What do you guys do to clean your sand?

[CStrickland]

Yeah, I'd call that overkill.
Each fighting conch needs a fair amount of sand to get enough food, I don't think there's enough food for more than one in a 40.
Linckia don't do well in captivity at all, I'd scrap that entirely.

There are some really cool animals on your list, I think it will make your tank fun to look at.
As far as cleaning goes, they all poop about as much as they eat. Even if you had a bajillion snails and crabs you will probs still have algae and stuff for the first few months and your sand isn't going to stay perfect white.

Try kinking the siphon hose to slow down when you vacuum. It should suck up the sand enough so that it tumbles around releasing detritus into the water, but the falls back down. If you are sucking up a lot of sand it is too fast, you just want the dirty water. The tube on a gravel vac makes that easier.

 

[webslinger]

Diamond Gobie my sand is a white as the day I put it in.

 

[DJasak]

My brother was telling me back when he had a saltwater tank he thought saw this gravel vacuum that had a way for you to control flow and had a bag attached to it so that it would catch all the detritus and algae, and stuff you don't want and leave behind clean water and sand. Is this true? Any idea where I could find one or what it's called?

 

[Genera]

Cucumbers, and all the little worms and pods. A couple snails too.

 

[a.bakashwain]

how deep is your sand bed if less than 2 inches not idea. if it is deep sand bed which is no less than 4 inches you don't have to vacuum it if you set it up correctly. there is youtube videos about DSB deep sand bed by newyorksteelo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0mN3W_CZ9Y

if anyone interested about DSB

 

[billdogg]

Python Siphon for me. I recently had to replace the big tube. It was almost 30 years old, so I think I got my $$$ worth! I can't imagine doing a water change without it.

I also have an assortment of snails for the daily chores. I had a diamond goby (actually several) but got tired of finding them on the carpet, and I have well fitting screen tops - they still find a way out.

Please avoid sand sifting stars. Unless the tank is very large and well established, there is just not enough to keep them alive long term. And, at least IMO, "long term" doesn't mean 9 months or even a year - it means years and years.

 

[DJasak]

Love all the responses I'm getting! I've had a ton of people say black cucumbers. I thought I read somewhere that you have to be careful with them because if they die they can poison your whole tank and cause mass die off. Is this true? How hard are they to care for? Can you tell when one is starting to die so you can hey it out in time?

 

[johnike]

Love all the responses I'm getting! I've had a ton of people say black cucumbers. I thought I read somewhere that you have to be careful with them because if they die they can poison your whole tank and cause mass die off. Is this true? How hard are they to care for? Can you tell when one is starting to die so you can hey it out in time?

They can, but very seldom. They're very cool to watch as they feed themselves the sand and poop it out in clean pellets. I've never had one die in a tank except for getting into a closed loop drain once.

That can get icky.

 

[DJasak]

Would my 45 gallon be too small for a black cucumber?

 

[johnike]

I'd say no worries, you can find smaller specimens as well.

 

[DJasak]

Thank you! I'll have to do some looking around to find one that I like. Any suggestions?

 

[bmrigs]

I just cleaned out mine completely today by taking it down, removing the sand, installing starboard and putting it back up.

 

[DJasak]

I just cleaned out mine completely today by taking it down, removing the sand, installing starboard and putting it back up.

What is starboard?

 

[CStrickland]

It's a kind of plastic they make boat stuff and cutting boards from. People put it in barebottom tanks, or under their rocks like a pedestal.