Sand turnover

[hajas]

Which fish would be more effective at turning over the top layer of sand: algae blenny or diamond goby?

 

[IamTomm]

I dont think an algea blenny will sift sand. So go with some sort of watchman goby.

 

[sandwi54]

algae blenny doesn't turn over sand. it consumes algae grown on live rocks, glass, etc.

diamond goby sifts through sand and consume the stuff on the sand.

 

[hajas]

That makes it an easy decision. Thanks for the replies.

 

[small alien]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. How big is your tank? What is your issue? Most sand sifters starve in all but the largest tanks. You likely just need to do more water changes.

 

[rssjsb]

Small alien is right. There may be inverts you can use for this instead.

 

[aleonn]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. How big is your tank? What is your issue? Most sand sifters starve in all but the largest tanks. You likely just need to do more water changes.

+1 to these questions. Size of the tank and how established the sand bed is are important for the long term health of a diamond goby and pretty much all sand-sifters. Some other alternatives are nassarius snails and a fighting conch (1 per 50 gallons).

 

[WCreef]

I agree on the fighting conch. Also the diamond goby will more than likely starve unless the tank is pretty large and well established. Trust me I know from experience. Sadly.


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[hajas]

Tank is a 220 gallon. Already have some nass. snails and a fighting conch. Looking for something to turnover the top of the sand if possible.

 

[mc-cro]

I prefer to use several large fighting conchs, nassarius, and cucumbers to clean the top layer of my sand

 

[sarahlovesfish]

The fighting conch will be a great choice. I have one, and it is great at moving the sand around looking for algae. They are also very interesting to watch

 

[burnah]

i have a striped sleeper goby in my 50g, its fat and ate all of my cyano, which was quite some... it does move some sand though, and does not care where it falls, for example on corals. i also have a fighting conch and a sand sifting starfish, they are great. its good to know that sand sifting gobies do grow quite big for gobies.