Advice on sand sifter / cleaner

[StanD]

Hey Gang!

Getting my tank back together, but am having some trouble with growth of algae / cyano on the sand. The tank has been set up for about 7 years. The sand is a very fine oolitic aragonite and from 4 to 6 inches deep in a 240 tank with about a 60 gallon sump.

Thinking about a sand sifting goby , sea cucumbers, or other inverts who can help me to clean up the sand and keep it looking reasonably good.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, but would also appreciate hearing about success stories.

Thanks in advance.

Stan

 

[jbmynes]

maybe pull some sand out stir it all up and do a ton of water changes... after 7 years theres a ton of build up in a dsb. And I bet its feeding the algae bloom.... Just my 2 cents...

 

[vietcu]

nassaurus (prob got the spelling wrong) are my favorite, especially the tongans. They usually only come out at night but they bury themselves in the sandbed. Keeps my sandbed looking like new all the time. Got to get a lot though for your 220. I think I have about 10 in mine, including some of the smaller nassaurus.

 

[anaelitz]

sea cucumbers work nice too

 

[PhilipOSU]

+1 for Tonga nas snails and I also think that siphoning out some of the sand and rinsing it.

 

[CeasarIM]

Stan D how old are your bulbs? phosphate levels? I know those are basic but I always like to throw those ideas out there.I also have a 220gals .At one point I had sand sifting stars ,snails, blue leg hr. cr.and a sand sifting goby.After a while all those invers died of old age I assume.Still have a sand sifting goby ,and that boy does not stop,I get tierd of watching him move non stop.But when my lights get old he just cant keep up .One day if I get enough dallahs ,lol I'll get some inverts unless someone will trade me some.

 

[Tswifty]

Super Tongan Nassarius Snails or Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber are great sifters... Cerith snails will also move through your sand.

Also, if you're having cyano issues you can dose Blue Life Red Slime Control... However when I had an outbreak of cyano, I noticed flow was a major factor (along with many other small changes I made), but upping the flow and making sure there were no dead zones seemed to have the greatest impact.

I had the Blue Life Red Slime Control on hand, but decided to give "natural fixes" a few weeks before dosing a chemical. Although I think it would have been much easier just to dose the tank and be rid of it. :lol:

 

[Aadler]

Natural? like a 3 day eclipse? hehe ;c)

 

[Murphs205]

look into a sand sifting goby of some sort , mine do a great job of cleaning the surface of the sand , keeping it nice and white. you will need some good snails to do the dirty work in the sand bed.

 

[Tonycip]

I have a diamond goby He sifts like mad the only problem is he doesn’t put the sand back were he found it.. The slob.. He’ll pile it on one side, I think he deposits it in my cup coral on purpose. So keep that in mind, could also upset your rock work if not secure.

 

[Murphs205]

oh yea , they will not put sand back where it came from ,,,,, remind me of Africa cichlids ,,they will make a mess out of a tank

 

[newsalt1]

Stan glad to see you back found some time to harvest?

 

[dendronepthya]

I have six 125 gallon tanks with sand on the bottom, and I've found that a single orange spot sand sifting goby per tank can keep them pristine white.

 

[aerius007]

StanD? I've got so much stuff in my tank from him. You may remember myself and a friend stopped by about a year and a half ago and bought a bunch of frags which most of have been refragged many times since.

 

[the budman]

i have on tongan and about a dozen nassarius in my 40 long and the sand always looks good. also have a few ceriths, 2 serpent satrs and a watchman goby

 

[johndawg]

Hey there Stan. Let me know if you are ever down in Hudson, I'm sure I have a couple of frags to share that originally came from your tank. Might be able to share an RBTA also if you are interested.
John

 

[goteenb]

I have a dragon goby. He keeps my 90 perfect white, and some of my sand is even a little bigger grain than average.

He digs holes so i shovel back the sand once a month or so.

Pic Link

 

[84chris]

I have had gobies and snails, but the best thing that worked for me was a sandsifting starfish. It constantly moved the sand.

 

[StanD]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. They are all greatly appreciated.

Anyone who has a sand sifting goby that does a really good job with very fine sand??? What species???

I am working tomorrow on getting the lights back to working with new bulbs, and hope to be going out to SC to get Nessarius snails real soon.

Please keep the suggestions coming, especially species info on the goby. I am enjoying this hobby again!!!

Thanks

Stan

 

[Murphs205]

bring back any x-tra snails ?? ,,,,i need a dozen myself