Best sand sifter

[theronsta]

My byno goby died today and I am looking for a good sand sifting fish that wont dust my rocks with sand as it sifts( i.e. it doesnt leave the floor of the tank as it is sifting)

I've already got 6 Nassarius snails and they dont seem to be keeping up.
I was thinking of either doing a Diamond Goby or starting with 2 sand sifting stars and adding more if need be, but I would like to add a fish that I can see.

Any suggestions?

Has anyone tried amblygobius decussatus?
I think theyre neat and they only get about 3 inches like my byno

 

[LinkinReef]

Have you tried a fighting conch snail? I bought 3 of them for my 210g and they do an excellent job. i used to have some red slime on the sand bed and now it's just perfectly clean.

I would vote against sifting starfish as they will eat all in your sand and eventually die. At least that's what I've heard everywhere

 

[theronsta]

I have some at work I can try.. I just dont like how big they are lol and would rather hare a fish to see something swimming around

 

[helitaiwan963]

interested to see what comes of this thread. I'm in the same boat. Have a couple nassarius snails but they don't seem to be doing much.

 

[theronsta]

interested to see what comes of this thread. I'm in the same boat. Have a couple nassarius snails but they don't seem to be doing much.

Im thinking of getting a raifords goby if I cant get A.decassutus from my california supplier

Ive seen videos of them sifting but will it dust my rocks? I have having to siphon all the sand on the rocks out when I do a water change

 

[dzfish17]

I would consider a tiger goby... hardy and hard worker.

 

[physioman71]

I have 2 sand sifting cucumbers, and 3 conch in a 72 that do well.

 

[theronsta]

I appreciate you input but I would like to have a fish that will do the job for me.
thanks

 

[namxas]

The trouble with sand-sifting fish is that the reason they "sift" is to eat, and unless the fish in question takes prepared foods, it will starve, because it will decimate the microfauna in a closed system pretty rapidly.

This brings us to your other issue...in order not to "resift" the same sand, these fish grab a mouthful and move to another location to eat, so naturally, the sand goes everywhere.

Just out of curiosity, what is your compelling reason for having a "sand-sifter"? Is your substrate dirty?

 

[Allmost]

I have 3 of these in my 180 and they do a fine job.

I stir the sand in my reef tank once a week. to get detritus to float, so they can be used as coral food or skimmed out.

<a href="http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j416/bigray1002/?action=view&current=Toronto-20110626-00489.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j416/bigray1002/Toronto-20110626-00489.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I think they ar queen counch ... not 100% sure though .

 

[Jmason95]

I have 3 of these in my 180 and they do a fine job.

I stir the sand in my reef tank once a week. to get detritus to float, so they can be used as coral food or skimmed out.

<a href="http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j416/bigray1002/?action=view&current=Toronto-20110626-00489.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j416/bigray1002/Toronto-20110626-00489.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I think they ar queen counch ... not 100% sure though .

Not to derail the thread too much, but, do counch's stay on and in the sand bed? Or will they occasionally start climbing on the rocks like Nassarius's do?

 

[Allmost]

Not to derail the thread too much, but, do counch's stay on and in the sand bed? Or will they occasionally start climbing on the rocks like Nassarius's do?

all of mine stay on the sand.

I have seen them extend their "mouth" [not sure of the term used] to eat film off of lower parts of rocks and glass, but they have never climbed a rock, nor glass. which is good since they cant knock over my frags

 

[mikearoni]

Ive had a sand sifter with some nassarius snails and my sandbed looks pretty clean. I was told that the sifter would die after it cleaned up the substrate but its been 3 years now since ive had him.

 

[theronsta]

Yeah my goby was always fat and ate everything(including the tangs algae lol)

The reason I want one is because I like watching them.
I was getting red slime on an area of sand on the lef side of the tank but I just added another koralia 750 so well see if that helps. Other than that my sand is alwas super white.

I'm probably gonna see how my addition of nassariusses do

 

[alton]

Diamond Goby is my favorite. I had one and then added a second and they are best buds swimming around. They dig during the day while I am gone and then when I arive they look like they are saying Feed Me!

 

[fishfreak2009]

diamond gobies are excellent. Had one a few years back who made my tank have a super clean bottom. He also dug out a fortress with mutiple entrances and exits, as well as a series of pits all around it.

 

[Matthew91]

Watchman goby. stirs up the sand bed constantly and consistently. I had an algae problem on my sand bed and I bought this fish and got rid of the problem in less than a hour

 

[floydpackard]

diamond goby has worked really well for me. It stays close to the sand to sift sand and eats everything. It started as just a little tiny thing and has really grown in the 8 months I have had him. It does get some sand around but not any more than my blue spot jaw fish.

 

[JettStorm]

Tigertail Cucumber. Eats dirty sand and poops out clean pellets of sand. Does an awesome job, and very thorough.