Rookie mistake?

Well I wish I would have ask here first - I am so mad at myself!!!!!!!!!!

I will be bringing it back to the lfs tonight.

Thanks for the replies - thanks for the hand slaps.

 

Important thing is you DID ask at all - and it seems like you are going to do the right thing.

When in doubt you should ALWAYS ask or look up your question here!!!!

 

bring it back dude, you dont need a sifting star really anyway.. you only have like 4 fish, so you can easily just get a sandsifting goby instead(yellow head sleaper) They do a good job.

 

Actually, sand sifting stars do eat detritus along with the live critters. They will not strip your sand of "everything good" but they are not ideal for a dsb.

 

IMO - sand sifting gobies are even MORE harmful to a DSB as they have a high metabolism compared to SS Stars and must forage more/more often therefore doing more damage.

Again, if its a 200+ gallon tank with an established sand bed - these species would be more appropriate.

In any smaller tank - they can do more harm than good.

 

Please, no offense, but that's ALOT of snails for a 75g. The 10 nass I have drove me nuts in my 55g and I had to remove some. At feeding time, they will pop out of the sand and climb over everything. I can't keep them away from my LPS when I feed it. I like your choices, but I honestly think it's too much of everything.

 

I have a Rainsford's Goby (spelling?) and he's awesome!
The one thing I did not know when I bought it is that the sand needs to be small grain for him so he can run it through his gills and I was worried about him for quite a while, but he kept getting fat, and also kept trying to run the sand through anyway. They're very tiny, but fearless in my experience. My other goby is terrified of the CB since he likes to terrorize the smaller inhabitants, but the Rainsford's goby could not care less about his charges. Neat tiny fish that won't increase your bioload as much

I have a 55 gallon reef tank with 30 gallon sump/fuge. Probably 60 to 65 gallons top of total water volume. Tank has been established for about a year.

 

Ok will bring back to the lfs - but on a second note what is considered a dsb? I have 3 inches of fine grain sand (calcium)

 

4 inches or more is considered a deep sand bed.

 

SAY,
I beg to differ and I speak from experience and it was all bad. Sand sifting stars are not detritus eaters by choice, only if and I stress only if there is no live food available wil they even consider detritus. They an and will strip a sand bed. Unless you have experienced it first hand its hard to imagine.