2 for 1: BEST FISH & INVERT for cleaning sand and eating algae!

[JustJoan]

Fighting conch, goby and 2 urchins.

 

[GrandpaShark]

Twin spot goby, lawnmower blenny, 5x fighting conchs, ~10 trochus snails, powder brown & yellow tangs and a majestic fox face.

A majestic fox face? Send a pic, plz?

 

[Jammie]

In my 36g tank I keep 2 urchins for algea on rocks, I keep a yellow tang for algea on rocks and sand. I keep a lawnmower blenny for algea on power heads, glass,and everywhere else, my fire shrimp cleans up my fish lol, For the sand I have my hermits, and snails and a sand sifting starfish.

 

[Scott97062]

My tangs keep the algae under control sand sifting star & brittle star cleans sand and no fish corpse is ever found.

 

[AussieReefa]

2 for 1: BEST FISH & INVERT for cleaning sand and eating algae!

It's a 2 for 1 kind of Friday and today we're going to talk about what you think in the best fish and the best invert for two very important aquarium tasks! Keeping the sand clean and keeping the algae eaten! YES!

Sand gets ugly at times and (along with our own regular maintenance) needs a critter or fish to help keep it stirred and cleaned. Along with that is nasty algae that can begin to grow and various fish and inverts may or may not eat it depending on the type. So there are several variables at play here but today we're going to focus on the BEST of these in our own opinion. So now I need your opinion on the matter by answering the following questions.

1. What is the best invert and fish that is best for keeping the sand stirred and clean?

2. What is the best invert and fish that is best for keeping aquarium algae eaten?


@bubbaque's beautiful blue spotted jawfish

Q1-Sand Sifting Star & Golden Head Sleeper Goby
Q2- Kole Tang & Trochus snail

 

[Javiv3]

Diamond gobies#1for sand! But......they jump like crazy! I was able to keep one in the tank with a net and lost him during a water change, I found him still breathing but he did not make it.
Algae -pink sea urchin is awesome, non stop on glass and rocks, but drags all my plugs around my tank! So make sure everything is glued!
Will need to try a abalone, never heard of them
Thanks

 

[siggy]

How do y'all think a blue spotted jawfish does for sifting sand?

Blue spot is by far the coolest, tons of personality. I had one for a minute I had a pump in the sump for WC and I started getting hair algae in the sand so it's back to vac and a goby or two. Prices are coming down on them

 

[Kscope]

I have a long spine urchin, several nassarius snails and a watchman gobie. They do an amazing job.

 

[sp1187]

strawberry/tiger conchs do a fab job in the sand bed.
I don't have much algae in the tank.
the turf scrubber seems to do a good job of keeping it out.

 

[James Emory]

Trochus snails, nassarius snails and a cleaner shrimp are the basic for me. Other inverts depend on the tank. For fish the same thing. In a smaller tank a goby can be pretty useful and in a larger tank I would prefer a tang for algae eating.

Any Goby or do you have a specific Goby for this job?

 

[RickSanford]

A majestic fox face? Send a pic, plz?

I should have written Magnificent FoxFace. Either way - here is the pic.

 

[725196]

I almost always get fish and invertebrates bases on the job they do first then how they look. I like to get my aquarium established and work in all my fish and inverts to do their jobs. Once that’s complete then I start on the fish I just want.

 

[Fishurama]

Best boy right here. I also have a Lawnmower blenny,2 fighting conchs, and 1 green brittle star.
Little punk buries coral though, so thats his con.

Keeps my sand like this. Very shinny, i have pictures where corals disappear because the sand is so reflective. LOL

 

[Lowlandreef]

Any Goby or do you have a specific Goby for this job?

lol I just realised I said goby but I meant blenny. I’ve had a lawnmower blenny who did an amazing job on eating algae. In my current setup I have a bicolor blenny which is doing a very decent job on eating algae as well. A bicolor is prettier so will have my preference, but lmb’s are probably more effective. As of goby’s I’d probably go for a diamond goby because of their amazing ability to keep sand super clean. Wouldn’t put them in a smaller tank tho, since they do better in larger tanks (sandbeds) IMO. That’s why I mostly keep nassarius snails

 

[OmegaAquculture]

With only 25 gallons to work with, I haven’t found any fish to be appropriate but I’ve seen the best work done by :

Nassarius snails for the sand and
Tuxedo urchin for algae

Although a diverse cuc definitely produces the best results, those two are probably the heavy-hitters in my system

 

[ACReefer]

I have a yellow tang,cleaner shrimp,2 blue leg crabs,2 trochus snails and a couple of bumble bee snails. They take care of my algae.

 

[Rich Klein]

Pincushion Urchins for general algae and emerald crabs for the bubble. I vacuum the sand with each water change, so I guess that I have a human member of the cleanup crew.

 

[Pistondog]

Tailspot blenny, foxface, tomini tang, tuxedo urchins, emerald crabs, Nassarius and trochus snails
Used to have a shrimp goby and fighting conch, he knocked a lot of stuff over. The goby rode the roller coaster down the overflow and found his way to the skimmer pump, tragic.

 

[vetteguy53081]

1. What is the best invert and fish that is best for keeping the sand stirred and clean?

Diamondback goby, or watchman goby and nassarius snail.

2. What is the best invert and fish that is best for keeping aquarium algae eaten?

Turbo grazer and yellow eye tang

 

[swiss1939]

I see a lot of mentions of diamond goby and am wondering if a diamond and a hector goby in the same reefer 170 would get along? Hoping one is more sand sifter, the other is more rock picker.. so they wouldn't encroach on each others territory as much?