Sand Sifting Starfish

 
The Sand Sifting Starfish, also known as the sand star or white sand star, is a species of starfish in the family Archasteridae.  They are five-limbed with long tapering arms and grey or brownish in color with darker and lighter bands on the legs.  

The Sand Sifting Starfish is true to it's name and will truly clean your substrate of all detritus and waste.  It requires a deep sand bed in a larger aquarium with a constant supply of naturally occurring food. The starfish may consume other smaller inverts like shrimp and snails if they begin to starve. Without enough food they can eventually decay.

Invertebrates can be more sensitive to parameter changes than fish or coral.  High nitrate levels or sudden changes in pH or Salinity can be very harmful to inverts and may cause death.  It is recommended to do a slow acclimation process when adding new inverts to your aquarium.