Best sand cleaners

winzig

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I have a 100g 6 foot tank with about a 1.5 inch sand bed.
I would like to know everyones opinion on what I should use for best possible sand cleaning.
snails? stars? anything else?

I have a strawberry conch and a half dozen nassarius snails already.
 

revhtree

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Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D
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vetteguy53081

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I have a 100g 6 foot tank with about a 1.5 inch sand bed.
I would like to know everyones opinion on what I should use for best possible sand cleaning.
snails? stars? anything else?

I have a strawberry conch and a half dozen nassarius snails already.
Nassarius snails and strawberry conchs
 

vetteguy53081

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slingfox

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I have 3 conches (2 tiger and 1 strawberry) and nassarius snails in a 5 ft tank. They help stir up the sand but can’t do much to keep the sand clean. I had a blue dot goby previously which did a great job at keeping the sand stirred up. Unfortunately it starved over time. If ate misis from the water column and I tried to put TDO pellets in the sand but that was apparently not enough. I hope you have better luck.
 
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Fish Fan

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Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I'd reconsider the sand sifting stars, they really require a very large and mature sand bed, or they quickly deplete their food source, and then slowly starve. Your Conch and Nessarius snails are a great start.
 
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mmorrison55

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If you like to feed heavy, Sand sifting starfish. I added 4 so far to my 5 ft tank. I likely will add a few more if I see any signs of algae again, but so far 4 is doing the job of keeping my sand bed white. Before adding them,I had to use a python siphon at least once a month to turn over the green spots on the sand bed.

But if you don’t feed generously, they could starve, so if in doubt, start with 1 or 2 in addition to your other cuc. And watch and adjust as needed.
 
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