Sahin Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 OK, I am thinking of getting a sand sifter, something that just eats the surface algae/bacteria/detritus What would be suitable? A goby? I dont want it to wipe out my sand critters either. SO any ideas appreciated. Link to comment
Sahin Posted June 3, 2002 Author Share Posted June 3, 2002 OK having researched, I guess the goby is out. Any other ideas? Link to comment
kriot Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 i had the same delimna, there are actually a few options depending on what you're looking for, there is the redhead goby and the neon blue goby which are both small and cool, and do not sift sand. also if you have a cooler temp tank 60-70 degrees you can try a catalina goby. i went with the red head and he kicks ass. really cool and good lookin imo. ken Link to comment
jstewart0 Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 They had some of those red head gobies at my lfs but they were all sold, they are really cool cause they are so small. I used to have a rainsford goby that I really liked. I dont know if I would put it in a nano however, all it would do is eat pods all day. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 Sahin, you have a 10 gallon right? If so you could go with a goby! Try going with a smaller guy though... Perhaps a 4x4? A single on of these guys will sift through all of your sand! However, they rely more upon food that they find in the sand than ditritus (this is true with most sand sifting gobies). But gobies will keep the sand turned over, and looking nice and pretty! Link to comment
Fant Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 4x4 or 4 wheel drive gobies need to be maintained in male/female pairs. Solitary adults will die. Link to comment
quiksilver5768 Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 Why not get a few sand sifting stars? Link to comment
SBGRAD24 Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 For a 10-gallon you could go with ONE sand sifting star. If you have more than one in that small of a tank they will eat the organisms in your sand faster than they can reproduce. Link to comment
Sahin Posted June 4, 2002 Author Share Posted June 4, 2002 My Nano is 24G. I am worried that any sand sifter other than say a starfish would eat the critters. I just want the topsand to be stired etc. Link to comment
fishymissy Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 I don't know about some of the other gobies mentioned, but the diamond goby will create a sandstorm! I made the mistake of putting one in my nano....what a mess! Sand was clean but you couldn't see any of the corals and the clam wasn't happy either. I was lucky on this one though...we had some warm weather, the air conditioner was on the fritz so the hood was left open on this tank. During the night I heard something flopping on the carpet turns out the diamond had made a leap out of the tank. Very easy to pick him up and plop him into a waiting tank. Easiest catch I ever had! Sorry, got carried away there! Anyway, how about a cucumber? I have a brown atlantic cuke in my nano and he does a wonderful job keeping the top sand clean and he doesn't bother the sand critters at all! This kind of cuke is not as toxic as some of the others offered for sale, although it is important to remove a dead one as soon as possible as they will release a toxin as they decay. Just a thought. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 I wouldn't recommend cucs... Cucs release the toxin either right before, or as they die, making it increadibly hard to remove them before they release anything into the tank! -However, you may get lucky and get a cuc that doesn't release much or any toxins at all... It is possible for this to happen (but very rare). People who have had larger tanks can attest to the fact that their corals don't look healthy when a cuc dies in the tank (happened in my 55), in a nano the toxin would have most certainly killed everything in my tank. I have heard rhumers that the yellow cuc doesn't have much affect on the tank when it dies (but this has always been 3rd hand info). I'm not going to say they can't be done, because they can if you really do your research... but I wouldn't suggest them to anyone with a 10 gallon... Link to comment
Son Of Skyline Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 You could always try fighting conch snails. They tend to stir up the sand well, eating algae and leftover food. Queen conches are great too, but they get way too big for a nano. I personally have a pearly jawfish to keep my sand stirred. They are burrowers, not sand sifters, so they don't eat up the life in your sandbed. They need a larger tank though. Mine is currently a 27gal. Link to comment
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