Sand Sifting Sea Star ( Astropecten polyacanthus )

The Sand Sifting Sea Star ( Astropecten polyacanthus ) is a starfish native to the Indo-Pacific that specializes in cleaning sandy substrates. Unlike Linckia, which clean rocks, this species lives and works exclusively in the sand—it burrows, sifts through the substrate, and consumes the organisms and organic matter it finds.

Warning: Sand Sifting Sea Star can quickly deplete the beneficial fauna of the sandy substrate (amphipods, copepods, small worms) in undersized tanks. Use with caution in nano-reefs.

Recommended conditions

• Temperature: 24–27°C
• Salinity: 1.024–1.026
• pH: 7.8–8.4 (normal natural day/night fluctuation in a reef tank)
• Sandy substrate required — minimum depth 8–10 cm
• Minimum volume: 250L to avoid depleting the substrate

Behavior

Spends most of its time buried in the sand — seeing it only rarely is normal. Occasionally emerges at night. Moves beneath the sand's surface. Completely harmless to corals, fish, and surface invertebrates.

Food

It feeds on what it finds in the sand. In insufficiently rich tanks, it can perish — supplement with food buried in the substrate.