deep sand beds

[jamest0o0]

well I have a fairly deep sand bed and have heard that you shouldn't have sandsifters with these.... does that mean I would not be able to add any gobies or starfish?

 

[bertoni]

If you want a live sand bed, many goby fishes are a problem, and any sand-sifting starfish is worse. They eat the animals that make the sandbed live.

 

[jamest0o0]

what about a serpent star?

 

[arctictwist]

sorry to hijack here, but i added a dragon/bullet goby a while ago and he seems to have cleared up my cyano problem. Is he making my sand bed dead?

 

[bertoni]

The serpent starfish are fine for the sandbed. The goby is making the sandbed dead.

 

[rudyr03]

be carefull with those serpent stars i had one kill my small blue hippo ....but other than that it was a great scavenger anything that the fish didnt eat he will..just giving the heads up

 

[demonsp]

I dont see any benifit from a DSB and i would consider it a more advanced reefers choice. A SB in proper condition will help convert nitrate into harmless nitrogen with proper CUC and flow , making it your best bio filter but if done wrong will only create problems like nitrate and cyano. IMO a sand sifting goby is worth any minor problem.Just besure biggest rocks are on the glass bottom and the rest are secure with gel super glue and epoxy. He will keep sand well turned , well oxygenated and very clean. I would almost say he could replace a minor low flow problem.

 

[dsn112]

if you glue your rocks be sure you can lift them later. Gluing 70lbs of rock into one large heavy pain in the ...

 

[masonicman]

Yes I had a deep sand bed and hand a nitrate problem also. I have been removing sand from my tank slowly over the past 2 months when I started my HOB fuge and during water changes. The cyano has completely stopped and nitrates are down. Not at 0 but getting there. My watchman goby it doing his job keeping the sand clean also. I have a little more to remove and I should be good with about 2 1/2 to 3 inches.

 

[jamest0o0]

ahhh I'm so confused now.... some say no gobie and some say yes...... btw should I get a detrivore kit?

 

[bertoni]

Well, I don't know of any evidence that shows a shallow sand bed will do much denitrification. A live deep sand bed with animals can do some, but it depends on the animals living in the sand to pump water through it. A goby will kill those, so the deep sand isn't going to be helpful.

A detritivore kit might be useful in any case. If you go with a live deep sand bed, the animals will need to be picked carefully.

This thread has a few links that will point to a lot more reading on the subject:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=803686

 

[WaterKeeper]

In general you need a DSB to keep a Goby happy. However, tank size becomes an issue here. In a small tank there really isn't much real estate available for them to dig. They end up digging up so large a portion of the bed that it defeats its ability to denitrify. This is true of many sand stirrers but gobies can really stir up a lot.

 

[jamest0o0]

well..... having the DSB was more of an accident.... but anyway does it matter if I have a goby with a DSB? will it affect my tank in any harmful ways? sorry i'm still very confused about the whole sand sifting thing and DSB's = [

 

[bertoni]

I had a pair of goby fish with a lot of sand. The tank was fine. Just don't count on the sandbed to do much filtration.

 

[jamest0o0]

alright, thanks.... will that make a big difference in filtration?

 

[demonsp]

IMO a sand sifting goby shloud be manditory in a 55 and larger with atleast 1 lb of sand per gallon.

 

[jamest0o0]

alright thanks, i realy wanted a goby so I guess Ill go with one =]

 

[bertoni]

If you want a goby, by all means get one. It's not clear how much filtration even a good DSB can perform in our systems.