Best sand cleaners

[winzig]

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 Verified Admin]

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

 

[Sean Clark]

Welcome, I would suggest a diamond goby to keep the sand clean.

 

[vetteguy53081]

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]

 

[slingfox]

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.

 

[Fish Styx]

Greetings and welcome to the reef!

 

[Fish Fan]

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.

 

[edsbeaker]

Hello and welcome! I think you already have two of the best types of snails for the sand bed.

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!

 

[bast]

welcome!

 

[mmorrison55]

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.

 

[BonnieB]

Welcome to our R2R family!

 

[Dr. D]

I don’t know how helpful my conchs are at actual cleaning , but they’re sure fun to watch.

 

[slingfox]

I don’t know how helpful my conchs are at actual cleaning , but they’re sure fun to watch.

Agreed. They are peaceful and cruise around doing their thing.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

 

[jsmkmavity]

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[Utubereefer]

Welcome to the club

 

[fishface NJ]

Welcome to R2R!

Nassarius snails