What critter will keep the sand clean?
- Thread starter steve9k
- Start date
Canarygirl
New member
beat me to it but I was going to saw a queen conch
also nasarius snails are good sand stirrers
also nasarius snails are good sand stirrers
BradsOcean
Active member
i love my goby. he keeps the sand looking straight out of the bag. The good thing is that it keeps the sand perfectly clean, the bad is that you have to buy a cover because they jump allot.
BradsOcean
Active member
yeah, nassarius snails do a good job too. My 12g is too small for a diamond goby, so i have nassarius snails and the do a great job.
virginiadiver69
New member
I can't post a pic but yes...like it looks out of the bag new.
virginiadiver69
New member
I really don't see how this is possible. Only going with personal experience, he does not go deeper than 1/2" into the sand. I would think a conch would do more harm because it admittedly goes far deeper.
I do have to clean up a bit after him by blowing off some lower rocks every few days but this is a very small price to pay.
I do agree though that we need to do our own part by controlling nutrients via feeding and good skimming.
kevin2000 hit the nail on the head... buying a clean up crew can help, but the real answer is to find the fuel source for the algae and cancel/remove it. The number one overlooked requirment for the reef next to lighting and temp is circulation. Nine times out of ten this is usually the answer. Once you have determined the water source is pure (silicates and phosphates) it is just a matter of skimming. This of course requires a well functioning skimmer on the tank, appropriate volume turnover to "feed" the skimmer (proper overflows and return pump/tank volume), and suspending debris in the water column. That means proper tank circulation, often which cannot be accomlished through sump returns alone. Adding a high volume pump (powerhead) is advised, such as the tunze stream... high volume. Keeping debris/detiritus among other things suspended in the water column increase the opportunity for it to reach the sump for mechanical/chemical filtration (sump pad/skimmer/carbon). Done correctly a "clean up crew" isn't even neccesary.
This is just, of course, my opinion. Solve the problem, don't treat the symptom.
R,
Don Williams
This is just, of course, my opinion. Solve the problem, don't treat the symptom.
R,
Don Williams
you guys are crazy. There are areas that my yellow headed sleeper goby (the same type as the messy one in the pic) digs deep, but there is no chance he is disturbing the all of the anaerobic bacteria in my 75. There is just too much ground to cover.
That being said. I had a 4" SD DSB. After he moved in, it was cloud city. I bought some CaribSea reefgrade sand to cover the top and now have about a 6" bed. He stirred it to his liking and then hasn't touched anything but the areas he frequents. The rest of the bed is intact, and my trate levels are fine.
That being said. I had a 4" SD DSB. After he moved in, it was cloud city. I bought some CaribSea reefgrade sand to cover the top and now have about a 6" bed. He stirred it to his liking and then hasn't touched anything but the areas he frequents. The rest of the bed is intact, and my trate levels are fine.
The anaerobic bacteria aren't enough to make a DSB useful. There needs to be a slow rate of water movement through the sand to bring the nitrate to the bacteria. That's the function of the animals. Diffusion won't cut it.
There's a link to a thread on substrate choices in the stick note at the top of this forum that has pointers to a lot of information on this topic.
There's a link to a thread on substrate choices in the stick note at the top of this forum that has pointers to a lot of information on this topic.
Wett Hands
New member
So if I get a diamond goby now I would decrease or eliminate my chances of keeping a mandarin long term?
I suspect that Dr. Ron Shimek is generally considered the DSB guru ... here's a link to one of his better known articles on the subject.
http://www.ronshimek.com/Deep Sand Beds.htm
You will note the following quotation from the above article
"UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU ADD "SAND-SIFTING" ANIMALS SUCH AS BURROWING SEA STARS OR SOME GOBIES."
As Bertoni has indicated .. lots of information available on this subject - worth a read.
I don't think adding a goby will change the mandarin situation all that much. I think mandarins should be okay if there's plenty of live rock and no other fish competing with them for live rock animals. Sand-sifting goby fishes don't tend to pick at the live rock much, from what I saw of my yellow watchman and what I've read.
