatom growing all over the sandbed and my snails won't touch it and my hermits jut walk over it which barely helps the problem.

I know that they are known for being a poor choice for live sandbeds, but I have 35# of extremely porous liverock in a 29g with a 2-inch deep sandbed which is also (ofcourse by now) live.

I was just wondering if this is a horrible decision and will do more bad than good? I got a very good price for one so I just figured i'd ask on here first.

Also, anyone know where to get nassarius snails? Would that help?

I'm open to suggestions on keeping the sandbed clean and free of algae/diatom films, aside from flow, don't suggest the flow thing as believe me, i've tried that and have plenty of flow but when I adjust direction, I get sand everywhere no matter what so i'm trying a new approach.

I need some type of star, snail, or fish that focuses on the sandbed and ONLY the sandbed rather than tank glass.

 

[Behrmon]

Have you tried a few fighting conch?

 

[stingythingy45]

Best way to get rid of diatom is to get rid of silicates.
And they come in poorly filtered water.But if this tank is fairly new,a diatom bloom is the norm.

 

[STiTCH87]

Oh yes the tank is fairly new so I did know it was normal. Doesn't really bother me per-say since I know it's a normal thing i'll experience for awhile, but just figured rather than me always having to stir the sandbed (which just makes it into ugly blobs of gunk everywhere anyways) I figured maybe i'd add something to my CUC that will help atleast a little bit with the problem.

So sandsifting stars are a no no in my tank?

And no I haven't tried any fighting conch. I REALLY want to, but IDK where to get any in my area unfortunately.

EDIT: Also, any suggestions on removing silicates or is it not worth it since the tank is new and is gonna get diatoms no matter what?

 

[stingythingy45]

Just me,but I wouldn't add a sand sifting sea star yet.
Best way to rid a tank of silicates is to make sure your top-off water and mix water had 0 tds.(total disolved solids).
Usually when a DI resin bgins to fail the first thing through is silicates.
Had this happen a while back and kept getting a light diatom bloom everythime I did a water change.
Don't mix the diatoms into the sand bed.Even though they look unsightly it wont help much.Just make dure your water is good and go from there.
I always say why slam the door after the horses have already escaped?
If you introduce stuff into the tank,it's not much help to add things(critters)to help fix it.
Start with the basics first.

 

[nichols]

Jermey at CRA has nassarius snails and conches. Hermits will also help.
Sand sifting stars eat too much of the good stuff in a live sand bed. It would soon wipe out it's food source in a 29 gal tank and starve.
As stated above in a new tank it's all part of the tank maturing.

 

[STiTCH87]

Yeah i'll have to try getting my RO from another place from now on. This most recent time I got it from a good store with very clear tanks (Animal Instincts in Fall River) whom uses the same RO they sell so I figured if they didn't have a silicate problem that neither would I. But maybe the next time I buy RO i'll check and see if they're willing to do a TDS check on the water before selling it to me. That'd be a good habit to get into and I think any LFS should do that upon request, no?

Would it hurt to try and locate a few fighting conch anyways?

EDIT: CRA has them huh? Hmm maybe i'll take this $10 I had set aside for a star and go pick up a few fighting conch instead...

If by chance the diatoms go away on their own over time, the conch will survive on other things just like other snails do right? Wouldn't wanna starve the poor guys.

 

[Greg Hiller]

I'd not add a sand sifting starfish.

Is there currently much live in your sand? Sometimes if you get sand with lots of worms in it they will 'churn' the sand continuously and eliminate the problems you are having.

 

[The Ng Thing]

ever consider a pistol shrimp/goby pair?

 

[Royalty]

I had a sand-sifting star in my 6 gallon fluval tank it didnt last long maybe of the size of the tank or just it's tank mates because there a emarld crab and a blue-green chromis and a very aggressive blue damsel with 8 red /blue leg hermits crabs in my tank one day I was going to feed them and I notice that the star had green stuff on it I thought it was the alge I was feed it just got stuck on it the next day my girlfriend notice that the star was waving at her and she got real happy and called me saying her star fish was saying hello. but the truth was that the other tank mates where attacting her and I think It was a last effort trying to let us know that she in pain the next day we found her in peaces it was very sad to see her go. I guess what Im trying to say is if I put a sand sifting star in my 72 bowfront tank would I have the same problem and should I even brother getting one in the first place I only want one.

