Dirty Sand

[mustang420colvin]

I am wondering if sand sifter are good things i am considering a engineer gobie and a orange diamond back gobie to take care of the dirty sand my hermits and snails stay pretty much on the live rock.

 

[Enzo]

gobies can be quite territorial, I wouldn't mix to kinds of gobies together. And I'm not to good with the sand bed stuff, so i'll leave that up to someone else.

 

[Anonymous]

If what you have is a true DSB. You're really don't want to get sand sifting finish. Because they're looking for organisms that live in the sand to eat. And those organisms are what make a DSB function properly.
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Mercedes Benz M Class

 

[Expos Forever]

Maybe a tiger tail cuke would be a better choice?

 

[LA-Lawman]

also keep in mind that the depth of your dsb is important. if you are only 2-3"s thinck than a sand sifter would be a bad idea. sometimes those gobies will get down to the bottom in a day....

on really deep beds you would probably be ok. I have a 4.5" DSB on my 90g. I had a diamond in there for a long time until he passed of old age or something... he was always fat and happy... and i didnt notice any less function of my DSB always 0 nitrate


hth

 

[jordanphulet]

I like nassarius snails, they will turn the sand over pretty good but they dont eat any of the fauna in the sand bed, good scavengers and fun to watch, they can really cruise. Brittle and serpent stars are good for keeping the bottom clear too, if your tank is big enough a tiger tail could be a good addition, I'm not to familiar with them so I couldn't really tell you how big the tank needs to be.

 

[Expos Forever]

All good points Jordan.

 

[Anonymous]

when i first set up my tank, i made the mistake of being talked into buying a diamond goby. big mistake. he died within 2 weeks -- my guess is due to starvation. i ended up getting a cucumber later on down the road. he's done very well and keep the sand very clean. the only *debris* i ever see on my sand surface now looks like orange spaghetti. :wink: