Sand dollar info.
 

Hi, I was wondering about peoples experiences with sand dollar starfish. I was think of getting one however I can't seem to find much info. on them.

I was told they do not survive well....but ours is 2 yrs old and does a great job cleaning the sand. We will probably add a couple more as the new tank matures.

Scott

They are living well in my tank....does a very good job of sand sifting.

I bought one about a month ago. Promptly buried himself in the sand and hasn't been seen since. The spot where I plopped him in though appears cleaner than elsewhere, so I assume he's sand sifting, but really, between that and the hedgehog urchin I bought (who also buried himself in 30 seconds), I kind of wonder if that was the best reef dollars I've ever spent :neutral: - I caught a fleeting glimpse of the hedgehog about a week ago but even at that, it was a pretty sketchy "sighting." So .. um .. yeah: don't buy them for looks..

I had one for about 3 weeks. Looked great, ate something in the sand. Took him an entire day to get across my 5" tank. One day I noticed he didn't move and sure enough there were several polyclads stuck on eating him. He was already dead. I hate those things (giant flatworms).

I have heard they don't last long term but from what I could tell in the time I had one they find enough to eat in the sand bed. Very interesting creature. I would recommend a mature sand bed and not much competition.

Are the sand dollar starfish and the sand sifting starfish the same thing?

nope two different things

ok, because I think these people are giving advice of the sand SIFTING rather than sand DOLLAR stars. Just getting a little confused! :redface:
The OP was asking about sand Dollars.

here's a pic of mine when I first got it.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...7/IMGP1883.jpg

Not sure if you meant me, but I definitely referring to a sand dollar with my comments.

nope, you got it right!
Beautiful sand dollar by the way, I don't think I've ever seen one in a tank

Thanks everyone for the info. I'd like to have one to help keep the sand bed clean. We have a yellow head sleeper goby who does an ok job but I think he could use some help.

He won't be of much help. I'd say they're more ornamental then anything. They do clean but at a very very very slow pace. Add too many and you run the risk of starving them.

If I get a sand dollar I will be only getting one.

Where in Edmonton can you get sand dollars and how much are they? Do you think they can be in a tank with a sand sifting starfish?

I wouldn't recommend it. Since both target the same animals for food in the sand, and since our tanks aren't huge enough to sustain a large, diverse sandbed, either one, or possibly both, will eventually starve.

Do you think one would starve in a 230g? I don't like the idea of buying one if it's slowly going to starve to death.

That's a hard question to answer. Factors like age of sand, depth of sand, etc play a huge roll in things. However, I haven't really seen very much information on long term survivability of any of the sand sifting animals. Aside from the one poster who has had his for 2 years, I haven't heard/read/seen anyone else with one that has lasted more than 1.

The sand is half new and half a couple of years old (mixed old sand with new when we started up our 230g) and is about 2 inches deep. There seems to be lots of worms etc. in it for one to eat. Thanks for the info it's good to know.