sand sifting sea stars

Hello



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?

"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.

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.

"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.


A more effective algae control crew would consist of hermits, snails,
and perhaps small crabs. I prefer Astreas and turbo snails.

my 2 pennies.


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.744 / Virus Database: 496 - Release Date: 8/24/2004

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.

"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.

Do not use any sifting type critter on your LS unless you replenish them
regularly [not recommended]. As Pszemol suggested, use shrimp / snail etc
and Tang [yes, tang] for scanvenaging.

CapFusion,...

"CapFusion" CapeFussion...@hotmail.., com wrote in message ...
"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.

Do not use any sifting type critter on your LS unless you replenish them
regularly [not recommended]. As Pszemol suggested, use shrimp / snail etc
and Tang [yes, tang] for scanvenaging.

One small correction - I did not suggest shrimp - they are hunters,
not only scavengers. I saw one Lysmata amboinensis pulling a worm
from the crevice in the rock to eat it alive while the worm was
curling into a small ball - it did not help him alot...

"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
One small correction - I did not suggest shrimp - they are hunters,
not only scavengers. I saw one Lysmata amboinensis pulling a worm
from the crevice in the rock to eat it alive while the worm was
curling into a small ball - it did not help him alot...

Ok Pszemol.
Beside Pszemol, I still recommend shrimp as they are part of janitoral crew.
I mostly have are Peppermint kind that very behave.

CapFusion,...