substrate problem, nassarius snails

[kettlecorn]

So Ive been having patches of what i think is "hair algae". If you look close at the sand, there's a small film of stuff and little brown hairs that wave about. There's also slight pinkish tints on the sand in certain places and could be the beginning of cyano.
My water is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate and the tank is about 5 months old. It's a pretty healthy tank with 4 fish, really fast growing SPS, zoas, xenia, etc. and spreading purple coraline. I just dont know where this substrate problem is coming from.

I figured it may be due to the lack of cleanup crew as some died or got lost somewhere and i'm down to about 5 snails (2 astrea, 3 margarita or cerith) and 8-10 hermit crabs. (34 gallon red sea max) The sand is about 2" inch and nothing is there to sift it. The snails and hermits sift it by moving across but most the time the hermits eat stuff on the rock, the snails are on the glass.


So, i bought a pretty big nassarius snail and as soon as I put him in the tank, it burrowed and i never saw him again. I bought 3 more today (at $5 a pop) and they immediately burrowed themselves where they landed and havent resurfaced or moved. i can tell they're not moving because theyre right on the glass and under the sand. I prodded it a little with a grabber and they're alive and move but not sure why they haven't starts chomping.

Are these snails going to take care of the sand sifting problems? get more? Are they dying...? Im not sure what's up with this. I really dont know what else to do with getting the sand clean if the snails dont work. My LFS tried to sell me a sifting star fish but i doubt that'll help. I also tried redirecting the pumps but even with a koralia nano, digs holes in the sand and just makes a mess.

[inlandreef]

I have used the small nassarius snails. Had about 200 for my old 55, also had a sand shifting star. Sleeper and watchmen type gobies sift sand also. Also how did you acclimate them for.

[Surf&turf]

Do you vacuum your sand when you do a water change?

[dockery07]

How about a small conch?

[Chris27]

If you want to see if the snails are still alive, drop some food in the tank, if the snails are healthy they will come right up to the top of the sand within a min or so.

[demonnite57]

A Diamond Goby is good at sifting sand. In my 55g tank he does too well of a job and tends to cover some of my sand based corals

[gmneil]

diamond gobys will keep it clean but you do have to protect corals on the sand from getting buried sometimes

[Bevin]

Nassirius Snails are nocturnal. They will come out to eat at night.

[Patrick Cox]

Originally Posted by Surf&turf

Do you vacuum your sand when you do a water change?

Is this supposed to be done? Thanks.

[demonnite57]

It'll help keep your sand clean especially if you don't have a sand sifter type of creature in your tank.

[DustinB]

I advise against any sand sifting/shifting creatures. They mostly all have their drawbacks and problems. Proper water parameters and good flow will give you spotless sand.

[kettlecorn]

Yeah i looked into the diamond goby but have heard the problems that they cause with coral on the sand and moving sand everywhere. Plus they get big, i only have a 34 gallon.
I don't vacuum my sand but maybe I should. I think maybe every few days i can take my grabber thing and just sift the sand myself by moving the top layer around.

I ended up finding one of the big nassarius i put in the tank yesterday, on the glass this morning before the lights went on. When the lights went on, it went back into the sand, so perhaps they're all just somewhere. Or dead...

could it be that i dont have a strong enough pump for the tank? I have 2 stock RSM powerheads and an additional koralia nano but the nano is pretty weak.

does anyone see a problem with just sifting the sand myself using a long stick or is that going to cause spikes in the parameter?


