What to buy to sift the sand bed ?

[Lol21]

I had two solid blue damsels i just took out if my tank after wrestling them for hours and tearing my entire 150g apart for.. and a velvet damsel who was eating my zoas.

And the only good thing about the blue damsels is they kick the sand up all the time digging..

Now that they are gone.. what can i buy that wont eat corals.. isnt a bully and will dig up my sand bed ? Randomly to keep it stirred up.

 

[Injoynit]

Diamond Goby will do the trick.
So will sand sifting starfish and also nassarius snails.

 

[flagg37]

I’ve never had the goby but I’ve heard they dump sand on your corals. I had a couple of the sand sifting sea stars and would do them again just for some diversity, but I think the tiger sea cucumbers do the best job. They literally eat dirty sand and poop out clean sand. Fighting conch does an ok job too.

 

[sfin52]

Tiger sand conch. They are great

 

[Singspot]

The diamond goby certainly sifts sand and keeps sand clean. But they will throw sand upto 8 inches ... so yes sand may come on the corals ... I have 1 and she/ he keeps my 8 foot tank bed very CLEAN!

 

[reef lover]

+1 to conchs!!

 

[jordan10]

Daimond goby keeps sand real clean and very cool to watch. I have couple corals on sand bed he really doesn't bother then just blow them off it he gets little sand on. But one fav fish to watch

 

[tuesdayd]

Others have already mentioned these, but Nassarius and Cerith snails will stay in the sand most of the time, stirring it up. Sand sifting starfish and conch or sea cucumber work the sand over, too. And none of these guys will spit sand on your coral.

 

[Blackice]

Diamond gobies will certainly do the job. I have had five and all of them have kept my sand bed spotless. Just make sure you have a tight fitting lid, because they LOVE to jump.
Nassarius snails will also work, but not as fast, and diamond gobies have great personality.

 

[jd371]

Another vote for a Conch. If you're looking for a fish, besides a Diamond which can make a mess a Rainford Goby is another option. I have one in my tank and he doesn't make a mess with the sand, It sifts close to the bottom so it doesn't blow around. I never need to uncover corals or flatten out mounds.

 

[ajhudson15]

+1 on the diamond goby. I had one in my 75 and my sand was nothing but white all the time. I have since lost him and now my sand has brown spots. will definitely be getting another. I have a bunch of corals on the sand bed and he never bothered them.

 

[TexAgReefer]

BIG vote for the conch!

I’ve had a Diamond goby (makes a cloudy mess too often for me), a sand sifting star (don’t live very long), and nassarius snails (not very effective).

While all of the listed above work, the conch has been a PRO at keeping my sandbed clean, doesn’t make a mess, and is also a pretty neat character to watch.

Only negative would be that it will occasionally knock over the drag plugs in the sand but they don’t stay there long,just during acclimation.

 

[jda]

Conchs and cucumbers. You can get hardy varieties of both from the Florida Keys at ReefTopia.

 

[sde1500]

Definitely conchs. Added two a few months ago and my sand bed has never been cleaner.

 

[MichaelReefer]

My Orange Spotted Goby does a good job at that.

 

[MichaelReefer]

I'm not super familiar with Conch's. Do they have smaller breeds? I've seen some huge ones but dont want one that big.

 

[Mikedawg]

What's not to like?

 

[sde1500]

I'm not super familiar with Conch's. Do they have smaller breeds? I've seen some huge ones but dont want one that big.

the two I have in my 65 are 3-4 inches, they spend much of their time half buried.

 

[reef lover]

They do sell a dwarf variety that stays small.

 

[TheWB]

Reefcleaners has a variety that is supposed to max out at 3” listed under Assorted Smaller Conches. I have one arriving tomorrow to help with my sandbed issues.