Sand Fleas

Damion123 · Nov 2, 2022

Any thoughts about putting sand fleas in an aquarium. I am just asking because I want something to stir my sand bed and they seem like they could be a good candidate. I know could go with the usual, such as nassarius snails, sand sifting star, or sand sifting goby

Sharkbait19 · Nov 2, 2022

Assuming you mean the typical amphipods, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them. Most (if not all) tanks have them and they are one of the most valuable members of the cuc.

Piscans · Nov 2, 2022

i am not sure what they eat, i assume you could. nassarius snails are good

ISpeakForTheSeas · Nov 2, 2022

If by Sand Fleas you mean Emerita spp. (A.K.A. mole crabs or sand crabs), then it probably wouldn't work anywhere near as well as you would hope. These guys typically live in the swash zone of the beach and burrow/un-burrow to harvest planktonic feed from the breaking waves that wash over them. I don't know what feed they prefer, but the larvae have been raised to settlement/metamorphosis on Artemia nauplii (baby brine shrimp) or Artemia nauplii and phytoplankton, so I'd imagine they probably need properly sized brine shrimp/pods/rotifers and phyto in sufficient quantities to keep them fed and healthy.

Normally, I doubt feeding these foods would be an issue, but, given that their feeding in nature is dictated by the waves, it may be difficult to get them feeding properly in an aquarium that doesn't replicate the swash zone for them to a fair degree. In other words, I don't know if they would eat properly in a normal aquarium (especially if the only sand for them to live in is at the bottom of the tank). Plus, I don't know how much access they would have to these planktonic foods if they were at the bottom of the tank, as I don't know how much of it would reach the bottom for them to feed on. (For the record, I've heard of people trying these guys in standard aquariums in the past, and - while I don't know what they were trying to feed them - I do know they haven't lasted long.)

Additionally, lots of creatures like to eat Emerita spp., so depending on the other inhabitants of your tank, they might just be eaten as soon as you add them. With normal, non-FOWLR tank inhabitants, they'd probably be safe though.

Now, regarding the burrowing and sand sifting/stirring, this behavior is typically dictated by the waves in the wild - though I'd imagine it's impacted by the presence of predators too - so I don't know how much burrowing/un-burrowing they would do in a normal aquarium. So, they may not be as effective as you'd hope for this.

They're neat creatures, and if you give it a go I hope you keep us updated on it - but I don't think they'd be the way to go for your purpose here. I'd say for sand stirring that snails (and conchs) are probably the way to go for most tanks.