Need some advise on sand cleaners please!!

[NightShadeFairy]

Hi all, I have a DSB and my tank is very tall, I am having a difficult time reaching the bottom to vacuum, I am wondering what everyone's opinion on the best type of fish/creature for cleaning the sand? Any input is appreciated! :)

[FWC]

Diamond Watchman Goby hands down.

[jagermaier]

Diamond goby is the best sand sifter and will keep you sand nice and white, nassarius snails work well into the sand as well as tiger sand conch. I also have a few brown blotch snails buried in my sand bed.

[toytech]

conches are great

[monocus]

i also have some sand dollars in my tank as well as the gobie,snails,crabs etc

[NightShadeFairy]

Thanks very much everyone who put their preference, I really needed the advice! I have somewhere to start now at least!

[albert_dao]

the BEST thing you could possibly do is slowly get rid of your DSB -____-

[Cal_stir]

+1 on removing the DSB, they're useless nutrient sinks.
My diamond goby is a great cleaner but digs deep burrows in the sand all the way to the bottom of the tank, not good with a DSB, also buries some of my corals.

[Myka]

If you want to keep the DSB then none of the critters anyone listed are DSB-safe! A properly constructed and maintained DSB is a fantastic thing, but most people do not maintain it properly. Yours is a fine example. A properly running DSB will not need to be vacuumed. Consequently, if you are disturbing the sand bed when you are vacuuming you are further damaging it.

Ron Shimek recently wrote a great article about DSB in the Coral Magazine entitles Dragonets (Nov/Dec 2011). Ron Shimek is definitely the DSB expert of the hobby. If you don't have access to the Coral Magazine (you can order back issues online) you can check out Ron's website. http://www.ronshimek.com/deep_sand_beds.html

On the other hand, if you decide to remove the DSB it can be done fairly easily and with low risk provided you don't remove it all at once. I like to use a 5/8" siphon hose which I use to remove the far right 1/4 of the sand bed making a nice straight line in the sand. Immediately replace with very well rinsed sand at the new depth. Make sure you cover any exposed black portions of sand along the edge of old sand that showed up when you siphoned the old stuff out. This is very important because those black portions of sand are unhealthy anaerobic areas that can poision your tank if left exposed. In one week do the same thing for the next 1/4 of the sand bed. If you do it slowly and replace the sand as you go like I describe you will have no problems.

If you remove the old sand bed, don't add any new critters to the sand bed for at least a few months otherwise they will starve in the new somewhat sterile sand. Once the new sand bed is established, I have found Fighting Conches, small Nassarius snails (not the big Tonga ones), and Cerith snails to be very good sand bed cleaners without over-cleaning the sand bed and making it devoid of life like starfish can and will do.

[Aquattro]

Also, when I had a sand sifting fish, my tank was perpetually cloudy with particulate floating around. Now that it's gone, I finally have a clear tank.

[NightShadeFairy]

Thanks all! I will read up on that article, thank-you. The DSB is only two months old, I seeded it with my old sand. It cost a pretty penny, I will work with it for now rather than get rid of it. I appreciate the advise all around! :)

[albert_dao]

Ron Shimek recently wrote a great article about DSB in the Coral Magazine entitles Dragonets (Nov/Dec 2011). Ron Shimek is definitely the DSB expert of the hobby. If you don't have access to the Coral Magazine (you can order back issues online) you can check out Ron's website. http://www.ronshimek.com/deep_sand_beds.html


UUUUURRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH, Ron Shimek :(

Look, love the guy's science as much as the next hobbyist, but I still have to argue against the recommendation of a sand bed.

Why? Because, through no fault of his own, attaching his name to a method has basically given people a free pass to setting up what is usually a disastrous bed of creeping death. Most people think 'sand bed', see his name as a proponent and just settle it there -- "but Ron Shimek said it was spiffy, so it MUST be the best!" The problem is that they don't bother to READ into why sandbeds work and why what they're doing is exactly the WRONG THING.

Hint: Read the article and pay careful attention to grain size.

But let's say we do follow the rules and use the proper grain size. Then what? Then we can't use high flow! As a mental exercise, what two scenarios are likelier?

1. Hobbyist A has a sand bed of the proper grain size and is able to seed it with the proper diversity required for long term operation of a DSB.

2. Hobbyist B spends money and buys readily available powerheads for flow. Flow rocks. Flow is the single most important consideration for the long-term maintenance of a reef.

The problem with assuming the first proposition is that we are setting up reef tanks with animals collected from (get this) reefs! Sand and reefs are two different habitats. The animals and materials collected from reefs pretty much fulfill none of the duties that are so important to making a sand bed work properly. NONE. Why? For the same reason that gorillas make bad seagulls. They're different.

But what about live sand?

No. No one orders live sand. Try to buy it at your store, I dare you to. Not going to happen. Hell, I don't even remember the last time I've seen it offered on the transship and wholesale lists. And no, that bagged stuff from Caribsea is not live sand. It's merely seeded with bacteria. It has zero diversity. No worms, no brittle stars, no foraminoforans, etc, etc. In that article, it says:

"One organism's poison is another's nutrient."

This is true, but if you're missing any links in the chain, it falls apart.

Anyway, not to rag on OP, this is more for anyone who hasn't yet set up their tank. DSB's are a pain to remove.

[stewy84]

Interesting, what about 1/2" of sand instead of DSB or is that just the same?

[intarsiabox]

Interesting, what about 1/2" of sand instead of DSB or is that just the same?

No, not the same thing. A DSB promotes an anaerobic level were 1/2" of sand will get moved around enough to remain aerobic.

[TimT]

IME the best critters to keep a sandbed clean are Tigertail or pink belly sea cucumbers. They are the equivalent of an underwater earthworm. They eat the sand, digest off the detritus and bacteria, and expel nice clean white casings of sand which break apart at the slightest current. Cucumbers also go under the sand as well. I have found them over 4" under the surface of the sand.

Cheers,
Tim