In need of a good sand Sifter

[Im Lon 2]

I have a hard time keeping my sand white. I have a few spots that get a little discolored.

I have a tiger cucumber, but he does really get the chance to keep up, with both sides of the tank.

So I'm wanting to get something different this time.. What has worked best for you guys?

I have been looking at gobies, but the last thing I want is for it to grab the sand then swim and scatter the sand all over my rocks and corals.

 

[Nanook]

Add some fighting conchs and a queen or two...give them to me when they outgrow that little 180 Also, might want to add a few more cucs.

 

[frenchie]

i keep conchs and 4 sandsifting cucumbers, the only sand sifters that do pretty good are little one like twin spot goby cause diamond gobies which i tried make mountains of sand and then go carpet surfing. i got a dragon goby which has done the best but now for past month it carelessly dumps sand everywhere. i have pink spotted goby which does very little sand sifting and doesn't make any messes.

 

[frenchie]

my sand won't hardly move anymore way overloaded with spaghetti worms in my 75 gallon.

 

[Im Lon 2]

On the Conchs should I stay 1/2 - 1" size or 1- 2" size

 

[Nanook]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12315924#post12315924 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Im Lon 2
On the Conchs should I stay 1/2 - 1" size or 1- 2" size

Larger sizes of fighting conch would be best...I would start with 3 or 4 and see how they do over time. You don't want to starve them. If they can not keep up you can always get some more.

 

[saltyshoe_nano]

diamond goby or a dragon goby....they do pretty good at work in the larger tanks

 

[frenchie]

if i could catch my dragon gobie i would give it to ya.

 

[paulamrein]

I've had good success with a diamond goby, but suprisingly enough they are jumpers. That and they have a tendency to make 8 inch mounds of sand just for fun. I've never had coral so I can't say that he was destructive on a reef.

 

[StephNewman]

there are quite a few gobies that stay to the ground so don't get it all over your rock work. I have a diamond goby and it does great at keeping the sand clean. It does like to dig holes under the rockwork so that it can quickly hide if it gets scared but I don't think that detracts the beauty of the reef tank. I saw that gateway had one when I was there yesteday. They are fun to watch as well, thy seem to have alot of personality.

 

[StupidsReef]

I have 1 Fighting Conch, he does a great job at it, but can't come close to cleaning the whole tank. I was afraid to buy any more as I didn't want to starve them to death. Nook you think more than 1 would be ok? I thought they got to like 16 inches or so??

 

[latazyo]

stupid, the queens get large

I have had good luck in my smaller tank with nassarius snails, if you can get the nice big ones, they bulldoze all over the place under the sand

I suppose for your guy's large tanks that would be kind of cost prohibitive

are those sand sifting stars any good?

 

[DrBDC]

In my 180 I have about 25-30 of the large nass. snails, 20 of the small, 1 cucumber, and the 2 pistol shrimp also keep some stirred up near the edges of the rock.

 

[latazyo]

I haven't been able to get my hands on any of the big ones lately

 

[Im Lon 2]

Rich1972 has 1 of the sand sifting stars in his tank, he says it does a good job. I worry that it might not live very long as they will plow through and then find nothing else to eat & then die leaving my sand with nothing once again to clean it.

 

[kirby_32]

Lonnie,

I had one of the sand sifting stars in my tank. The sand did look excellent. Really nice job but I got a target mandrin and worried that he might not make it with the star. After getting rid of the star the sand does not stay as clean but I see way more stuff crawling around on it at night and the mandy has gotten fat. I have 6 nass snails and they do a decent job.

 

[Im Lon 2]

I picked up 2 more cucumbers today.. Tried getting a couple Fighting conches but everywhere I went they were sold out.

Might have to place an order online.