I need some help on keeping my sand clean.

[ahud]

Hey guys,

Can you recommend some critters I can add to keep my sand bed clean? I plan to keep my sand bed about 3" to 4" deep.

[Fish_wiz2]

I would put a fighting conch and cucumber. Both of those have kept my sand spotless besides the aid from my flow. Avoid sand sifting stars though, they are not beneficial to your semi-DSB. Hope that helps, Wiz

[redlabel]

Nassarius Vibex snails this is what i use

[ahud]

What type of cucumber and how many conches?

65 gallon 36x18x24
20 long sump

[Fish_wiz2]

Originally Posted by ahud

What type of cucumber and how many conches?

65 gallon 36x18x24
20 long sump

Maybe two conches and a tiger tail cucumber is the most effective as ive heard.

[tozzi]

I'd go 2-3 conch 1 cucumber. I think the black ones stay more in sand. I have a nice green and pink one, but it hasn't moved the rock its on since i got it

[ahud]

Will a sea cucumber be happy in my tank? 1' is pretty large.

[Tuscaquatics]

I'd only put an inch or so of sand and forget about having a ton of sand cleaners. If you just must go that deep, you need to put 4 or 5 inches or it's not a deep sand bed, just a detritus/algae magnet.

[ahud]

I can't go any shallower than 3" according to what I have read about keeping jawfish.

[jchase1970]

Nassarius, i have alot of these and they do a good job.

[mthomp]

Originally Posted by ahud

I can't go any shallower than 3" according to what I have read about keeping jawfish.

i dunno, i have a jawfish and only about 1/2-1inch of sand, the hard part is keeping them in the tank imo. for sifting sand without causing a mess the nassarius snails work wonders.

[ahud]

If I go with a 4" to 5" deep sand bed, would the same critters still apply?

[jhoff]

Just get one of these and use it when you do a water change keep's my sand super clean.http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...4084&lmdn=Fish

[riiz]

Originally Posted by jhoff

Just get one of these and use it when you do a water change keep's my sand super clean.http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...4084&lmdn=Fish

+1

lol, these do work too

[mthomp]

Originally Posted by ahud

If I go with a 4" to 5" deep sand bed, would the same critters still apply?

i do not know much about the DSB this point in the hobby, but one thing i do understand is you do not want to disturb it . there is a good chance you will release toxins that can kill your livestock.

[Fishamatank]

I agree with the above on the depth, go 4-5 inches or go shallow, like 1" or less.

I got tired of trying to keep my 1" sand bed clean in my 120, but like the looks of a sand bed too much to go bare bottom.

The sand is now nearly spotless, here are my sand agitator / cleaners:
8-10 1" nassarius snails
10 small 1/4" nassuarius snails
2 2" tiger conchs
3 1" fighting conchs
1 3" black cucumber

[rayn]

I have a black cucumber in my tank and he does a great job. Also have 10 nassuarius snails and 10 algea eating snails.

[jk1nole]

I've been working on figuring out the same thing. I'm probably going to add a bunch more nassarius. But, I've determined that the bigger issue is my flow. I have plenty of it, but can't eliminate all of the dead spots.

[Fizz71]

I use nassarius snails, a black cucumber, 1 fighting conch and I bought a small tiger tail but I haven't seen him in a while. I also had a bulletfish (Amblygobius phalaena) who was by far the best sand turner in the bunch, but he also littered sand all over my reef.

I would recommend a single black cucumber or tiger tail for you along with a bunch of nassarius snails. Just make sure the cucumber keeps getting bigger, if they don't have enough food they start to "shrink" by consuming themselves. They are very interesting to watch, the only downside is they only turn the area they're in at the time.

[mthomp]

if cucumbers die dont they become toxic?

[Fizz71]

Some do, some not so much.

Here's a good article..
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/seacucumbers.html