Mikedel Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 What can I add to my cleaner crew to help keep the sand turned, that way I can avoid gas build up? I have 3 astrea snails and a blue leg hermit now. Its a Nano-Cube, with about 10 lbs live rock and a good 2.5 to 3 inches of live sand, so I really need to get something in there to start digging around. Thanks, Mike Link to comment
seaker Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 they want you to search for it. nassarius snails are good Link to comment
zzpw3x Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Fighting conch. Thay are great for keeping the sand clean. He is in my 10G with lots of other types of snails, and he is by far the best sand cleaner. Dale Link to comment
MillerLite Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 How big does the fighting conch get? Will it deplete the sand of copepods or any other critters while it sifts? Will it be ok in a 7 gallon minibow? Link to comment
SoBe Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Fighting Conchs are great cleaners. But they do need plenty of algae to graze on otherwise they will go hungry. If you include one in your 10gal cleaning crew, you can't have more than 2-3 other algae eaters. They also grow 2-3" long. Mike Link to comment
zzpw3x Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 Mine never leaves the sand bed, so I wouldn't worry too much about Astreas since based on my experience they never leave the glass. I've read people saying they clean the sand too, but not in my little 10G world. Link to comment
ch0ch Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 nassarius snails are the best way to go. they clean the sand and rocks of detritus and they are small so they can eliminate detritus is tight crevices. Link to comment
zzpw3x Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 Nassarius don't eat algae, so that is a problem. Link to comment
Mikedel Posted March 8, 2004 Author Share Posted March 8, 2004 Well now my cleaning crew consist of 3 Astrea snails, 1 blue hermit crab and 4 nassarius snails. A couple of people have suggested I double those numbers. What do yall think? Thanks, Mike Link to comment
MillerLite Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 I would double the number of astrea and buy at least 3 or more hermit crabs. You will find that unless you have enough hermits or even a starfish that you will begin to collect detrius on the surface of the sand. If you begin to see more deitrus, buy more scavengers. Also, I found that buying more nassarius snails may not be necessary. These little snails seem to have a bit of a problem finding food quickly enough in my nano and buying more snails may limit the amount of food available to them as it is. They just cant seem to get to it fast enough. My red bristle works wonderfully in helping to keep the sand clean. Check out the threads about starfish. I have a red bristlestar. Red bristles are great. Never get the green bristles though since they have a tendancy to eat sleeping fish. Good luck! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.