Sand Cleaners...

[tjara03]

i just wondering what fish or inverts would be best to clean my sand bed from ditrius and such... any suggestions?? TIA!!

 

[oyf709]

I will give u my first choice,the dragon goby also called sleeper banded goby. Very hardy and doing some amzazing job to my sandbed.
u can do a search on it Amblygobius phalaena.

 

[Civicman86]

Nassarious Snails. I have a bunch of them and they do a pretty good job.

 

[tjara03]

Thanks for the replys thus far guys, i will comense research...

 

[zuzecawi]

Sandsifting stars are good if you have a well buffered tank and healthy, stabile water parameters. Also, sand bed clams, sand dollars, and serpent stars. HTH!

 

[Fluff]

Sandsifting stars will quickly deplete the fauna in the sandbed and then need supplemental feedings to keep it from starving. I don't feel its a good choice unless you have a very large system. I wouldn't consider one for a 50g tank.
Nassarius are great for turning the sand. Conch and cerith snails are another alternative.
In addition to the gobies, (the one mention is probably the best and are normally sold under the name dragon/bullet goby) the twinspots are supposed to be great sifters as well.

 

[tjara03]

Awesome info!!! Thanks everyone!!!

 

[DragonForce]

Nassarius snails hands down.

 

[tjara03]

i want some nassarius snails but i cant seem to find any around my area.. is there a good place online to get them for a decent price??

 

[DragonForce]

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...1&from=R8&satitle=nassarius+snails&category0=


I got 200 for my 2 mantis shrimp for about 18 bucks shipped to my door.

 

[tjara03]

Thanks DragonForce!! i will look into it when i get home from work... (My work computers filter out some sites, including ebay.. )

 

[demodiki]

The tonga fighting conch is the best sand cleaner in my crew.

 

[tjara03]

about how many nass snails will be the best for my tank??

 

[DragonForce]

For the ebay snails, something like 1 snail per gallon would be a good rule to go by. If it's a little more or less thats fine.

 

[tjara03]

great!!! thanks!

 

[CMD26]

I have an oragespotted sleeper goby that is like Mr. Clean for my sand.

Problem is he only likes one side of the tank. =P My tank is starting to look like a before and after picture. I'm hoping that eventually he branches out a little. But maybe you'd have one that was a little more adventurous. It should be noted that as well as doing a wonderful job on the sand he's also a lot of fun to watch. He's constantly busy and can be kind of comical with his cleaning behavior.

 

[tjara03]

ok i ordered 50 nass snails!!! woo hoo!!!!

 

[zenn]

i got some nassarius snails off ebay about 3 months ago. They do clean up pretty well...although i wouldn't expect them to make a huge difference if your sand is really dirty. Problem i've had is my hermits absolutely LOVE the nassarius shells and they have killed off probably hald of them to get their shells. I bought some empty hermit shells but the hermits i have dont' seem to like those...they go right for the nassarius shells. Good thing the nass snails were cheap.

 

[Feron]

I have a dragon goby...
He prefers eating off my rocks for some reason

 

[tjara03]

ok, yeah my hermits are going crazy for my snails already!!! What should i do? just let them? or should i get rid of the hermits... i onily have about 5 or 6 of them...