sand dollars

[ricksconnected]

while on the beach last week there were thousands of live sand dollars in the surf every morning. naturally a question came to mind..... can we keep these in our aquarium? alive and healthy?

[romsoccer12]

ive seen sand dollars in tanks before. there are probably different species so google your event on where you lived and see what you come up with.

[Ohiomom]

from what I have read they have very little chance in captivity..usually starve..hth

[KarlBob]

According to the folks at WetWebMedia.com, it's not a good idea. Sand dollars apparently need several square feet of well-aged live sand apiece. They seem to be the kind of animals that generally starve to death in the average reef tank.

[ricksconnected]

hum..... so far it doesnt sound to promising does it?

[ricksconnected]

any other opinions?

[Sisterlimonpot]

Once they die you can open a store front and sell the shell for a huge profit :D. How big is your tank? How long have you had your tank up and running? They might not live long in your tank and if it’s not established. And depending on the size of the tank and coupled with a low number of sand critters (pods worms) the death of the sand dollars may throw your tank parameters way off, and then it will become a huge problem…

[wesley6610]

What do they eat? Do you have a pic of these things, never heard of them before.

[serpentman]

They eat a lot of the microfauna that lives in your sandbed. Once they completely deplete the sandbed of the good stuff, they starve.

[returnofsid]

You'll need a sand bed that's measured in feet, not inches, in order to feed them. Otherwise, they'll quickly turn your sand bed into a sterile dessert and starve to death.

[korth659]

i have also read that it is not a good idea

[ricksconnected]

sounds like we all agree here. shame because they are beautiful creatures. they were so cool to see. i mean there were thousands. people were picking them like crazy. they didnt care if they were alive or dead. i saw several folks who had dozens of dozens wraped up in shirts, towels, in buckets. i turned up at least 2 dozen. i never found one that wasnt alive. i would just carefully rebury them. dead or alive folks just wanted them.
it was a sad sight to see. i know of one lady i watched over the period of 3 mornings get 3 5gal buckets full.
i asked her what she did with them. she said she made crafts with them. i asked her if hers were dead or alive and she said,
"who the hell knows".
im not against hunting or fishing ok, but to needlessly kill the way she and everybody else were doing was crazy. i bet thousands died every morning. funny thing is, im not on a crowded beach either. very few people to be honest.