Sand Sifter recommendations based on current livestock

[KarenLR75]

OK, have a 112 gallon mixed reef tank. Have some montipora and then 1 Elegance coral that is DIRECTLY on the sand bed.

I need to get some really good sand sifters but am worried that due to some current livestock plus having the Elegance coral that sits on the sand bed, I may have some limitations in what I can add to help with this?

For example, I have a Randall's Goby and its pistol shrimp. Unsure that I can add any of the Goby's (Gobies?) known for turning a lot of sand over like...um.., is it the yellow head Goby? Will another Goby fight with the Randall's Goby?

Also, do I have to stay away from other Gobies because of the Elegance Coral? I have one electric blue knee hermit crab that doesn't seem to be able to accomplish even cleaning a 1 inch area.

Current livestock: White Tail Bristletooth Tang, 3 fire fish, 1 Melanurus Wrasse, 1 Blue Throated Trigger, 1 Randall's Goby, 1 Pistol Shrimp, 2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and 1 Red Shrimp.

Snails? Cucumbers?

 

[rocsec1]

I had a diamond gobie in my last tank and it buried every coral on the sand bed. In my current tank I don’t have for that reason. Snails would be fine.

 

[Reefpuck]

Conch or nassarius snail would work.

 

[andnosobabin]

Conch or nassarius snail would work.

How many would you suggest? I have 10 nass and 1 conch in a 55gal and I'd say only 1/3 my sand gets touched.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[sde1500]

Try a cucumber

 

[Papermonkeys]

I also have a diamond but only in a 55 and have a lobo with maybe 6 or 7 heads (total size probably little larger diameter than a softball) that I place in the sand. He doesn't burry it but I do have to tip it over once a week or so as some pieces of sand get placed on top it possibly from him grabbing a mouthful and swimming over it. He does on the other hand like to move most of the sand to 1 corner of the tank (where most of his caves are) haha.

It's probably hit or miss if they will burry your corals. But I also heard depending on size you probably shouldn't mix them with shrimp gobys BUT then again your tank is 2x the size of mine so you should probably be fine on that front. At least for me the pros out weigh the cons in my tank because the sandbed went from pretty gross to pristine only a few days after adding him. I recently added a couple of nassarius just to try them out.

 

[KarenLR75]

But I also heard depending on size you probably shouldn't mix them with shrimp gobys

Papermonkeys - thank you...I now recall hearing this as well and even though my tank is lager, the pistol shrimp and goby I have..have established what I call the 'intercoastal highway'...or rather the 'intracoastal hwy'. They have a burrow on both sides of a large piece of rock directly in the middle of a tank and a burrow on another side of a different rock that I think may all be linked.

I think getting a goby who is a dedicated sandsifter would be asking for trouble with the pistol shrimp and Randall's Goby. On one hand I wish I had thought of this, on the other hand, I like watching them...what I can see.

Guess I'll have to go with other things that can sift the sand....

Sidenote: Am I able to add another Goby who is not a sandsifter or are Gobies like other fish in that they'd attack another Goby?

 

[KarenLR75]

Conch or nassarius snail would work.

Reefpuck, thanks for the input. How many snails would you recommend starting with...and just 1 Conch? 112 gallon tank, 6 ft long.

 

[billdogg]

I have 8 or 10 small (1") conch's and probably 20+ nassarius snails in my 120DT. The online "reef cleaner packs" offered by many sites are, IMHO, way to excessive for most (if not all) tanks.

As for mixing gobies/blennies - as long as they are of different body types - Watchman vs Lawnmower/starry vs neon vs clown, etc, you should have no trouble mixing as long as you have sufficient rockwork for them. In a 6' tank problems would be minimal in any case.

 

[TokiHacker]

OK, have a 112 gallon mixed reef tank. Have some montipora and then 1 Elegance coral that is DIRECTLY on the sand bed.

I need to get some really good sand sifters but am worried that due to some current livestock plus having the Elegance coral that sits on the sand bed, I may have some limitations in what I can add to help with this?

For example, I have a Randall's Goby and its pistol shrimp. Unsure that I can add any of the Goby's (Gobies?) known for turning a lot of sand over like...um.., is it the yellow head Goby? Will another Goby fight with the Randall's Goby?

Also, do I have to stay away from other Gobies because of the Elegance Coral? I have one electric blue knee hermit crab that doesn't seem to be able to accomplish even cleaning a 1 inch area.

Current livestock: White Tail Bristletooth Tang, 3 fire fish, 1 Melanurus Wrasse, 1 Blue Throated Trigger, 1 Randall's Goby, 1 Pistol Shrimp, 2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and 1 Red Shrimp.

Snails? Cucumbers?

Why is the monti on the sand??

anyways my concern would come from you clean up crew getting killed (snails and hermits) by the trigger and/or wrasse. I know mine kill some snails and hermits. I have a BT trigger, same wrasse, and a gold back trigger.

 

[KarenLR75]

Why is the monti on the sand??

anyways my concern would come from you clean up crew getting killed (snails and hermits) by the trigger and/or wrasse. I know mine kill some snails and hermits. I have a BT trigger, same wrasse, and a gold back trigger.

TokiHacker - My opening post was worded a bit incorrectly. I meant to say that I have some montipora (very small actually) coral (they are up on rocks) as well as 1 Elegance coral, which is on the sand bed. The ONLY coral on the sand bed is the Elegance coral. Sorry for poor wording.

Yeah, I wondered about the wrasse eating the snails but was hoping since I listed what livestock I had...maybe people were recommending a type of snail which was fairly large that the wrasse would not eat. The electric blue knee hermit crab I have is LARGE and my wrasse nor the trigger go near it however I"m don't think this crab is a decent sand cleaner.

The only fish that bothers the crab is the tang when it sees some algae on the crab's shell but after the crab hid from the tang for about a week, it keeps going now (crabbing around) with only the rare peck from the tang. We are planning to get a new shell for the crab anyways as he is growing.

So...is a conch or a cucumber safe from the fish I have...or relatively safe. I figured my wrasse might end up eating some snails, but if it's going to be a wholesale slaughter, I don't want to put the snails in then.

Wow, my options for clean up feel like I've backed myself into a corner now with having a Goby and pistol shrimp....and a wrasse.