Sand cleaning - fighting or tiger conch

[jenjen]

I have had good success with the Orange Lip Conch. I have 3 in my 180g and 1 in my 55g. They get to around 3". Mine stay buried most of the time, with only their eyes sticking out. They do a decent job of stirring the top inch or so of sand.

Here's a pic:

 

[johnike]

I use nass snails myself. can someone chime in and give me arating over nass snails to concs?

I have in the 180 with a DSB, 1 Black cuke, 1 fighting conch, and maybe a dozen assorted Nassarius snails. You can overdo it though, and strip your sand bed. The cucumber seems to be the most efficient member of the crew.

 

[mthomp]

yeah i have i think 6 nass snails in my 55.

 

[mjtncsu]

I use nass snails myself. can someone chime in and give me arating over nass snails to concs?

I had nassarius snails for a while and they do clean the sand a little. It is just that I noticed a huge difference with the first fighting conch. For their size, they consume a lot of detritus.

 

[rayn]

If you don't have any crabs, the cucumber is the way to go if you want pure white sand. I already have hermit crabs and a couple of emeralds, so I recently got 2 fighting conchs in my 180g. I'll probably have to get more, but they are amazing. I was unaware of their abilities until I tank-sat one for my friend while he got his system up and running (he got it as a package deal.) My sand literally looked better overnight, and it is obvious which side of the tank he preferred.

Why can't crabs and cucumbers be mixed? I have three emeralds and a couple of red legs with my black cucumber and they all work out.

 

[mjtncsu]

I have always heard that they will harass and potentially kill the cucumber if underfed. If they are well fed, they should leave them alone. I just don't like the risk.

 

[johnike]

Never had an issue with any crabs harassing the cucumber. It never leaves the sand bed either.

 

[rockhead51]

I use nass snails myself. can someone chime in and give me arating over nass snails to concs?

I have 5 Nassarius and 1 Tiger Conch. The Nassarius stay buried except when they smell food, or at night. The Conch is about 3-4 times larger and is continually on the go. When he does take a break, he doesn't bury, he just quits moving. If you have the room, I'd do conchs over Nassarius, but you can't go wrong with a mix...

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