Sand sifting reccomendations

[allendehl]

Hello guys,

I'd like to get some sand sifting help. I had some nassarius snails but I believe they took a trip north because it's been a while since I saw one of their necks sticking out.
I have plans of getting a couple of Hi Fin red Banded Gobbies and I wonder if that is enough of if I could also get a cucumber.

I have about 2.5 inches of CaribSea Aaragonite sand and the tank has been up sonce Oct 2017.

Would it be enough to keep it alive?...also are they as cool in real live as they look in the pic?

 

[billdogg]

With a maximum size of 2", you might want to look at others in the goby family if you want that sort of sand sifter. Maybe a Orange Diamond or a Sleeper Goby - but be forewarned - they can spit sand on any coral on or near the sandbed.

A variety of snails, maybe a fighting Conch, just please no Sandsifting Stars! Unless you have a huge well established tank they will quickly eat everything beneficial in the sand and then slowly starve to death.

 

[mcgyvr]

I'm a big fan of cucumbers now.. My nice tiger tail is like a hot dog in diameter and size at about 8" or so long.. Its a very cool critter but stays mostly hidden during the day under the rocks.. But he certainly "processes" sand as evident from the sand turds all over.. which are not a problem and do disappear again quite quickly..

Pretty soon I suspect he will twist/snap into 2 to reproduce..

But I also have a sand sifting star that I really like too (80g tank now and had him in a 40b for over a year or so before that)... I personally think the "decimate your sand then starve" is a bit blown out of proportion.. Or should I say I absolutely have not had that experience so far.. My sand bed seems to be very healthy/populated and the star looks healthy/fat too and always has.. Cool to watch him just emerge/sink into the sand..

I've had a diamond goby in the past but it "sifted sand" a bit too much for me and was also quite fond of snails and just sucking them right out of their shells leaving a pile around his "cave"..
So yeah I'm a cuc/conch/nassarius/ss starfish kind of guy..

 

[Bernie21]

I've had many over the years and my two favorite have been a two spot goby and the tiger watchman goby. If your tank is bigger, I'd go watchman, if your tank is smaller I'd do a twospot. They're the only two of those type of gobbies that I've experienced that don't sand sift on the water column. They do make smaller mounds, but never really felt they were issues w corals. Snails are great too!!

 

[Randyz]

Conchs have always worked well for me. Not a fan of sifting gobies, they can make a mess

 

[allendehl]

Well..cucumber is. Now what type? Liveaquaria has some very odd looking ones : yellow and pink. I haven't seen them in person are they any cool or just plain ugly looking?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[jd371]

I have two Conch's and Rainsford Goby and this trio keeps my sand spotless. The Rainsford sifts the sand all day without making a mess and I have the very fine sugar type sand. Stays close to the sand bed when he's sifting and doesn't make mounds. The corals on the sand never get covered, just a light dusting once and a while that eventually gets blown off by the current.

 

[AlSimmons]

If your looking for something to help keep your sand clean you would be better off just getting a long stick and stirring up small portions at a time right before each water change. If your looking for some pets that just happen to play in the sand then by all means knock yourself out. There should be all kinds of options out there, everything from fish to snails to starfish etc.