Sand Cleaner

[mattgumaer]

Hi all,

I have been thinking about adding a sand sifting fish (or a couple) to my 180 gallon reef to keep the sand looking nice. I have no algae on my rocks, probably because my foxface and tangs (powder blue, yellow and kole) keep them clean. But, the top of my sand is well, pretty brown. Other fish include a couple of clowns, a mandarin, 6 anthias, a copperband, a fairy wrasse, a flasher wrasse and a yellow clown goby (my first fish).

I have looked at gold headed sleeper gobies and twin spots. My concerns are: 1) potential competition with mandarin for pods (both); 2) burying coral (more the bigger sleeper gobies); 3) eating all life in the sand bed (both); and 4) particularly with a pair of twin spots, the potential that the fish will slowly waste away as often happens with these fish from on-line research.

I am hopeful that two twin spots would be ok in my 180 because of the size of the tank and relatively deep sand bed (probably close to 3" on average). Is this wishful thinking?

Would gold headed sleepers (and any other sleepers) make a mess of my tank, eat everything alive in my sandbed and leave me constantly uncovering low lying coral?

If neither of these fish are a good idea, is there a better alternative?

Thanks.

Matt

[Betta132]

Perhaps try nassarius snails instead? Those will stir the sand without eating your sand critters or making a mess.

[mattgumaer]

Might be worth a shot. I added a few when I set up the tank but I really have no idea if they're still in there.

[LobsterOfJustice]

I always keep some kind of sand sifting goby in my tank. They should not compete with mandarins for pods IMO - they will not pick at the rocks which is where the mandarins hunt. Of the more commonly available sand sifter gobies, the diamonds are much less likely to bury corals and make a mess. They tend to stay near the bottom while the gold head sleepers bring their mouthful up off the bottom and spit it everywhere. Either one will make a mess with the right (wrong?) conditions however, like a fine grain sand and high flow. I always use carbisea seaflor special grade which is a coarser sand. As for eating all the life in the sandbed... I can't say for sure, but I have two sand sifters in a 90 (so the sand gets worked over heavily) and I still have spaghetti worms all over the place in the sandbed. I'm sure they eat some of the life in the sandbed but it's certainly not decimated.

[biomek]

I have a diamond watchman goby in my 225 and he's awesome. never makes a real mess on the sandbed but he's contantly sifting and stirring up detrius like crazy. His personality is hilarious begging for food when i shut down my pumps at feeding time. Best part is he's out doing his thing all of the time. He's made some tunnels under a few rocks that he retreats to at lights out but within 15min of them coming on in the morning, he's out like a bulldozer plowing through the sandbed. Also loves pratically any of the other foods i feed. NLS pellets, Mysis, fomula one flakes and he REALLY loves algae tablets (go figure). Definately go for it, you wont be disappointed.

[mayjong]

my buddy has a watchman that bulldozes big time.
I need one for my 180g, too!

[downbeach]

I would suggest getting a couple fighting Conch's, some Nassarius Vibrex and Cerith snails. I would also recommend getting both the live sand activator (http://www.ipsf.com/livesand.html), and the reefworm diversity pack (http://www.ipsf.com/reefworms.html) from IPSF. I would avoid any sandsifting gobies, as they will prey on the infauna living in the substrate, and sooner or later will run out of food for themselves. See, "In the Home Aquarium", in this article (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/hcs3/index.php).

[DrSoussou]

I always keep some kind of sand sifting goby in my tank. They should not compete with mandarins for pods IMO - they will not pick at the rocks which is where the mandarins hunt.

+1 will definitely not compete with mandarin unless your pod population is already in serious trouble.

i had a decorated goby for years and he would only stay on the sand, diamonds usually are the same. yellow-head sleepers are more of the "pick up sand and then spit it all over the tank" type of cleaners.

there's always the tiger goby, they have good cleaning behavior too but they're a little rarer (maybe more expensive) and get bigger than the others. i'm not sure about their aggression but the decorated and diamond should definitely not be an issue as a new tankmate.

nassarius snails are cool too but they don't do as good of a job as a fish

[kissman]

Love my gobie but always heard the Sand Sifting Star fish will eat all the good bacteria and live stuff in Sand Bed.

[mattgumaer]

Thanks for all the input.

Matt

[chrisscerati]

bullet gobies are always active i have never seen one sitting around a tank

[d-man]

My sand crew in my 325 is
Diamond goby
3-5 tiger tail cucumbers
A 1' black medusa cucumber
A pair for f twin spot gobies
3 sand sifting stars
Pink spot goby
A few nassarius snails
That's all I believe

[d-man]

Tiger tails don't do squat.
The medusa is the best!!
The fish are great too

[mattgumaer]

Got a pair of twin spots despite reservations. Ultimately, I couldn't resist. They're in a 29 gallon quarantine that's had sand in it for a while. Wish me luck.

Matt

[fishin710]

Got a pair of twin spots despite reservations. Ultimately, I couldn't resist. They're in a 29 gallon quarantine that's had sand in it for a while. Wish me luck.

Matt

I'm curious how they worked out for you. I'm dealing with the same problem now and considering the same thing.