Best Animal For Cleaning Sand Bed

[Romulox234]

So i just recently moved and had to set up my tank all over again and i have some diatoms on the sand bed, not terribly bad but it gives the sand a brown tint, and just today i also noticed i was starting to develop some cyano bacteria on the sand behind my rockwork.

I could tolerate the diatoms i thought they would go away after a while but i have to get rid of the cyano. I think the cyano might be due to me putting excess food into the tank so ill try and cut back on that.

What animal would just cruise around on the sand all day and eat all the cyano and diatoms and detrius and just keep it clean of all that stuff?

I was thinking either a tuxedo urchin or some kind of cucumber to keep the sand bed clean, what would you guys recomend?

[Shane Hoffman]

Believe it or not my best sand cleaner is my Maroon clown. He loves his anemone and likes to keep it clean. He is about 3 inches long and gets down close to the sand and shakes his butt violently making a bunch of sand and any detrius go flying. He does this in all directions around the nem up to about a foot away from his nem. He basically keeps the left half of my 150 spotless all on his own......

[lougotzz]

Diamond goby. I gotta get a netting on my tank so my next one doesnt jump again.

[Romulox234]

I was thinking more of an invertabrae, dont wanna overload my tank with too many fish

[julie180]

Don't bother with sand sifting stars. They almost always starve to death.

Nassarius snails are a good choice.

[Octoshark]

My nassarius are constantly mixing up the sand

[Romulox234]

I have a couple of nass snails they mostly eat all the left over meaty foods

[Phyxius]

Originally Posted by julie180

Don't bother with sand sifting stars. They almost always starve to death.

Nassarius snails are a good choice.

Agreed as the stars usually starve. I have had mine for a year and a half but also make sure food is placed directly under or in its path to make sure it eats. I have been lucky with him but my size tank is also a help.Nassarius snails are great for stirring up the sand. I also have a diamond goby that does a great job of it going all around and sifting the sand

[Blownsvt]

i put in a bunch of largae nassarius snails and they did not help my cyano at all. put in the diamond goby and within 2-3 days the sand was pure white and clean.

[lougotzz]

Cerith snails. Little guys really keep the sand bed clean as well.

[Romulox234]

Diamond gobbies? ill read up on them some more, but what about a cucumber or an urchin anybody had experience with those cleaning there sand bed

[Imzadi]

Sand-Sifting Goby for me.

[dun2run]

My orange spotted goby is a CHAMP!!

[Blownsvt]

Originally Posted by Romulox234

Diamond gobbies? ill read up on them some more, but what about a cucumber or an urchin anybody had experience with those cleaning there sand bed

i have an urchin. he spends most of his time on the rocks and climbing the glass. did not do much at all for cyano in the sand bed. IME your best bet is the goby and they are fun to watch too.

Cucumbers can work i have heard but i have also read that some types can nuke your tank if the die for whatever reason.

[Lightsluvr]

Definitely a diamond watchman or orange-spotted goby... I need only one in a 350G tank to keep the sandbed looking pristine.


By the way, I have the same sand-sifting star for three years in various sized tanks... so much for "they always starve"... of course I overfeed my tanks, always have, always will...


LL

[MrRyanT]

Nothing other than the diamond goby helped me and it keeps my sand completely clean. I haven't ever tried a cucumber though.

[Romulox234]

I think ill try a diamond goby then, what do they eat?

Will they hunt around the tank and eat pods beacuse i would like to have a mandarin but i dont want it to be competing with another fish for food

[Lilputian]

My dragon goby works well for this. Along with some nass snails and yes a sand sifting star that seems to be doing ok, he climbs out of the sand at the same time every night.

[dixiedog]

Originally Posted by Romulox234

I think ill try a diamond goby then, what do they eat?

Will they hunt around the tank and eat pods beacuse i would like to have a mandarin but i dont want it to be competing with another fish for food

Diamond gobies are a sand cleaning MACHINES. Not a big pod eater. They absolutely will jump, though.

Outside of DG's, I'll post another vote for cerith snails.

[E.intheC]

Originally Posted by dixiedog

Diamond gobies are a sand cleaning MACHINES. Not a big pod eater. They absolutely will jump, though.

Outside of DG's, I'll post another vote for cerith snails.

+1. Lots of people love the diamond gobies. Make sure they're eating though, as some will starve if they don't adopt a captive diet.

Also, I'm thinking about putting one in my new setup but probably won't, simply because I'm concerned about the constant sand storm they can create. Cloudy water isn't fun at all....

[aquadonkey]

I'm surprised no one has suggested a conch yet - I just put one in my tank and the sand is looking pristine! She works all day and is fun to watch with those googley eye-balls!

[lougotzz]

Yeah if you get a diamond goby make sure that top is covered 100 percent with something. My tank was covered with a light, and only and inch on the right and left side was open, he jumped out in the matter of a couple of days after I got him. In that time period though he sifted that sand like there was no tomorrow.

[eho72]

I lost my first diamond goby on the 2nd day when I was feeding and opened the canopy for about 15 seconds. Didn't realize he had jumped out while I was standing right there. Second one I got was for a different tank with egg crate on top and very tight netting so there's no way he can jump through. So I thought. THat night I went and check. Somehow he dumped through the small opening of the egg crates and was stuck against the netting and dried out. I don't get it. Maybe it's not meant to be. Somehow, I want to try again someday.

[Blownsvt]

knocking on wood....... i have my Diamond goby in an uncovered tank and he has never jumped. rarely ever comes to the surface at all.

[kevantheman35]

pistol shrimps