Dirty Sand Bed - Need Cleaner?

[ctmedman]

My sandbed is always dirty with algae and I long for the clean white sand. Does anyone have any recommendations for a sandbed cleaner?

The LFS has the Golden Headed Sleeper Goby take care of their substrate and it looks great. However, I've heard that fish might be difficult to maintain.

Also, I'd prefer not to have something compete with my Mandarinfish for copepods but if that's the only way it won't be too much of a problem. Luckily, he eats frozen food.

FYI: In the tank now there is a false percula clown, two cleaner shrimp, a spotted mandarinfish, Colt Coral, Galaxy Coral, Christmas Tree Coral, Torch Coral.

 

[oyf709]

golden head sleeper goby is one of the most difficult goby u can probly find in LFS, never try it unless u really really like the look of them.However, the sleeper banded goby(AKA: Dragon goby) is very hardy and works very good..
If u looking for something other than fish, sand shifting star, and snails would work too, but as for snail, u might need a large amount of them to keep the cleaning job efficient.

 

[CMD26]

I have an orangespotted sleeper goby that does a wonderful job on my sand. =)

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/orange-diamond-goby---valenciennea-puellaris-fish--gobies.html

 

[melosu58]

I have the dragon goby and pink spotted goby and they both do a wonderful job.

 

[pkremer]

Will these gobies attack cleaner shrimp or coral banded shrimp?

 

[tcarola154]

diamond watchman goby has cured my dirty sand issues... it looks great now

 

[tjara03]

i just recently had the same prob and solved it with a Sleeper Banded Goby... Works awesome!!! Read my original thread...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=72069

Also here is the Goby i got..

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=206

I got it at the LFS for 9.99. HTH!!

 

[ctmedman]

Tjara03,
Did you happen to try the Nassarius Snails first? I'm hoping I don't have to get a dedicated fish for this job if I can get away with an invert.

Thanks

 

[oyf709]

IMO, snails are much more dedicate than the sleeper banded goby. Cuz snail when their condition get bad u can't really tell and most of the time they will just die really fast. Eventho they don't cause much, but as i said u need some wat lage amount of them to do a good job. On the other hand 1 fish is enbough to lean at least a 90g tank's sand bed.And I never see it stop,also it accept frozen food.Very hardy fish.

 

[melosu58]

I have a blood or fire shrimp and never been attacked by my gobies.

 

[ColdFish]

Can't speak for the other goby's mentioned, but my pink spotted watchman is fine with my cleaner shrimp. In fact he's the only fish in the tank that will let the cleaner work him over. Pretty funny to see him swim up to the shrimp and have it attach itself to his head

 

[tjara03]

Tjara03,
Did you happen to try the Nassarius Snails first? I'm hoping I don't have to get a dedicated fish for this job if I can get away with an invert.

Thanks

In addition to the Goby, yes i now have about 50-60 Nass. Snails in my tank now... But i put them in almost at the same time... The goby is by far more effective than the snails. IMO... HTH

 

[pkremer]

Here is the one that I want for my sand cleaner:

Tiger Watchman Goby
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=224

Will this clean the sand the way the others mentioned have? It is in the same category with the other sand-sifting gobies...anyone have any experience with these? With shrimp?

 

[zuzecawi]

What size tank do you have? How old is it?

 

[pkremer]

It will be a 46-gallon, and it is 0!

Right now I am in the planning phases. I have the aquarium in my room already and all of the equipment will be ordered tomorrow. Right now I am trying to put together a list of fish I want in the aquarium so I can add them most passive to most aggressive. I think it is better to have a plan before you start so things run more smoothly.

I intend to have about a 2-inch sandbed, and will need something to sift and clean, and I love gobies, but I would also really love to have shrimp, so I would like to make sure that the goby and shrimp will get along.

Paul

 

[ctmedman]

So I just bought ten Nassarius Snails from the LFS. They're very small but thought I'd give it a shot. As soon as I put them in the tank they dug right into the sandbed and I didn't see them until I put some food in the tank. It was actually pretty cool to see them surface for food.

I've seen them scoot around on top of the sandbed but they don't seem to be doing much cleaning. When people say they're good for keeping the sand clean is that because they stir it up or do they actually clean?????

 

[DragonForce]

Nassarius snails will do the trick. Try and get the large white ones not the small black ones. I have both the the larger white ones move faster, move more sand, and look prettier. The black ones do a great job with the algae that forms right where the glass meets the sand.