Anyway, I think i figured out what the problem is ... potentially.
Let me know if you guys think it's it or not. I don't have mechanical filtration, only a skimmer, chemi pure and purigen. I looked in the back part where the "sump" is and there's a lot of debris that's starting to cake on the walls and on the powerhead (for my chiller) and what not. I thought the skimmer would get it but it seems to not be the case. Once i get a media basket and some mechanical filtration, how would i go about cleaning that back area? Will it resolve itself once i just stir it up or do I have to find a way to vaccuum all of that up? (thatll be nearly impossible)
I noticed that even the hoses going to my chiller (I can see the inside since its clear) have a lot of brown junk built up so this seems to be something i need to take care of)

[KeMo]

Dont worry about the nassarius snails . They live in the sand bed and come out when they smell food. Sounds like a lack of upkeep. You should clean your stuff on regular basis so build up like that does not happen. I would turn power heads off. Then clean the crap off and when its in the water do a 20 or so water change. You could also run a cheep hob just to help clean up the free floating stuff. Take it off after water clears or run some cemi pure in it like i do.

[Patrick Cox]

Originally Posted by DustinB

I advise against any sand sifting/shifting creatures. They mostly all have their drawbacks and problems. Proper water parameters and good flow will give you spotless sand.

What are there drawbacks and problems? Thanks.

[jk1nole]

I've been having some of the same issues from time to time... I think most of my problems come from water flow. I have had to play with my pumps to keep the water circulating enough in the right places to keep the sand clean. I finally got it right then added a bunch of live rock and I am back to square one. Here are a couple of things I do...

1) I use a turkey baster and just gently blast the rocks and areas of sand where I see build up/algae starting to develop. Works good...

2) I do siphon the top layer of my sand during water changes. You will get some people telling you not to do this... but I only skim the top and under the edges of rocks. I have yet to have a problem.

But, ultimately if you found the correct flow amount and positions of your pumps it might help and you shouldn't have to worry too much.

Also, I have about 10-12 nasarrius snails and 2 conchs in my 65. They do ok.

[jk1nole]

Originally Posted by Patrick Cox

What are there drawbacks and problems? Thanks.

I almost got a sand sifting star recently. One guy at a LFS told me he had 4 in his tank and his sand is white. Then I went and asked someone I knew at another LFS store if I should consider sand sifting stars. I was told they will eat everything in the sand... good and bad. Then you will have a lot of dead sand.

[TripleT]

The tank is 5 months old. Give it time, and make sure you have good flow.

Don't buy 200 snails... and the nassarius snails you have will most likely be fine. I bought one recently that barely moved for a month. Now he is out and about every night after lights out.

[Chris27]

Originally Posted by jk1nole

I almost got a sand sifting star recently. One guy at a LFS told me he had 4 in his tank and his sand is white. Then I went and asked someone I knew at another LFS store if I should consider sand sifting stars. I was told they will eat everything in the sand... good and bad. Then you will have a lot of dead sand.

That is true in a small tank, but they can be good to have in a large tank with a good deal of sand. They constantly move, day and night, and keep the bed aerated and turned over. I wouldn't recommend one in anything less then a 6' X 2' footprint tank though.

[Patrick Cox]

Originally Posted by Chris27

That is true in a small tank, but they can be good to have in a large tank with a good deal of sand. They constantly move, day and night, and keep the bed aerated and turned over. I wouldn't recommend one in anything less then a 6' X 2' footprint tank though.

I was sold one at the LFS for my 36G. It is 30x15x21. Did I make a mistake? I have only had it a few days so I could probably return it. I also read in another thread that my tank may be too new for a sand star. It is only about 3 weeks old but I did start with live sand.

Thanks,
Pat

[Chris27]

Originally Posted by Patrick Cox

I was sold one at the LFS for my 36G. It is 30x15x21. Did I make a mistake? I have only had it a few days so I could probably return it. I also read in another thread that my tank may be too new for a sand star. It is only about 3 weeks old but I did start with live sand.

Thanks,
Pat

Your tank is too small, the star will seem to do fine for a few months, but then it will all of a sudden die. They don't eat algae and prepared foods, only microfauna in the sandbed....a small sandbed will be quickly decimated by it and isn't able to support it in the long run.

[Reverend Reefer]

my sand snails come out whenever i feed. is your sand really coarse? i have a couple florida conchs, damn cute little buggers with elephant snouts that clean my sand. i guess i got lucky cuz they even eat cyano whenever i see some, its gone in a week.