clean up crew for dsb

[danfish]

i recently puchase 10 turbo snails for the clean up of my dsb but instead they just graze all day on my live rock i had them for a week and havent even seen one of them on the sand (lol), the purpose was to have them do cleaning on the sand not live rock. did i buy the wrong clean up crew? any suggestions what to buy that only clean sand bed and glasss?

thx in advance

 

[drunktank]

you got the wrong snails. You need to get Nassarius snails which burrow in the sand and clean it. Also look into sand sifting starfish and some hermit crabs.

 

[LeslieS]

sand sifting star fish require a very mature tank as they are voracious eaters. some people don't even put them in a mature tank because they eat many of the other beneficial creatures that live in a sand bed. if you are a beginner, stick with snails, serpent stars (not the green ones), hermit crabs, etc. research every single thing you put in your tank - especially your clean up crew!!!! you want them to do the job you bought them to do.

nassarius snails are carnivors even though some people have had them eat algae. you should also get cerith snails as they will dig in the sand and eat both algae and detritus (leftover food and other nasties) although not as fast as the nassarius.

 

[deelucky]

some people say that sea cuccumbers are dangerous to tanks if the die,because of the toxins they release.i have a atlantic cuccumber and he works the sand bed like crazy,,even though he doesnt borrow he eats things on the sand and poops out clean sand pellets.the thing is like a rabbit,lol.he works round the clock and refreshes the sand.if you go this route dont get the pretty colored ones,i hear bad things about those.mine looks like someone took a dump in my tank.