detritus

[newfound77951]

I seem to be accumulating a lot of detritus in certain areas of my 30g reef tank. Right now I have 8 Astraea snails, 5 or 6 dwarf hermits, 3 or 4 Nassarius snails, a 4" serpent star, a cleaner shrimp, a royal gramma and a 6line wrasse. Should I add more detritus-eating critters (nassarius? or something else?) or vacuum it out when I do a water change like I'd do with a freshwater tank? It appears to be mostly fish and snail poo, and some bits from the LR, no excess food or anything like that.

 

[roka64]

I would vacuum it out with PWCs. My syphon is large enough that I can hold it right above it and it won't suck up the sand. I have found ceriths and nassis are great, plus the ceriths provide plenty of eggs for the others to snack on. How about a fighting conch? One should be good in a 30G.

 

[Ziggy953]

That's what I try to do when I do a PWC...just suck as much of it out as you can....

 

[chase33]

Some Bumble Bee snails will also help out.

 

[melosu58]

It`s fine to get animals that will dispose of it but if they dont you need to siphon it out.

 

[roka64]

Bumblebees will eat other snails...just an FYI, but they look really cool.

 

[MT79]

Adding more flow to eliminate dead spots is the best long term solution. Having more flow will keep the detritus, and uneaten food suspended in the water column so that your skimmer, etc. can remove it. Having just one, maybe two dead spots is alright, since it just about impossible to eliminate them, especially if you have sand.

 

[newfound77951]

It's just in a couple of spots, underneath some overhanging rocks etc. Will vacuum out on the next PWC, and probably add some more nassarius anyway as they are cool little guys.

 

[Ziggy953]

Yeah the Nassarius are great snails!!! They do a good job of stiring the sand and they eat like crazy!! I love mine!!