sand cleaner

[Red44]

Hi what kind of fish or invert that cleans/ shift the sand ?

other than a goby I treid two the first got stuck under a rock and the other jumped out. my sand is starting to get greenish brown moldy color prob from my window. Thanks

 

[Richy35]

Hi I have a sand sifting starfish. It keeps my sand nice and clean.

 

[Jason M]

I have a sea cucumber and a fighting conch that are the best bed cleaners be ever seen. The only way my gobies clean the sand like people say they do is not to feed them. The cucumber eats anything on the floor even cyano and literally shots out clean sand from its but

 

[Jason M]

There is the cucumber there cleaning the glass. Thats a first for me to see that

 

[Jason M]

If u got brown stuff on ur sand hermits and crabs aren't going to do it. Nassarius snails just eat the food u feed so they aren't going to do anything and the only time they actually move sand around is alittle spot where they dig in after they ate. None the less I won't have a tank without them. But the cucumber is ir best bet to eat the top layer of sand. I didn't buy one at first cuz of the bad rep but I wont go without one. If u get one just don't let it die inside ur tank. My store sold me a tiger tail labeled as a sand sifting cucumber.

 

[mr_X]

I think you should increase the flow. My sand bed is clean, and I don't have any specialized critters. The correct amount of flow will keep detritus in the water column until your filtration can remove it.

 

[Jason M]

Yeah that to increased flow. If u set something down anywhere in my tank there is current.

 

[Red44]

If u got brown stuff on ur sand hermits and crabs aren't going to do it. Nassarius snails just eat the food u feed so they aren't going to do anything and the only time they actually move sand around is alittle spot where they dig in after they ate. None the less I won't have a tank without them. But the cucumber is ir best bet to eat the top layer of sand. I didn't buy one at first cuz of the bad rep but I wont go without one. If u get one just don't let it die inside ur tank. My store sold me a tiger tail labeled as a sand sifting cucumber.

Thanks I'll look into the sea cucumber what happen if it dies in my tank?

 

[Red44]

I think you should increase the flow. My sand bed is clean, and I don't have any specialized critters. The correct amount of flow will keep detritus in the water column until your filtration can remove it.

I have almost 4000 gph flow I guess I'll try moveing the powerheads around to aim more near the sand

 

[mr_X]

If you are going to buy a cucumber, the only one I would recommend is the tigertail cucumber. It's the only one that won't toxify the tank in the event of it's early demise.
That said, I seriously doubt that it will clean the entire sand bed for you. They tend to stay close to the corners and rock, and hardly ever venture out to the middle of the sand bed. Also, it will remove everything from the sand it eats- bacteria as well.

 

[Jason M]

Yeah they do stay close but mine stretches out pretty far. It's not going to clean things over night they are very slow. And to answer ur question cucumbers are toxic. In the wild they spit out their guts to defend theirselves with the toxin. In ur tank that prolly won't happen unless a fish is messing with it. They could wipe out a tank I read. I have a tiger tail and he does for the most part stay on one side but keeps its clean and can double his length to stretch out further. A sleeper head goby keeps the other side clean.

 

[Red44]

I really dont want to risk my tank I might try
Getting more snails or try a diff type of goby than the diemond watchman goby

 

[Jason M]

I have a sleeper head goby that takes mouthfull of same and strains it through its gills

 

[Red44]

I have a sleeper head goby that takes mouthfull of same and strains it through its gills

The blue dot sleeper head goby looks preety neat I'll look into him thanks are all gobys jumpers?

 

[Jason M]

I know sleepers and watchman gobies can jump but I have an uncovered tank and never had a problem

 

[Red44]

I know sleepers and watchman gobies can jump but I have an uncovered tank and never had a problem

Ok I'll try it one last time and I also notice my sand Is starting to get red hair algae on it

 

[melosu58]

The best invert for cleaning sand IME is

Saltwater Aquarium Snails for Marine Reef Aquariums: Nassarius Snail

The best fish IME for cleaning your sand is

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Sleeper Banded Goby

 

[Jason M]

There are two types of nassariius snails get the 1 with the shell ad pictured in the link he gave u. They seem to do more work. And how old is ur tank u should post a pic of this red hair algae. It may be something else.

 

[Red44]

The best invert for cleaning sand IME is

Saltwater Aquarium Snails for Marine Reef Aquariums: Nassarius Snail

The best fish IME for cleaning your sand is

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Sleeper Banded Goby

Thanks all Be geting some of those snails and maybe the goby

 

[Red44]

There are two types of nassariius snails get the 1 with the shell ad pictured in the link he gave u. They seem to do more work. And how old is ur tank u should post a pic of this red hair algae. It may be something else.

My tank is 7 months old I'll try to post a pic later if I can it's not to out of control I shifted the sand myself today to get rid of most I thought it was red slime but it's kore hairy last time I had red slime I used red slime remover and it worked great but ruined my skimmer