sand sifting help

[echo7]

i'm looking for some good sand sifters. today i looked into my refuge-sump and saw perfect white sand, and then looked to the main tank, brown algae on the top of the sand, and red algae in the sand pressed against the glass. i used to have nassurus, they kept the sand clean, but the 50 i got died off in only about 9 months, fortunately they did spawn once, but the young won't really make a diffrence for a year or two because of thier size. can anyone tell me what could have happened to my nassarus, i have a 125. did i overbuy them so that they starved? back to the sand... there are two types of worms, but i rarely see them, (except for in my sump) even at night, although i do see worm tracks somethimes. Can anyone recomend a goby that will clean detritus and or algae without eating my worms or any micro sifters i might have? what about micro brittle stars, do they help? do they reproduce frequently enough to establish a good population? What do you guys think about the larger brittle stars? i know i have alot of questions, i would be very thankful if you could answer just one.

 

[fishgillsonefin]

Hi, well i don't know about the golby you may want to think about a Cucumber, i have one and all it does is clean the sand, he eats the sand and out the other end is pure white sand, these's guys are great.

 

[echo7]

thanks, do you know of any cuccumbers that aren't poisonous?

 

[fishgillsonefin]

Hi, i've got the atlantic kind nothing to look at, it's brown, my friend has a black one, i've had mine three years with no problem.

 

[echo7]

thanks, kudos to you. i'll make sure i pick a few of them up

 

[malkore]

I got one of these today at liveaquaria.com
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=23&pCatId=712&TopCatId=502

supposed to be mellow, and reef safe.

 

[Sparky]

I have an Orange Diamond Goby......does a heck of a job keeping the sand clean.

 

[Sparky]

I have an Orange Diamond Goby......does a heck of a job keeping the sand clean.

 

[quarryshark]

I know some will disagree, but a sand sifting star does a great job. I have 2 in my 210, you have a big enough tank to keep onw happy. Big brittles help clean up scraps, but don't sift the sand. The little ones do.
Just a couple of options.

 

[rockkfish]

any sleeper goby will take in mouthfuls of it at the surface and it'll come out of their gills your fauna are usually deeper than that, btw how deep is your sand bed, and if you have any live rock a brittle star or engineer goby will ensure that the pockets under your rocks don't go all to heck