Sand sifters for DSB?

[harmichael]

Hi there,

So my 90 gallon DBS aquarium has finished cycling (around 5-6" of sand) and I was wondering on DSB safe sand sifters. This will be a reef aquarium. Can anyone recommend some little guys who would be good for this for me?

Many thanks!

[Sk8r]

Oh, yes---true nassarius snails: they live and work under the sandbed. And in a 90 you could also add a fighting conch. Same habit. I'd say about 5 nassarius and one conch.

The yellow watchman goby is great for sandsifting around the rocks, too, but is modest (unlike the diamond goby, which upsets the whole sandbed) and keeps one burrow for a prolonged time.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I like to mix up the regular nassarius with a few of the larger tongan nassarius added in. Cerith snails will also burrow in the sand, but also graze on the rocks and glass.

[seaflea]

Sea cucumbers are also great at cleaning the sand

[bamf25]

Which sand shirters are also safe with fish in a mixed reef? I do not want to by them as food.

[seaflea]

Well I guess thatt really depends on what u have in the tank. Nassarius are usualy pretty safe since they spend alot of time in the sand and come out at night or when u put food in the tank. Hermits would prob be there biggest threat.

[Angel*Fish]

You don't need a lot of nassarius snails as some say. I agree with Sk8r, you don't need more than 5. Have you seeded it yet?

Just for the sake of clarity I'm sure you know you don't want to disturb your dsb except for what a few nassarius snails or similar animals will do just on the surface. And don't put any hermit crabs in with a deep sand bed, of course. :)

I had a high fin goby/shrimp combo and they destroyed the dsb in that area, but it was confined to that space and was worth it to me. If you follow R. Shimek's dsb rules, before you know it, your tank will start acting bullet proof. Just keep an eye on O2.