A good sand cleaner?

[Shadysjl]

Hi I have a 10 gallon Nano tank that's 4 weeks old and I was wanting to get a sand cleaner of some sort. I want to ask here as everytime I go to my lfs he gives me bad advice. He sold me a sand sifting star that I had to take back a day later after looking on here and alot of you said it was a bad idea. I currently only have 2 snails, 2 dwarf blue legged hermits and one red legged crab. I need something to clean my sand, but what is ok in that young/ size a tank?

[All6Fish]

Has the tank cycled?

[philosophile]

1 nassarius snail. They keept the sand turned, but they eat
Eat meaty stuff usually, not detritus. If you wand a detritus eater, get a couple of bristle worms from a local reefer.

[jasimek]

Diamond goby...sifts sand through its gills...it's pretty cool

[SushiGirl]

No diamond goby in a 10 gallon tank.
In that size tank, I'd stick with hermits and nassarius snails.

[SushiGirl]

Double post.

[laughlin]

nassarius i agree

[jasimek]

Sorry didn't see the 10 gallon part

[small alien]

You're tank is likely going through a natural part of its maturing process. Keep up with water changes and chill a bit. It will likely pass. If you have gunk on your sand, you may have nutrient issues. More animals will only add to that rather than help. Some of the small nasarius snails are your only ethical option for sand stirring in that size tank. Everything else will starve.

[ken1977]

I put a two spot goby in my 50G and my sand is whiter than bleached teeth!!


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50gallon cube, vortech MP40W, reef octopus 4, cadlights uv led pendant, ehiem pump.

[Shadysjl]

Won't my hermits eat a nassarius snail? I like the sound of a goby as it would be interesting to watch but my tanks to small I love to watch my tank so I'd like to have things in there that's cool to watch. Any ideas?

[All6Fish]

IMO 10 gal is a tad small, you may find it hard to add anything to tank except the snails.

[Shadysjl]

I can add corals & fish though right?

[Swip]

Yes, you can. Only small ones but there is more then enough that you can keep in a 10g.
Take a look at the nano reef forum here for some examples of small tanks.

[nanito]

How about a conch ?

[Sun357]

Aren't conchs big for a 10G?

~Fred

[Fish Biscuit]

small nassarius or cerith snails would work, I think your tanks too big for a conch

[Fish Biscuit]

LOL, your tank is too small for a conch, not too big. Sorry, blonde moment!!

[cjk76]

I've always found that the best cleaner for your sandbed is a gravel syphon. Available in a variety of sizes, this can clean out your gravel in no time!

[cloak]

Originally Posted by Shadysjl

Hi I have a 10 gallon Nano tank that's 4 weeks old and I was wanting to get a sand cleaner of some sort. I want to ask here as everytime I go to my lfs he gives me bad advice. He sold me a sand sifting star that I had to take back a day later after looking on here and alot of you said it was a bad idea. I currently only have 2 snails, 2 dwarf blue legged hermits and one red legged crab. I need something to clean my sand, but what is ok in that young/ size a tank?

I'm guessing you have a shallow sand bed in your 10 gallon tank? Just use your finger to turn the sand over right before a water change. For those hard to reach places, you could always use a turkey baster or a small powerhead to stir things up. Piece of cake.

[small alien]

Originally Posted by ken1977

I put a two spot goby in my 50G and my sand is whiter than bleached teeth!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

50gallon cube, vortech MP40W, reef octopus 4, cadlights uv led pendant, ehiem pump.

That's a very difficult fish that nearly always starves. How long have you had yours? What does it eat? If its doing well for you, that is rare and great. But I dont think you should recommend them to others. They are a near impossible fish from almost all accounts. Sand sifting fish in general are tough to keep fed long term in anything but a very large tank.