cleaner for tank with sand

[wildroseofky]

I am switching over to sand as my substrate. What type of vacuum would be good to clean the bottom? I need something affordable, say within the $20 or less range. I currently have gravel but I didn't purchase a vacuum because I didn't think about it. Now my tank bottom is really dirty. Guess I should mention this will be for a 29 gallon tank.

 

[Ian086]

I am switching over to sand as my substrate. What type of vacuum would be good to clean the bottom? I need something affordable, say within the $20 or less range. I currently have gravel but I didn't purchase a vacuum because I didn't think about it. Now my tank bottom is really dirty. Guess I should mention this will be for a 29 gallon tank.

Hi, i also have sand. I used regular play sand(washed very well first)..Something like this will do the job. I use something similar, just hover it just above the sand and it will pick everything up..Sand can tend to look slightly dirtier than gravel only because everything sits on top but i find it alot easier to keep clean...
PS..if your sand still looks slightly dirty after a vac, give it a gentle swirl with the vac...Ian
Fluval Edge Gravel Cleaner 13 in 33cm | eBay

 

[boadams87]

I just clean mine with the python water changer as i do my water changes. You can get one on Amazon

 

[Ian086]

The gravel cleaner will do both jobs....

 

[TheChad]

Get a Diamond Watchman goby. Done.


A Diamond Watchman goby will turn your sand over and over and over and over, it'll look clean forever.

-TheChad

 

[boadams87]

Malaysian trumpet snails do a good job of aerating the sand.

 

[wildroseofky]

I have never heard of a Diamond Watchman Goby. Would it work in a 29 gallon with ghost shrimp and mollies? Right now that is all I have to go in the tank. Still working on a stocking list. Would the snails do okay with the shrimp and do they reproduce like crazy? I don't want to be over run with snails.

I made my own gravel vac using instructions I found online. I used the plastic tubing from walmart and a clear larger tub from an old underground filter system I got with the tank and an old tube that a nano bot came in. Drilled a whole in the test tube like cylinder, put plastic tubing through hole, siliconed it in, and added the other longer tube as an extension. It works and didn't cost me anything.

 

[boadams87]

They do fine with shrimp. They can reproduce alot if you overfeed.

 

[MBliss81]

Diamond watchmen gobies are great, and fun to watch. They will move a lot of sand around, wherever they want, piling it on rocks and corals and sometimes making messes and shifting rockwork with holes they dig. Also, you will not be able to grow any critters in your sand, so if you don't have a separate sump and refugium you won't have all the little beneficial critters you want to have in your sand.. It can be a pain, but they have serious personality, and your sand will be cleaner.

 

[TheChad]

Diamond watchmen gobies are great, and fun to watch. They will move a lot of sand around, wherever they want, piling it on rocks and corals and sometimes making messes and shifting rockwork with holes they dig. Also, you will not be able to grow any critters in your sand, so if you don't have a separate sump and refugium you won't have all the little beneficial critters you want to have in your sand.. It can be a pain, but they have serious personality, and your sand will be cleaner.

They do move sand around, though I've never had one pile any on rocks or corals or shift any rockwork. Of course when I set my rock work I set it all the way in the sand down to the glass under it, I don't just drop it on top of the sand.

Now every other type of sand sifting goby I've had are MESSY, they do drop sand all over the tank/rocks/coral. Still never had one shift any rockwork, but they are very messy because they scoop a mouth full of sand then swim 2"-6" off the sand bed and filter it threw dropping sand everywhere.

However every diamond watchman goby I've had stays on the stand when sifting and just drops the sand 1/4" from where it scooped it up, unless they are digging, in which case they move the sand out of the hole they are digging, which could be a problem if you didn't set your base rocks well in the first place.

For a 55g or larger tank, there is NOTHING that will keep your sand cleaner than a Diamond Watchman Goby!

-TheChad

 

[MBliss81]

Agreed. You just have to be careful that your rocks are stable on the glass and not just on top of the sand. I had one who liked to make a pile outside of a cave, then sit in the entrance (now smaller with his sand pile) and look out at you. It was entertaining, and I even posted a YouTube video of him in action. I had him about a year and enjoyed watching him every day. I've had a few other blennies, and none have been as fun to watch as he was.

 

[Ian086]

Diamond watchmen gobies are great, and fun to watch. They will move a lot of sand around, wherever they want, piling it on rocks and corals and sometimes making messes and shifting rockwork with holes they dig. Also, you will not be able to grow any critters in your sand, so if you don't have a separate sump and refugium you won't have all the little beneficial critters you want to have in your sand.. It can be a pain, but they have serious personality, and your sand will be cleaner.

Can gobies be used in freshwater tanks??

 

[MBliss81]

I don't know of any similar freshwater gobies. Back when I had a freshwater tank a long time ago I had a few bumblebee gobies, which are cool fish, but they don't do the same things for your sand that a watchman does, and they're really small.

 

[Ian086]

I don't know of any similar freshwater gobies. Back when I had a freshwater tank a long time ago I had a few bumblebee gobies, which are cool fish, but they don't do the same things for your sand that a watchman does, and they're really small.

Cheers, the search goes one!!!