Deep Sand Bed

[garbled]

https://www.saltwaterfish.com/category-reef-packages

So this is where I differ from alot of people in sandbed maintenance. There are two schools of thought on DSB's:

1) Keep it physically clean. Vacuum it, use sand sifting stars and gobies. Don't let it clump up, don't let it get dirty, keep it moving around, stir it if you must.

2) Keep it stirred with microfauna. It will be uglier, and slightly dirty looking. Don't add anything that is a sandbed predator. Let the bugs and worms stir the sand. Don't stir it by hand. Don't vacuum. That just kills things. If your sandbed isn't stirred enough, you need more bugs and worms.

The packages Tom linked are for the first method. I personally prefer the second method. The two methods are *not* compatible. If you add a sand sifting star or a goby to a method 2 tank, you have a method 1 tank, because they will wipe out the microfauna.

Because I use method 2, here is the list of stuff that is banned from my tank:

Almost all crabs other than 1-2 mithrax.
ALL hermit crabs
ALL sand sifting gobies
ALL starfish
Dragonets, pipefish, mandarins
Some wrasses (there are too many too list here, the stuff that hunts in the sand though is bad, the sand sleepers are ok)
Pretty much anything that comes in a "sandbed" or "reef maintenance" pack.

Worth noting, peppermint shrimp are kinda on the list of "you shouldn't use them with a sandbed" animals, but the apstaisa thing is generally a bigger problem than the fact they are general sandbed predators, so.. ehh.

 

[Marcom12]

So this is where I differ from alot of people in sandbed maintenance. There are two schools of thought on DSB's:

1) Keep it physically clean. Vacuum it, use sand sifting stars and gobies. Don't let it clump up, don't let it get dirty, keep it moving around, stir it if you must.

2) Keep it stirred with microfauna. It will be uglier, and slightly dirty looking. Don't add anything that is a sandbed predator. Let the bugs and worms stir the sand. Don't stir it by hand. Don't vacuum. That just kills things. If your sandbed isn't stirred enough, you need more bugs and worms.

The packages Tom linked are for the first method. I personally prefer the second method. The two methods are *not* compatible. If you add a sand sifting star or a goby to a method 2 tank, you have a method 1 tank, because they will wipe out the microfauna.

Because I use method 2, here is the list of stuff that is banned from my tank:

Almost all crabs other than 1-2 mithrax.
ALL hermit crabs
ALL sand sifting gobies
ALL starfish
Dragonets, pipefish, mandarins
Some wrasses (there are too many too list here, the stuff that hunts in the sand though is bad, the sand sleepers are ok)
Pretty much anything that comes in a "sandbed" or "reef maintenance" pack.

Worth noting, peppermint shrimp are kinda on the list of "you shouldn't use them with a sandbed" animals, but the apstaisa thing is generally a bigger problem than the fact they are general sandbed predators, so.. ehh.

Might I ask why hermit crabs?

The rest I agree with and have always been confused over some of the cleanup crew packs.

 

[garbled]

I have alot of issues with hermit crabs...

1) They murder snails with wild abandon. (and leave the bodies to rot)
2) They are highly territorial. I think I read once that a hermit will generally patrol an area of 1 square meter. For most people, that is their whole tank. They murder one another until they get down to roughly that density over time.
3) They are ominvores. They are going to pick at and eat whatever they want. Algae, sandbed critters, anything they can catch and shove into their little maws.
4) They don't really do a good job at algae control. They just sorta pick at it in various locations if they feel like it. More often than not, they are picking off parts that have lots of critters they can eat too.
5) They offer roughly nothing in regards to sandbed maintenance. At best they drag a shell around and stir maybe the top mm. At worst, they eat stuff that was stirring the bed.
6) They aren't really good at getting random leftover food. Sure, they will eat it, but you have to keep stocking them like mad, because they kill eachother. So you are in this infinite cycle of shoving hermits into the tank to get them to eat leftover food, but then they kill eachother and just leave the corpses to rot. Amphipods, bristleworms and nassarius snails are your key food remnant cleanup crew.

I like them at a density of 1-2 per tank, as a decorative animal. When you fill a tank with them, they cause more problems than they solve IMHO. I also hate the graveyard of snail shells they leave all over the tank. Basically, I hate hermits.

 

[Marcom12]

I have alot of issues with hermit crabs...

1) They murder snails with wild abandon. (and leave the bodies to rot)
2) They are highly territorial. I think I read once that a hermit will generally patrol an area of 1 square meter. For most people, that is their whole tank. They murder one another until they get down to roughly that density over time.
3) They are ominvores. They are going to pick at and eat whatever they want. Algae, sandbed critters, anything they can catch and shove into their little maws.
4) They don't really do a good job at algae control. They just sorta pick at it in various locations if they feel like it. More often than not, they are picking off parts that have lots of critters they can eat too.
5) They offer roughly nothing in regards to sandbed maintenance. At best they drag a shell around and stir maybe the top mm. At worst, they eat stuff that was stirring the bed.
6) They aren't really good at getting random leftover food. Sure, they will eat it, but you have to keep stocking them like mad, because they kill eachother. So you are in this infinite cycle of shoving hermits into the tank to get them to eat leftover food, but then they kill eachother and just leave the corpses to rot. Amphipods, bristleworms and nassarius snails are your key food remnant cleanup crew.

I like them at a density of 1-2 per tank, as a decorative animal. When you fill a tank with them, they cause more problems than they solve IMHO. I also hate the graveyard of snail shells they leave all over the tank. Basically, I hate hermits.

Lol thank you for that in depth reply. :) *Scratches hermits off list*

 

[jda]

Hermits are a lot nice if you throw your dead snail shells behind the rocks for them to find and inhabit. Some kinds are better than other Zebra Leg from Hawaii are pretty docile. I also like the blue legs from the Florida Keys. I am not saying that these will never assassinate anything, but if you have larger shells for them in the tank, then I find them to be quite livable.

The blue legs that I have help keep the Vermitelid snails in check. The steal food from their webs. While not a cure, it does keep them down.

Put me on the theory of "I don't care where denitrification happens." Just a very small trace of N is enough, .1 for example is not growth limiting in any way, so I don't care where N gas is made.

 

[Bob Escher]

I had one in a 75gal I had about 5 years ago. It was 5" deep. I went with a shallow bed on the tank I have now. I am wanting to add sand to make it deeper.

Add some to one side of same type you have now little by little. Helpful would be if it’s live sand. Wait then do the other side. Then go back to the the the first side. Or do quarters

 

[Bob Escher]

I have a DSB. I find it easy. I dont disturb it to much. Definitely wish i had rinsed my sand better since when an anemone or goby move around it kicks some dust up but settles very quickly. I I have an LT anemone. They need a DSB to be happy. I find there to be more positives then negatives so far.

I agree, I have diamond watchman that keeps my sand clean along with narsarrius snails