Sand sifting stars are mostly carnivores.
They sift sand in search for a meaty treat like worms, other mini-stars, etc.
Note: they eat BENEFICIAL life forms you want to have in the sand.
Read this forum for more info about sand beds:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...?s=&forumid=40

"Joe Cool" wrote in message news:Y_RYc.262501$eM2.40772@attbi_s51...
I was told that among other things the star will eat algae. After I put him
in the tank what was left of the algae was gone in 8 hours. If this was a
coincidence let me know? What I wanted is to setup a good cleaning crew
before I added fish.
"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
"Joe Cool" wrote in message
news:iiRYc.261860$eM2.92898@attbi_s51...
I have 44 gal tank that I started about 8 weeks ago. It has 8 pounds
of
live rock (adding more in a week) and fine sand. The first batch of live
rock I bought had sea urchins in it, I have also stock the tank with a
tomato Clown and a yellowtail. I had a algae bloom about 2 weeks ago so
I
bought a Sand sifting sea star. My question is, are sand sifting stars
good
or bad for a reef tank?

What connection you see between starfish and algae blooms?
BTW - algae blooms in a freshly setup tanks are normal cycling.