I feel like sand cleaner animals don't really work.

[Pseudodiego]

Hi everyone.

I think I have just about every sand-cleaning species in my 250-gallon tank:

• 1 Diamond Goby
• 3 sand-sifting starfish
• 7 Fighting Conchs
• 1 very large Atra Sea Cucumber
• Lots of Nassarius snails
• 1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp

They’re all fascinating animals, and I love having them in my tank. But not a single one of them do a good job keeping the sand clean. If I don’t vacuum it regularly, it inevitably turns brown and looks pretty ugly.

I don’t have the same issue with my rocks. A couple of urchins make a huge difference in keeping them clean.

I know some people rarely, if ever, vacuum their sand beds, yet their sand stays looking pristine.

So, what’s the secret? If it’s not the sand-sifting animals keeping the sand clean, what actually does the job? Is it the microfauna, flow, bacterial balance, or something else entirely?

I’d love to hear your experiences and understand what really makes the difference.

 

[Tahoe61]

Oh we need images please. I promise there is a fix.

 

[Pseudodiego]

Oh we need images please. I promise there is a fix.

Sand is fine, I clean It manually.

What i'm saying is that all those critters don't really do much, is me vacuuning It who keeps it white.

I want to learn how people that don't vacuum It keep It white and nice.

 

[EnterName]

I second photos, but sand will rarely stay perfectly white forever. If it turns brown you might have an issue with diatoms and/or dinoflagellates. These issues don't always become an enormous outbreak but can discolor the substrate visibly.

 

[Pseudodiego]

As I said is pretty white if I put the work. But I would like to be able to not clean It and for It to stay white.

 

[JTP424]

I would recommend just a larger clean up crew in general, as well as maybe some more gentle flow on the bottom.