Sand Bed Critters

[Tigger]

Does anybody know where I can get some critters (worms and stuff) for my Sand Bed?

[titus]

Hello,

I know live rock is a very good source. I use crushed coral sand, seeded only with live rock, and now copepods are crawling all over the place. Some of these are big. There are also the occasional crabs that come with the rocks.

[maimz]

i was actualy wondering what the best critters are to start out with.. i am getting a tank set up with just live rock and critters to start until things are stable ..can you please give me some tips on what would be the best choices...i plan on having a FOWLR setup as well as critters..im located in SW ontario.thanks

[Tigger]

I noticed that Seacare has Live Sand (pink shell) for $4.69/lb. Would this be a good way to increase the number of critters? I currently have lots of live rock, but I don't seem to have very many critters anymore.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I agree with Titus that quality live rock is the best source criters. However, there are live rock that is sold that isn't quite as live as others (Big Al's comes to mind - they are on the dead side).

Another problem is that even if you do have a lot of criters, they may perish due to preditors like a mandarain. So, you might have trouble keeping criters because you may have too many preditors -- hence the concept of a refugium.

I have bought a pound of live sand from Seacare, and it looks pretty good. Some pods, worms and such. I added some of that stuff to my existing reef for extra diversity.

- Victor.

[DJ88]

One thing to think about and look into with live sand is if it is actual live sand with amphipods, copepods worms etc. Or if it is just sand with bacteria.

We dont' have access to the kinds of things that you can get below the border. Detrivore kits do a great job of giving your sand bed a kick start. Put one of those in and let the bed mature for a while before you add any possible predators and you are set.

Good creatures to have in a sand bed are worms(various types), pods(various types), gamarus shrimp, mini brittle stars pretty much everything you can find on IA's Det kit. .

[titus]

Hello,

I believe it is important to allow the critters to settle and multiply prior introducing any predators. Meanwhile, it's good to have a refugium as a continuous supply. You can do this by seeding the refugium with a small piece of live rock or small portion of sand from your display tank.

The critters are there but you have to look for them during night out.