got ethical husbandry?

Sand cleaners

Flagg37

Flagg37

Guest
BARcard
What are some fish (or other animals) that are good for cleaning the sand bed? I've got a Babylon snail that burrows but he doesn't seem to do much. Here's my sand.

image.jpeg image.jpeg

I vacum it and turn it over when I do water changes but it would be nice if I had some help and even better if he looked cool while doing it.
 
My sandbed was worse than that when I started, but a sandsifting cucumber (especially if you can find a tiger tail) and a fighting conch did quite the number on it.
 
I have a diamond watchman goby that keeps my sand very clean and aerated. They can jump out though and some do like to re-engineer your sand by trenching around each rock or moving sand all around as they eat and look for food. They need pellets so they don't starve. My fav fish to watch....
 
Alright, I'll have to see what I can find available locally. I think I'm most interested in either the goby or conch. It's only a 30 gallon tank so I'll only need one right?
 
the brown turd looking sea cucumber, they eat dirty sand and poop out clean, no joke!

The nassarius are an interesting beast, they don't actually clean detritus in sand, mix it up as they're burrowing sure, but they like fresh food.
 
Your sandbed looks pretty normal to me.

Highly recommend fighting conch and nassarius snails. The conch will eat bits of algae on the sand. Nas snails are just all around good clean up crew. I dont consider nas snails a sand cleaner in the slghtest bit. They come out of the sand and go back in. Period. Theyll eat leftover food sure.
 
Enderturtle said:
Your sandbed looks pretty normal to me.

Highly recommend fighting conch and nassarius snails. The conch will eat bits of algae on the sand. Nas snails are just all around good clean up crew. I dont consider nas snails a sand cleaner in the slghtest bit. They come out of the sand and go back in. Period. Theyll eat leftover food sure.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't think it's bad but if there's something out there that will keep it even cleaner then I'm up for giving it a try.
 
I'm pretty sure I've got the nassarius snails. Last night about 1/2 an hour after the lights went out I was putting my daughter to bed and happened to see what must have been 100 snails all over the sand bed and rocks. I bought a dozen of them when I first stocked my tank but never saw them again so I figured they died. I knew they were nocturnal but I had just never seen them since adding them.
 
Flagg37 said:
I'm pretty sure I've got the nassarius snails. Last night about 1/2 an hour after the lights went out I was putting my daughter to bed and happened to see what must have been 100 snails all over the sand bed and rocks. I bought a dozen of them when I first stocked my tank but never saw them again so I figured they died. I knew they were nocturnal but I had just never seen them since adding them.
Click to expand...
You can easily find them during the day too. Usually they'll erupt out of the sand during feeding times, but if they don't they are easy to spot by looking for their siphon that protrudes from the sandbed (a little black periscope. )
 
Alright, so I ended up getting a fighting conch that my daughter named iris.

image.jpeg


And a sea cucumber that my son named Hawkeye.
image.jpeg

He blends in so well with the rocks that you can barely see him. If he ventures out onto the sand I'll see if I can get a better pic.
 
I'll give it more time but I can't say that I see much difference in the sand. The sea cucumber has disappeared. The last time I saw him was when I put him in. The next morning no sign of him. I've tried taking through the sand to find him too. There were some areas I couldn't reach. I guess I'm just disappointed I don't get to see him more. I asked the guy at the fish store if he would just burrow and he said no, I'd be able to see him much of the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top