Best sand cleaner
- Thread starter Harth23
- Start date
heathlindner25
New member
I would remove a 1" of it and vacuum it with my water changes. Or just start vacuuming it ,and you will probably lose an inch in a year or so....
Tigerdragon
New member
Look at a diamond gobie
CStrickland
New member
CStrickland
New member
Brittle stars are fine, they can find food in the rocks and stuff. Sifting stars need the sand to be dirty enough or they'll starve.
That's the issue with cleaners. They are a janitor and a pet. So you wind up balancing enough food for them with not so much food that the water gets dirty and grows algae. All the critters in the sand and rocks poop too. So you have different schools of thought, I would describe it as either (1) removing the poop before it can become fertilizer; (2) hiring a janitorial staff to eat the poop, and each other's poop until there's nothing left to become fertilizer; (3) letting it become fertilizer and running gfo or algae in the sump to compete with the algae for the nutrition.
Most people run some combination of the three to achieve nutrient (phosphate and nitrate) levels that keep their coral happy, since coral don't grow well when there's fertilizer in the water, but algae does. The combo you choose is just a matter of which methods appeal to you. It's not like there is one trick that eliminates tank maintenance, you're still going to be pruning algae, dumping a skimmer, replacing gfo, vacuuming sand, changing filter socks or rinsing floss, replacing a dsb in a few years, etc.
That's the issue with cleaners. They are a janitor and a pet. So you wind up balancing enough food for them with not so much food that the water gets dirty and grows algae. All the critters in the sand and rocks poop too. So you have different schools of thought, I would describe it as either (1) removing the poop before it can become fertilizer; (2) hiring a janitorial staff to eat the poop, and each other's poop until there's nothing left to become fertilizer; (3) letting it become fertilizer and running gfo or algae in the sump to compete with the algae for the nutrition.
Most people run some combination of the three to achieve nutrient (phosphate and nitrate) levels that keep their coral happy, since coral don't grow well when there's fertilizer in the water, but algae does. The combo you choose is just a matter of which methods appeal to you. It's not like there is one trick that eliminates tank maintenance, you're still going to be pruning algae, dumping a skimmer, replacing gfo, vacuuming sand, changing filter socks or rinsing floss, replacing a dsb in a few years, etc.
mvallee_ma
New member
I added a dragon gobie and he is constantly sifting the sand which was great when my tank was new and my sand needed constant stirring but now that my tank has stabilized I wonder if it is doing more harm than good, but he did do a great job when I was battling Dinoflagllate and cyano and other nasties.
AshlynnsDad
New member
Brittle stars don't do much for my sand bed. They hide in my rocks. I've got 2 sand sifting stars which really help out. The nasarius (sp?) snails keep the sand bed stirred up too. I would stay away from the cukes. I've got one in my tank... somewhere... I think... When it dies I'll probably find out the hard way through a water chemistry issue or two.
I read somewhere that you are your own best clean up crew. Manual removal of stuff on your sand bed is the key to clean sand. Sure the CUC is great to have and fun to watch but if you want something done right do it yourself.
I read somewhere that you are your own best clean up crew. Manual removal of stuff on your sand bed is the key to clean sand. Sure the CUC is great to have and fun to watch but if you want something done right do it yourself.
AshlynnsDad
New member
Also, the diamond goby's are great. I've had 4 now. two jumped out of the tank. One died of??? And the fourth is MIA. I won't be putting a new one in. I should have stopped after the second.
davehead86
New member
I have the same experience with my brittle star. He is a pig and needs to be spot fed once a week with frozen food otherwise he eats my snails. :lol:
I have those snails too and they NEVER clean my sand, only the rock and walls. Maybe i just need to get a few more.
cloak
New member
YOU are the best sand cleaner that tank will ever see. Not to mention your not popping in the very same substrate you wish to keep clean.
Like mentioned above, either start vacuuming it on a regular basis or just stir it up with your finger or a small power head right before a water change. Get that muck out of there. GL.
Like mentioned above, either start vacuuming it on a regular basis or just stir it up with your finger or a small power head right before a water change. Get that muck out of there. GL.
ClownFishGuy6
Member
Honestly. If you have a lot of corals around your tank I would try to go for a starfish and some blue legged and red legged crabs. But I have a banded goby in my 55 gallon tank. It's been doing very good but for your tank, how much sand is visible and my covered by rock. If it's not a lot I would get a banded goby if there's a good amount of uncovered sand I would get 2 banded gobies.
