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gablett
02/05/2010, 07:28 AM
Ok Im getting very frustrated. I dont know how u guys keep ur sand so nice and white. I get like greenish Algae in a few spots and greyish black stuff that might be detritus? I tried pointing more flow down there and it just ****es off my lords and blows sand. I have fine sand. Do I just simply need more clean up crew? I so badly want nice clean sand! Help!




http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz342/gablett_photo/tank.jpg

rogerrgr
02/05/2010, 07:46 AM
I have a diamond goby for cleaning my sand, but it isn't fine like powder, more granular. And he does a pretty good job, but also likes to undermine rocks, and it looks like yours are sitting right on top the sand. Also heard that they are jumpers, but never had a problem yet with mine. A good cleanup crew is always good. I started out small with 5 redlegged hermits, 5 turbo snails, 2 emerald crabs and a peppermint shrimp, and they do a great job.

Nanz
02/05/2010, 08:13 AM
You might want to clean your powerheads. That one Koralia looks pretty bad.

It took me a while to get my sand white buts been that way for 8 months now. I have alot flow in my tank though. 50-60x. Some corals don't like it though so its limiting. I also use ZeoZym which helps your skimmer work better. This in combination of flow is what made my sand white.

dendronepthya
02/05/2010, 08:16 AM
I love orange spot diamond gobies. Here is a short video of mine at work:
http://www.vimeo.com/7110008

A single goby can pretty much keep a tank's substrate white. They jump though, so you would have to securely cover your tank.

nivram
02/05/2010, 08:23 AM
I have a what was sold to me as a banana cucumber and it does a great job of cleaning the sand.

arredondojason
02/05/2010, 08:24 AM
also look into running GFO from bulkreefsupply.com

kameleon23
02/05/2010, 08:39 AM
I have thought of looking into getting a horseshoe crab. I hear they do real well. The gobies like to jump for sure. I have a canopy that is only open in the back and they still find a way out!

CJO
02/05/2010, 08:56 AM
I've heard bad things about horshoe crabs. I can't remember what they were, maybe something to do with knocking down rock and disturbing coral. You might want to do some more research first.

CJ

Chris27
02/05/2010, 09:12 AM
Horseshoe crabs will do wonders for moving the sand around, but they are little bulls and can knock some stuff over. As for how I keep my sand clean - I use a gravel siphon when I do my weekly water changes, you wouldn't believe how dirty the water is in the lower levels of a shallow sandbed.

mndfreeze
02/05/2010, 09:20 AM
You have a DSB. A few cleaner crew additions can fix that sort of problem right up.

Put some nassarius snails in there. There constant burying themselves and sand worm popping up when its food time will constantly stir the sand up (and they dont jump! hah)

Get a few trochus snails. Mine eat so damn much that they start shifting through my sand bed after they run out of glass and rock to cover. My sand went from getting nasty in spots like yours, to crystal clear again.

Get a goby. I can't recommend a specific one as I have a nano with a high fin and candy cane pistol, but the various types are all renown for shifting, moving, and cleaning sand beds in their own way. My pistol shrimp alone turns so much damn sand that it prevents algae from growing on it.

There are tons of sand shifting inverts you can look into. IMO, stick to a biological method with that sand bed. Don't look for a mechanical or chemical fix.

potterjon
02/05/2010, 10:13 AM
I use all the above. Weekly stirring of sand bed is very important.
+1 on the nassarius snails. Im not crazy about gobies personally.
Also increase flow.

Nanz
02/05/2010, 02:44 PM
I use all the above. Weekly stirring of sand bed is very important.
+1 on the nassarius snails. Im not crazy about gobies personally.
Also increase flow.

I would not stir a DSB. Your killing the anerobic bacteria that reduces NO3 to N2.

gablett
02/05/2010, 03:03 PM
Yea I try to disturb it as little as possible being DSB. I added 5 more snails today. LFS had no nassaruis. So i added margaritas, and cerith which was all they had. I will get some when they do though.

rob.mwpropane
02/05/2010, 03:20 PM
Not to interrupt, but I'm going too. Sorry I'll make it quick. Do you all ever siphon anything off your sand bed? I'm starting to get like a grey fuzz on some parts. Do I leave it or try to manually remove it while being careful not to disturb the sandbed. P.S.- if this is considered "hijacking" a thread, please disregard the question and I apologize.

andrewk529
02/05/2010, 03:37 PM
i vacuum my sand bed during cleaning which keeps the sand looking "clean"

rob.mwpropane
02/05/2010, 03:43 PM
I thought about doing that, but didnt want to disturb it to much. I think I need to take some sand out. It's like 2 plus inches deep. So I think im getting stuff in it with no anorobic bacteria to convert.... I think.

rob.mwpropane
02/05/2010, 03:46 PM
Maybe take it down to a shallow sand bed. I dint know anything when I set it up 2 plus years ago.

andrewk529
02/05/2010, 03:47 PM
i think people over react to an extent about not disturbing your sand bed. yes, i would not recommend disturbing a deep sand bed. i've never had an issue with vacuuming out my sand bed once a week which is about 3-4 inches deep. a lot of the species we keep in the hobby are detritovores something everyone should keep in mind. that coupled with the fact i'm not really getting into the deeper layers which contain the anaerobic conditions or potentially releasing hydrogen sulfide gas.

SMITTY27030
02/05/2010, 06:13 PM
would look into a small cleanup crew but would recomend the gfo as stated in the thread

rob.mwpropane
02/05/2010, 06:24 PM
I thought of gfo. Thanks

gary faulkner
02/05/2010, 08:05 PM
I love orange spot diamond gobies. Here is a short video of mine at work:
http://www.vimeo.com/7110008

A single goby can pretty much keep a tank's substrate white. They jump though, so you would have to securely cover your tank.

Dendro,

Great little fish ya got there. Does it ever spit sand out higher up in the tank and getting some on your corals. Or does it always act like it does in the vid?

Thanks

gablett
02/12/2010, 02:39 PM
Well I found an old whisper 2 that I had and didnt even know. Cleaned up good and got some active carbon filters for it. We will see if it helps.