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Sea Cucumbers
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
I am saying they have an almost entirely different diet.
Sand sifting sea stars eat Brittle Starfish, Worms, Snails, Sea Cucumbers, Amphipods, Spaghetti Worms, Copepods, and Tube Worms along with some other stuff like detritus.
While Sea Cucumbers eat detritus and bacteria which it gets from the sand.
So saying they do the same things is not really true. They both aggitate the sandbed yes. They both eat some detritus, but sand sifting sea stars can eat you out of all your small organisms in your sand bed. In a smaller tank they will likely die eventually after they sterilize your sand.
So my suggestion and I believe the general concensus of most is that sand sifting sea stars are best left out of tanks. If you have a 200+ G system maybe you can keep them but your diversity is going to likely take a hit.
Glad you are having success with your tiger tails sounds pretty cool.
Sand sifting sea stars eat Brittle Starfish, Worms, Snails, Sea Cucumbers, Amphipods, Spaghetti Worms, Copepods, and Tube Worms along with some other stuff like detritus.
While Sea Cucumbers eat detritus and bacteria which it gets from the sand.
So saying they do the same things is not really true. They both aggitate the sandbed yes. They both eat some detritus, but sand sifting sea stars can eat you out of all your small organisms in your sand bed. In a smaller tank they will likely die eventually after they sterilize your sand.
So my suggestion and I believe the general concensus of most is that sand sifting sea stars are best left out of tanks. If you have a 200+ G system maybe you can keep them but your diversity is going to likely take a hit.
Glad you are having success with your tiger tails sounds pretty cool.
overall it is a herbivore.yes they will eat some other things on a small scale, whereas some if not most sand sifting stars are carnivore.
Ok - time to own up...
I have been to many many asian banquets where sea cukes are offered. It's one of those items where as a kid - you ask your parent what you are eating - and it's best not to know.
Anyways - for those of you interested in the conservation aspect - this is a neat document by Cook University in Australia on the export of Sea cucumbers. Look on the first page/cover of the pacific islander and her canoe/boat. Those are 3 MONSTER sea cucumbers. They almost look like giant cocoons from some crazy bug movie.
http://www.aciar.gov.au/system/files/node/10097/MN135.pdf
The ones being harvested "grade A" sized - you can see on page 20 or something where they are drying like thousands of them. Funny how the mercedes is parked in the back of that processing facility...
I have been to many many asian banquets where sea cukes are offered. It's one of those items where as a kid - you ask your parent what you are eating - and it's best not to know.
Anyways - for those of you interested in the conservation aspect - this is a neat document by Cook University in Australia on the export of Sea cucumbers. Look on the first page/cover of the pacific islander and her canoe/boat. Those are 3 MONSTER sea cucumbers. They almost look like giant cocoons from some crazy bug movie.
http://www.aciar.gov.au/system/files/node/10097/MN135.pdf
The ones being harvested "grade A" sized - you can see on page 20 or something where they are drying like thousands of them. Funny how the mercedes is parked in the back of that processing facility...