 

[JasonandRay]

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-Saltwater-F...ultDomain_0&hash=item4aa1094b99#ht_3464wt_958
if you only need 25 ill buy the rest

 

[jamesdong009]

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-Saltwater-F...ultDomain_0&hash=item4aa1094b99#ht_3464wt_958
if you only need 25 ill buy the rest

I'd be careful about buying those

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/mg/index.php

 

[Reefried]

get a small goby that sifts sand through its gills like a bar goby or a pink spotted sleeper, etc....i had to get rid of one cus my vortech would take the sand the fish filtered through its gills and put it into the water colum and my tank never looked crystal clear like i wanted it to look, but my sandbed was SPOTLESS.......plus its one of the coolest things to watch in this hobby.....and fwiw they are called sand sifting stars but they dont really do much sifting, and while nassarius are a great addition to a cuc, they dont do much for sifting sand either, they only emerge at feeding time then they sneak back into the sand ninja style without touching your diatoms.....

 

[STiTCH87]

How does (over time) one fighting conch and one gold-headed sleeper goby sound? Do you think the sleeper goby and my algae blenny would get along in a 29g? I LOVE gold sleeper gobies so it'd pay off I suppose.

And no I have not considered a pistol/goby pair because I have heard less than comforting stories about pistol shrimp. That and my caves are occupied by my algae blenny and i'd rather not over-invade on his home(s).

 

[cakemanPA]

How does (over time) one fighting conch and one gold-headed sleeper goby sound? Do you think the sleeper goby and my algae blenny would get along in a 29g? I LOVE gold sleeper gobies so it'd pay off I suppose.

And no I have not considered a pistol/goby pair because I have heard less than comforting stories about pistol shrimp. That and my caves are occupied by my algae blenny and i'd rather not over-invade on his home(s).

Careful with the gold-headed sleeper gobies. If you have anything on the sand, they will either be covered or you will be cleaning constantly. They will typically grab sand and sift and drop from high in the tank. Very cool fish tho...

 

[STiTCH87]

ARGGG!!!

So my parents decided to "surprise me" again with a new criter for my tank. A kind gesture, and usually i'd be hapy about it.

But this morning when I came home my mother said "Hey Adam! We got a new fish for your tank!"

Being excited and expecting to see a fish in there, I walked over to my tank. My dad knows all about fishtanks too so I trusted he properly acclimated the fish. So I looked in my tank, nothing new.

So I say "Dad I thought I had a new fish?" To which he replies "Yeah I heard you talking about those sand starfish last week so I went and got you one. Cool little guy though he's hiding in the sand right now."

UGGHHH -_- I appreciate his kind gesture but I wish people would not touch my tank without asking me first. So after explaining to him why that's bad, I have a new issue...

How do I catch this thing? Or how do I ever know it really is the sand sifting one? Does it ever leave the sandbed?

All this information for me to learn why I shouldn't buy one, and my tank ends up with one anyways... :rolls eyes:

I told my parents to stick to giving me the money for new livestock if they ever want to surprise me with something only so that my tank doesn't crash because of them doing something to it.



But seriously!!! SHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! How do I get this little bugger?

I don't even know how big he is so IDK what to look for! Hah. Craaap...

 

[The Ng Thing]

At least it isn't a coral with flatworms!

 

[jayman10134]

they come out from time to time. also if you run your fingers through the sand about an inch deep you should be able to find him. he will probably last at least a few months so you can just wait until you see him.

 

[JohnK]

GFO will remove some silicate in addition to phoshpate.

You should probably have a talk with your parents. It's NEVER a good idea to surprise someone with ANYTHING in their reef tank.

 

[number1gsxxr]

I would see if you can trade the starfish for a fighting conch. I had one in my 46-gal and it did an awesome job on keeping the sand clean. It's now in my 75 and still doing a good job. Plus it's pretty cool to watch. It sometimes climbs the glass looking for algae I guess. I like it cause it stays on the sand mostly and doesn't go climbing all over my corals.