What will keep my sand pristine?

[Fishamatank]

I have a 120 G with a shallow sand bed and I really hate the way a dirty sand bed looks.
I have nassarius snails and a couple fighting conchs already.

I'm thinking a tiger sea cucumber but am looking for other options.

I have avoided sand sifting gobies simply because they make a mess of sand on the rock work and on corals. Is there anything else that can compete with their cleaning abilities?

TIA

 

[Dont Ask Me]

Tagging along, would also like some advice i hate having to constantly stir my sand to get rid of all the muck.

 

[Metal Man 1221]

first you must keep your water peramiters in check to prevent annoying algae growth

second as long as you keep the bed moving it will stay clean, you can do this by having any sort of sand sifting invert or animal, sand sifting starfish do quite well,
my cucumbers do a good job at keeping the sand looking good, nassarius snails are a good choice as well

 

[Boxelder]

A pistol shrimp will keep a small portion looking good. He only uses about half of the 14 gallon I have him in though, so probably less useful in a larger tank. Also diamond Gobys are well known for their ability to sift large amounts of sand every day.

 

[Fishamatank]

I don't think I have a deep enough bed for a sand sifting star, it would starve I'm pretty sure.

This is not an algae growth problem, I am just talking about detritus settling on the sand bed.

How deep of a sand bed is needed for a cucumber?

Who has a diamond goby and how often are you blowing sand off of the corals and rocks?

 

[Fishamatank]

I don't think I have a deep enough bed for a sand sifting star, it would starve I'm pretty sure.

This is not an algae growth problem, I am just talking about detritus settling on the sand bed.

How deep of a sand bed is needed for a cucumber?

Who has a diamond goby and how often are you blowing sand off of the corals and rocks?

 

[Johnny C]

One word... CONCH. I've had snails, cucumbers and more. My conch is by far the most essential part of my CUC and keeps the sand nice and clean!

 

[jwoyshnar]

Golden-headed Sleeper Goby. I got one a few months ago and my sand never looked this good. Scoops up the sand with his mouth and starts to swim away, As he goes the filtered sand drops out of his gills.

 

[stevek480]

I think having a good enough amount of flow so that detritus isn't allowed to settle is important. I also have a fighting conch that helps keep things very clean.

 

[CRASHJT]

My diamond goby handles the sand great but he is a bit messy

 

[kimber45]

A pistol shrimp will keep a small portion looking good. He only uses about half of the 14 gallon I have him in though, so probably less useful in a larger tank. Also diamond Gobys are well known for their ability to sift large amounts of sand every day.

you have a lazy pistol shrimp. lol

mine redoes his tunnels almost everyday. and his tunnels are the whole tank. lol

 

[dg3147]

i have had a diamond goby for roughly 3 months. He keeps it super white; though, it seems like a nearly continous sand storm. Recently, it seems to be less --not sure if sand is getting heavier or he is just sifting a little less. No regrets.

 

[myaerica]

I would say if you have detritus setteling on your sand bed you need more flow.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

you have a lazy pistol shrimp. lol

mine redoes his tunnels almost everyday. and his tunnels are the whole tank. lol

I was thinking the same thing. :lol: I have a tiger pistol in my 30g and he moves the entire sand bed around at night.

 

[Fishamatank]

I would say if you have detritus setteling on your sand bed you need more flow.

I have 4500 gph of flow in a 120. I would think that is sufficient.

 

[tangtang clown]

A friend bought a diamond goby and he cleaned his entire 120 sb in a week, then he committed suicide over the back.

I just placed a order for one cause I have been fighting some cyano. Hopefully he won't make too much of a mess.

 

[d0ughb0y]

I always wondered how the local LFS kept their display tank really nice and clean. clean sand, no spots on glass, not a single spec of algae on the rocks, so I asked. There is no magic, you have to do the work, someone at LFS uses a toothbrush to clean the rocks everyday and rakes the sand, etc. I don't think there is any short cut other than to manually clean it everyday. they actually offer the service to clean your aquarium for you.

 

[Chris27]

I siphon my sand weekly with a gravel cleaner while doing a water change. It's as clean as the day I put it in there.

 

[PerezAF01]

My golden head sleeper goby does an excellent job at cleaning my sand. You need fine sand for him to filter and you may end up with mounds of sand and caves dug out by it. I dont mind it. I enjoy watching him work. If your worried about ditritus, get yourself a serpent or brittle star. They eat that stuff right up the first chance they get.

 

[Saltyllama]

I have 4500 gph of flow in a 120. I would think that is sufficient.

It's not so much how much flow you have. It's more of how well it is placed. For example I have 2x Koralia Evolution 1400 PH's and a quiet one 2200 return in my 90. That's just over 3000 gph, yet I have to turn the powerheads off to get sinking pellets to ever reach the sand so that my mandarin can eat. Then as soon as the food cycle end the PH's turn on and EVERY LAST PIECE of leftover food is swept into the water column to be finished off by the other fish.

I'd try to get more flow across your sand.