Best Nano Tank sand cleaner

[mmac9]

Hi Fellow Reefers,

 

I was wondering what everyone uses to clean their sand beds besides sand vac. Are there any fish that you could use in the nano tank? 

 

I wish I could keep a sleeper head goby but they will get to large too fast for my understanding.

 

My Tank: Fluval Evo13.5

 

Thanks for your help!

-MMacs Reef

[Clown79]

Besides weekly vacuuming I use nassarius and cerith snails.

 

I now have a conch as well but those aren't advised in new systems. Not sure how old your tank is  

[Tamberav]

Technically anything you buy to clean the sandbed will also poop in it. A conch may eat diatoms and algae but still leave big fat poops no1 wants and you have to siphon those out 😛

 

I'm afraid a 13g is too small for a sandsifting goby or a conch. Nass and cernith snails will travel through the sandbed and help stir it a bit but really... the true answer is we just vac it. 

[mmac9]

12 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Besides weekly vacuuming I use nassarius and cerith snails.

 

I now have a conch as well but those aren't advised in new systems. Not sure how old your tank is  

 

10 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Technically anything you buy to clean the sandbed will also poop in it. A conch may eat diatoms and algae but still leave big fat poops no1 wants and you have to siphon those out 😛

 

I'm afraid a 13g is too small for a sandsifting goby or a conch. Nass and cernith snails will travel through the sandbed and help stir it a bit but really... the true answer is we just vac it. 

Gotcha thanks for the responses. I figured that was the answer, I just wanted to see if there was anything else out there that I didn't know of.

[OPtasia]

Blue legged hermits will comb the surface but then again so will cerith snails. Nassarius snails are great for stirring things up in the sand bed and will scavenge for food and detritus. I also have a tiger conch, and they're pretty awesome at wiping out diatoms on the sand while they scavenge in my tank. But, I wouldn't put a tiger conch in a tank smaller than say 30 gallons or so. 

 

It doesn't hurt to take a coral pointer and stir up your substrate manually every once in a while, especially in places hard to reach with a gravel vac. Getting detritus up and into the water column where your mechanical filtration can do it's job is helpful. 

[BlennyBoi]

nassarius IMO

[MainelyReefer]

Turkey baster and pistol shrimp

[Band Hunter]

 Nassarius are cool, I love how they pop out of the sand at feeding time, reminds me of Muad'Dib and a group of Fremin.