Sand dollar info.

fishoholic · #1 02-09-2008, 08:51 PM

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.

skylord · #2 02-09-2008, 09:30 PM

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

fencer · #3 02-09-2008, 10:13 PM

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

Delphinus · #4 02-09-2008, 11:44 PM

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

- 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..

corpusse · #5 02-10-2008, 12:31 AM

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.