I dream of white sand!

[Neptune 555]

I have a 180 gallon reef tank and my sand is dirty... grey in spots...sometimes chunky! I *think* I need a better CUC for the sand. Can a 180 support 2 Conchs? Here is what I am thinking for CUC:

Existing:
Sea Urchin
2 cleaner shrimp
1 fire shrimp
yellow tang
2 big fat snails

ADDING for clean sand
2 conchs (is this the right amount?)
5 electric blue hermit crabs
1 sand sifting goby
OTHER SUGGESTION?

 

[PeterC99]

Love my Melanurus wrasse. He’s colorful, sleeps in the sand and is always mixing up the sand as he looks for food. Helps keeps sandbed turned over.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

You can easily add more conches than two to a 180g.
Do you vacuum your sand? It sounds like there’s a lot of dirt trapped in it.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

You can easily add more conches than two to a 180g.
Do you vacuum your sand? It sounds like there’s a lot of dirt trapped in it.

MichaelE is spot on! The benefits of vacuuming (at least monthly) are well worth the trouble. I too have a 180g and your list of helpers is great including 2 conchs. Have 2 myself. And here’s the test: gravel/sand vac your tank into a white 5g bucket (if you have one) and see how much dirt comes out. That will tell you instantly that you and your two new conchs need to be part of the cuc. Nothing nicer than seeing clean and constant reef dunes. Good luck.

 

[New&no clue]

I have a 180 gallon as well, here is my Sand CUC
4 - tiger conches
4 - cucumbers
20+ - Tongan Nassarius
20+ -Nassarius Vibex
Pistol shrimp

I also have a mel wrasse

 

[Neptune 555]

I think a cucumber would be cool. How long have you had the cucumbers? Is it true if they are stressed they let out toxins that take out your tank? Do you have photos of the cucs? thanks!

 

[Neptune 555]

You can easily add more conches than two to a 180g.
Do you vacuum your sand? It sounds like there’s a lot of dirt trapped in it.

I am also trying to grow pods for my mandarin... b/c of that I am a tad nervous to vacuum sand? Won't I also suck and kill my pods?

 

[blaxsun]

I think a cucumber would be cool. How long have you had the cucumbers? Is it true if they are stressed they let out toxins that take out your tank? Do you have photos of the cucs? thanks!

I’ve had my pair for about a year. No, it requires a substantial injury and death from what I understand (like getting chopped up with a powerhead). Mine basically look like long black turds.

 

[New&no clue]

I think a cucumber would be cool. How long have you had the cucumbers? Is it true if they are stressed they let out toxins that take out your tank? Do you have photos of the cucs? thanks!

I bought mine from AquaCorals. They claim hey are non-toxic. I have had them a little over a year.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

I am also trying to grow pods for my mandarin... b/c of that I am a tad nervous to vacuum sand? Won't I also suck and kill my pods?

Some might get sucked up but nothing to worry about.
Not cleaning the sand bed is one of the things I can never understand haha…what’s the benefit of having tons of gunk building up haha

 

[boacvh]

FWIW I have had 4 conches on my 75g for 3+ years now. I feed heavy though. Also have a whole bunch of nassarius snails.

 

[Neptune 555]

I bought mine from AquaCorals. They claim hey are non-toxic. I have had them a little over a year.

So I bought a sea cucumber.. and am floating the bag now. I QT EVERYTHING but what do you do with a sea cucumber? It will die in QT tank? I want to get rid of the LFS water.. can he be out of water for a short bit before I add him to my DT?

 

[happyhourhero]

I have a conch in my 25. It does a great job cleaning larger pieces of gravel and stirs when it sleeps and moves around. I suggest a captive court jester goby. It cleans the sand well but isn’t nearly as messy as the diamond goby clan. Those two keep my sand clean. Also have a tiger pistol who manages his side well but doesn’t leave a small territory.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

I have 2 conch and 2 sand sifter stars plus my general CUC in my 125, can definitely be okay

 

[Dkmoo]

Or, like me, add some hawaiian black for that salt and pepper look. They can get much dirtier without being noticeable.

Downside is, can't have cucumbers bc the grain size is too big

 

[New&no clue]

So I bought a sea cucumber.. and am floating the bag now. I QT EVERYTHING but what do you do with a sea cucumber? It will die in QT tank? I want to get rid of the LFS water.. can he be out of water for a short bit before I add him to my DT?

I believe they can be out of the water

 

[guywithatank1234]

I have a mate with three conches in a 50 gal and they do really well so I am sure they will be fine in a 180. Good luck

 

[Kapachuka3]

Dude you could seriously get like 5-8 conchs if ur tanks big enough I’ve got 2 in my 32.5 gallon. As long as your sand beds deep enough they’ll do good. Then u don’t have to touch the sand and it’ll be clean. I haven’t had to really clean mine since I’ve gotten the first one.