Sand Sifting Star

Sand Sifting Star - Astropecten polycanthus



I am thinking about getting one of these to keep my sand bed looking nice.

More info:
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/1304394.html

I hear they are reef-safe, anyone know anything about them?

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ive heard conflicitng ideas they are reef safe as far as corals but ive heard they can do a number on a sand bed critter wise even though they keep it clean. thats just what ive heard maby check on the sand bed thing

 

Yeah, I've heard about the critters, but people say the same thing about gobies and I never noticed a big hit with mine in my 30. My opinion is that tanks with a lot of live rock make it harder to sweep all the sand and get all the critters.

Do you remember what corals it harmed? I might be getting one of these today. :-/

 

i never heard of it hurting corals just the sand bed deal is all

 

Let me know how it goes Matt my sand bed gets clumps in it I would love to stop that!

 

you said about the gobies and with my engineer gobies i have and my blue gudgeon i had they shovel and shovel and shovel but they keep it under the rock. neither species tore up the whole sand bed a lot of it has been untouched. the only thing is i lost 2 conchs so far due to the gobies because they get stuck where it is all dug out and get caught in the rocks. one i had to really pull the shell out it was so jammed but he was alredy lost. i dont know how long he was stuck there but i still have one goin strong maby hes my lucky one

 

(Karla - The only goby I have recommended is the Diamond Goby, that's the one I had. It was a sand zambonie. It got it all.)

Anyway, I got the star fish over the weekend and so far I love it. It's really mellow and doesn't move fast, but in a few days it has made its way around the front of the tank really well. It seems to find a spot then bury itself about a 1/4 inch under the sand, you can still make out the shape.

It does leave the sand clumpy, but they are loose clumps! ;D

I had some areas where debris was collecting and it already has turned over the sand there.

I have a 4" sandbed and I just don't see this thing causing major harm. Seems like more good than bad so far. I'll keep you posted.

 

let me know if it climbs on the rocks? i was wondering if it would knock over corals and do you know the full grown size? if it stays fairly small i might consider one.

 

It hasn't climbed the rocks when I am around.

99% of the time its on the sand. I have seen it trying to climb the aquarium glass, but it's not very good at it.

Looking at the link above, it says they can get up to 12 inches!

Wow. Mine is about 4-5 inches across.

I like it a lot.

 

Jeez, do you think it will get to be that big??
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