best sand sifting creature

[jakeg]

what do you guys think the best sand sifting animal is?

 

[Guygettnby]

depending on the size of the tank i would have to say my favorite would be a cucumber. although i do love my conchs as well. they both do a bang up job on my sand bed and it always looks clean. but in a small tank i would not recomend either of these. the cucumber can get huge and the conchs need a deeper sand bed to be happy with plenty of moving around room.

 

[bigal20874]

Sand shift starfish has been doing great job in my nano.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Sand shift starfish has been doing great job in my nano.

How long have you had it. They eat all the microfauna in the sand bed then slowly starve to death.

To the OP, I have a tiger pistol shrimp that moves the sand bed throughout the tank ant night.

 

[mayjong]

nausaurius snails...

 

[NatalieD]

+1 on the nassarius snails. They stir the top layer, grab up excess fish food, and don't do any collateral damage.

(plus I think their snouts are cute. I know that's weird)

 

[NanoDrummer09]

+2 on nassarius snails. Sand sifting stars eat both benificial bacteria and the bad bacteria so its a win loose situation

 

[DeathWish302]

+3 Tongan Nassarius snails are the best if/when you can find them for their size. I have had almost all mine survive for 5+ years where most all of my other snails are less than 2yrs old.

 

[Jewells]

+4 on the naussarius snail, although it doesn't seem to do much until feeding time then it will sift around some and when it's done it buries itself just below the surface with just it's "nose" (?) sticking out. I call it it's nose because it sticks out further like it smells the food then comes out of the sand with a quickness.

 

[DeathWish302]

+4 on the naussarius snail, although it doesn't seem to do much until feeding time then it will sift around some and when it's done it buries itself just below the surface with just it's "nose" (?) sticking out. I call it it's nose because it sticks out further like it smells the food then comes out of the sand with a quickness.

Take a look at your aquarium very late at night or a couple hours before it is light out and you will see these guys surfing the sand and glass. You can occassionally see the slime marks on the glass in the mornings from these guys.

 

[eclown]

Here's one that might be good for a tank with stable rock....engineer goby.
These guys will move a LOT of sand. They create tunnels that can tumble rocks, so be caeful. Make sure your reef is a stable one that will allow for a major digger.
It's not an invert and may be better mentioned in another forum, but I had to mention it for moving sand.

 

[eclown]

I almost forgot to mention the olive snail. As long as you give it a piece of silverside, once a week or so, they do alright. They will move sand like crazy!

 

[Jewells]

Take a look at your aquarium very late at night or a couple hours before it is light out and you will see these guys surfing the sand and glass. You can occassionally see the slime marks on the glass in the mornings from these guys.

Ahh, okay. I haven't looked at that time of night. Could be why it didn't get up this morning, it was up all night. LOL Thanks

 

[DeathWish302]

I almost forgot to mention the olive snail. As long as you give it a piece of silverside, once a week or so, they do alright. They will move sand like crazy!

Not a good choice if you have other prized smaller snails, especially Nassarius Vibex. Olive snails are predators, not scavengers. I would suggest aginst this snail unless your running a system with only this snail.

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/gastropoda/olividae/olividae.htm

JMO

 

[swigen]

Although I like the nass snails for their sand stirring capabilities, I actually like my ceriths more. They stir the sand and unlike the nass' they also work on the algae. That's the combo I like.

 

[skiwez]

I've always been partial to diamond gobies. I have one in my 55 and he easily turn over my 3 inch sand bed over every 2 days. Ever since I added him he keeps my sand sparkling white and has is fun to watch.

 

[swigen]

Ive heard that about diamond gobies before although some people say its not a good idea to buy one simply for sand sifting. They are actually feeding when they "sift" and can easily run out of suitable food in a tank too small or a sand bed too shallow..or so Ive heard.

skiwez, how long have you had the diamond goby? Does it eat any prepared/frozen food?

 

[eclown]

Olives snails are predators...yes...as much aquaria is. However, they are also scavengers. I agree that it will go after other critters, but it all depends on the aplication and system. I have an olive in my 92 and my clean up is still a force to be reckoned with after a year of living with mr olve.
My point is that it is a great sand mover....per the first post.

 

[Tuscaquatics]

How long have you had it. They eat all the microfauna in the sand bed then slowly starve to death.

I've had a sand-sifting star in my 55 for a year now. And I've just moved him and my whole reef over to a 75. I've been reading that for months now about how my star was surely gonna starve and die but he's been doing great. He's active and keeps the sand bed clean. Once in a while he takes a walk up the glass, but not often.

I wouldn't recommend one for less than a 55 probably, though.

 

[rkelley_10]

I wouldn't recommend one for less than a 55 probably, though.

Unless you have at least a 2.5" deep sand bed with a tank footprint of 8-12 square feet, don't get a sand-sifting star. They do tend to starve to death in tanks less than 100g although there are some individual exceptions as with any animal in reef aquaria. It happens all too often that the hobbyist purposefully acquires an animal despite knowing they will likely die. This unnecessarily increases market demand and collection of the animal, thus depleting naturally occurring populations and resources. Just my $.02: If there is adequate empirical knowledge available and most experienced reefers advise against purchasing an animal, it is best to leave it in the wild.

As far as eating all the microfauna in the sand bed, this is partly true. The sand-sifting star gains most subsistence from detritus, uneaten prepared foods, and animal waste. To avoid eliminating substrate microfauna, a proper setup should include a refugium or at least a structured area in the display tank that will protect such microfauna from predation. In this case, your tank's ecological equilibrium will compensate for microfauna loss. In retrospect, most reef aquarium sand beds are to shallow (<4" deep) to fully utilize the denitrifying effects of substrate microfauna.

With my sand-sifting star, I found that a standard 90g (48L x 18W x 24H) wasn't large enough. It would scale the walls and rocks quite frequently. When my 225g prop tank (96L x 36W x 15H) was finally ready I transplanted the starfish. Suddenly, the wall-climbing stopped and now it just burrows in the substrate and moves to a new area.....repeat.

To the OP, if I did a 30g my CUC would consist of an Amblygobius rainfordi (Rainford's goby), a small harlequin serpent star, some hitchhiker polychete worms, 10 medium nassarius snails, 8 cerith, 6 astraea, and 4 trochus snails. These have all been model citizens and hard workers in my tanks. A major component of the CUC that people often omit are the microfauna (nitrobacters, copepods, amphipods, various zooplankton. Also, microfauna in your reef system make up a lot of your tank's biomass and do the majority of the housekeeping. Try culturing and feeding nanochloropsis phytoplankton (it's incredibly easy) and feed your tank in moderation. By doing this, you can more accurately simulate the natural food chain, provide free and readily available protein sources to your fish and corals, and decrease nutrient levels due to overfeeding and inevitable detritus accumulation. -----Or you could just add an adult Harlequin Tusk.

Sorry so long-winded......just took my graduation exam and still a little wound up. Hope it helps anyway.