Keeping Fine Sand Clean In Nano

[BRIANSTINYREEF]

I STARTED A NEW NANO REEF TANK 2 WEEKS AGO AND I WANT TO AVOID KEEPING THE BUILD UP OF ALGAE AND OTHER THINGS IN THE FINE CLEAN SAND. I LIKE THAT CLEAN LOOK. SOME NANOS SEEM TO HAVE IT OTHERS DONT. WHAT CAN I DO TO ENSURE I HAVE CLEAN SAND.

 

SKIMMER-

CLEAN UP CREW BLUE LEGGED(STAY MOSTLY ON ROCKS)VARIETY OF SNAILS, CLEANER SHRIMP? SAND SIFTING STAR?

 

ARE THERE ANY OTHER THINGS IAM DOING OR NOT DOING WHICH MAY HELP ME KEEP THAT NICE CLEAN LOOK ON SAND BED?

 

THANKS

[J-Bass]

My margarita and black turbo snails do an excellent job on my rocks and glass. As for the sand, my cerith snails and scarlet reef hermits take care of that.

[printerdown01]

I would recommend Nass. snails, but it would be risky with the hermits. Blue legs are also known to go after burrowing ceriths as well... So IMO these guys are out of the picture. I have heard rumers that sand sifting stars actually eat worms in the sand (whether this is true or not I do NOT know). If this is true then it would not be wise to have one of these guys in a tank with fine sand, as worms do a great job at stirring the sand. If you do not plan on having any tiny fish, you may consider a brittle star (ditritus eater, but have been known to snag teeny sleeping fish -like a neon goby). Also scarlet hermits should be just fine with your blue legs, and they do tend to clean the sand fairly well. A word to the wise however, your sand will NOT look clean until your tank is "established." By this I don't even mean cycled... It will take a while for your tank to finish "fine tuning" itself. The growth of worm populations will greatly impact your sands health. As your tank begins to age, worms will populate the sand. If you did not use LS in your tank, considering picking up a scoop of sand from a local reefers established tank. This will help out. If your tank is 20 gallons you might consider getting a cucumber to help out -but due to the release of toxins in the event that they may die in your aquarium I would not recommend them for anything less than a 20. Hope this helps, I'll see if I can think of any more critters that may help out. But do expect for your sand to be covered with algae on and off for about 6 weeks or so. sorry that is just how it goes (or grows)