Sand Sifter Star Dead??

mav.23 · 12/17/2018, 09:50 PM

Hey guys! There has been a lot of micro algae and cyanobacteria on the glass of my aquarium, so I bought a sand sifting starfish two days ago. The lady at my lfs pulled him out of the water, and I now you aren't supposed to do that, but I saw him moving once he was in the bad so I assumed he was fine and paid. I get home, and he is moving only a little, but I assume it is just shock. I acclimate for 4+ hours, and them put him in right before I go to sleep. The only things in that tanks are 2 blue leg hermit crabs and my pom pom. He doesn't move at all for two days. Today when I got home I noticed what looks like air pockets in his skin. They're like large bubbles rising off his arms and body, but he still feels hard. When I tried to pick him up he didn't fall apart. What on earth is wrong w my starfish?

Calappidae · 12/19/2018, 11:57 PM

Could be something internal, or it could be stressing out in a new system. What are its inhabitants? Anything potentially bothering it, especially while its in this still acclimation state? I personally think the whole "out of the water" thing is a myth, or at least super uncommon. I've gone through hundreds of sea stars with harlequin shrimp, and never once experienced anything bad while carelessly pulling them out of the bags to put them in holding tanks. A lot of sea stars live in tidal locations too, and they're not extinct yet.

Off topic; Unfortunately with sand sifters, they're not actually well suited for aquariums. Long term sand sifter stars just starve from lack of food, in addition to general sensitivity echinoderms have. They're readily available but there's not many tanks actually ready for one, they need a deep sand bed, a huge area to forage, and considering their size, they usually will run out of food to forage rather quickly. Just telling you this for future reference.

Sand Sifting Starfish are commonly sold as what the name suggest, sandsifters, so not sure why it was suggested by an LFS for micro algae and cyanobacteria, cyano esp I don't think much will physically eat, you could pick it up like a carpet, but the best way to just kill cyano is good water flow (it will not grow in high flow areas of the tank) and there's harmless red slime killers online, you can add it to any system and IME, I've seen patches dissolve in minutes. Good water quality is also important as both micro algae and cyano thrive off of phosphates and nitrates. If you do need sand sifters I'd recommend the pistol shrimp and/or snails route, stuff that can be taken care of through normal routines alongside their benefits. Sorry if I detrailed the topic a bit, I didn't want to leave you in the dark on the reasons you got the star.

12/17/2018, 09:50 PM	#1
mav.23 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 78	Sand Sifter Star Dead?? Hey guys! There has been a lot of micro algae and cyanobacteria on the glass of my aquarium, so I bought a sand sifting starfish two days ago. The lady at my lfs pulled him out of the water, and I now you aren't supposed to do that, but I saw him moving once he was in the bad so I assumed he was fine and paid. I get home, and he is moving only a little, but I assume it is just shock. I acclimate for 4+ hours, and them put him in right before I go to sleep. The only things in that tanks are 2 blue leg hermit crabs and my pom pom. He doesn't move at all for two days. Today when I got home I noticed what looks like air pockets in his skin. They're like large bubbles rising off his arms and body, but he still feels hard. When I tried to pick him up he didn't fall apart. What on earth is wrong w my starfish?

12/19/2018, 11:57 PM	#2
Calappidae Harlequin Shrimp Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Somewhere Posts: 3,814	Could be something internal, or it could be stressing out in a new system. What are its inhabitants? Anything potentially bothering it, especially while its in this still acclimation state? I personally think the whole "out of the water" thing is a myth, or at least super uncommon. I've gone through hundreds of sea stars with harlequin shrimp, and never once experienced anything bad while carelessly pulling them out of the bags to put them in holding tanks. A lot of sea stars live in tidal locations too, and they're not extinct yet. Off topic; Unfortunately with sand sifters, they're not actually well suited for aquariums. Long term sand sifter stars just starve from lack of food, in addition to general sensitivity echinoderms have. They're readily available but there's not many tanks actually ready for one, they need a deep sand bed, a huge area to forage, and considering their size, they usually will run out of food to forage rather quickly. Just telling you this for future reference. Sand Sifting Starfish are commonly sold as what the name suggest, sandsifters, so not sure why it was suggested by an LFS for micro algae and cyanobacteria, cyano esp I don't think much will physically eat, you could pick it up like a carpet, but the best way to just kill cyano is good water flow (it will not grow in high flow areas of the tank) and there's harmless red slime killers online, you can add it to any system and IME, I've seen patches dissolve in minutes. Good water quality is also important as both micro algae and cyano thrive off of phosphates and nitrates. If you do need sand sifters I'd recommend the pistol shrimp and/or snails route, stuff that can be taken care of through normal routines alongside their benefits. Sorry if I detrailed the topic a bit, I didn't want to leave you in the dark on the reasons you got the star. __________________ Joe Last edited by Calappidae; 12/20/2018 at 12:05 AM.