nassarius snails...

[pong]

ok... i finally found an lfs that sells these...

i thought these clean the sand bed?

once i dumped them in... the first thing they
did was... find their own spot... then burrow!

is this normal? how do they clean then?

 

[chimmike]

that's exactly how they clean. They don't burrow to hide, they move around in the sand bed...not on it.

 

[Phyxius]

Yep that's what they do. Its really cool to watch when they all come digging out at once when you put food in the tank.

 

[pong]

so they go a few cm underground... start crawling there... eat whatever... then their movements sift the sand above? cool! so how many would u put in a 160?

they dont clean rocks right? asterea for that right?

 

[crsswift70]

They don't sift the sand or clean it, they just stir it up a little. You'd need something else to actually clean the sand, ie. cucumber, goby, starfish. Astrea, ceriths, limpits are some that clean rock.

 

[crvz]

you could use quite a few in the 160 if you like them, but I dont think they add much and you'll infrequently see them.

 

[greenbean36191]

Like crsswift said, these guys don't clean the sand. They feed on carrion, which is dead meaty food (not detritus). The number that would be appropriate for your tank depends on how much leftover food you often have or how many dead animals you leave in there. Hopefully, this is a small amount.

All they do in the sandbed is keep it stirred up and the detritus buried so it looks clean. They aren't actually cleaning up anything.

 

[pong]

oh... so what do you suggest would be a good sand bed cleaner for a semi-reef tank?

 

[smspring]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13276227#post13276227 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pong
oh... so what do you suggest would be a good sand bed cleaner for a semi-reef tank?

bristleworms, pods, cerith snails, a goby to keep it stirred, no overfeeding, and occassional light squirting from a turkey baster.

 

[admann]

Taggin along

 

[HappySkittles]

best sand stirrer i've seen
our tiger pistol shrimp
that guy does a number :O very amusing ^_^ he wont really clean it but he will keep it very stirred

 

[greenbean36191]

The best sandbed cleaner is you. Most other sand "cleaners" are really just sand stirrers.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Nassarius are nice because you can collect them on the east coast this time of year and replenish your tank--

 

[crsswift70]

Cucumbers will clean the top layers as will sand sifting gobies. However, gobies can starve if not in a well established tank. There are also starfish, but these can starve as well. I threw in a cucumber after about a month and he is still going strong. I'm sure someone will comment on how a cucumber will nuke your tank with toxins, but do your own research.