Sand cleaners

I have nassarius and cerith snails in my tank that turn over the top layer of sand in a 3 inch sand bed. The nassarius do a good job of cleaning up leftover fish food and the ceriths are great for diatoms and algae.

After reading other posts here I am avoiding sand sifting stars...

 

Chalk gobie has a incredible sand turn over rate but be warned they have a tendency to bury under the rockwork at night as i found out...

 

I don't want to turn this into a DSB string as anyone who knows me will tell you I have nothing but contempt for a DSB and the Guy who dug the idea out of month balls and revisited it .
What I find in most just have a mess ,, Like when I see 3 inches or 4 inches its not a DSB its just more sand then you really want or need .. At 4 inches thats the minimum that one would even have a chance with .
6 inches is where I start and its not all fine sand but a 2 inch layer of clay to make a real mud. But what a sand sifting anything is just eating what you already have not enough of the sands live fauna and bacteria.. Seems the Great Dr revised his Data every few months or every tank failure until he learned what many already knew. A DSB needs to have its sand fauna replenished every 6 months or so . As they will explode in numbers they will also die off faster.. Never ever under no circumstances is a DSB to ever be stirred or dug into to.. Basically what the Geekster said

 

I apologize but I'm confused. I guess it is beat into the begineers to clean the sand with a vacuum or use sand sifting/cleaning critters and I've been doing that for a couple years. I can definently handle not vacuuming it and forking out the money for all these sand critters, but how does it stay clean? white? is it supposed to be white? Is it the watermovement not letting stuff settle that will keep it white or what? I would say I have about a six inch sand bed as since I got this 120 gallon tank that came with sand, I also have the DSB from my 75 gallon in there.

 

Sand will only be white when you first add it. If you want to keep the top of your DSB free of detritus, you will need to add hermit crabs, starfish or snails that will only clean the surface of the sand. You do not want to add anything that burrows.

 

what critters are the best for this and how many of each for a 120?

 

Blue leg and scarlett hermit crabs, serpent stars, mini brittle stars. Your options are really limited though as most snails will stay on the rockwork and not clean your sand. Keep in mind that the worms and pods that live in your sandbed will do their fair share of cleaning too.

 

Very true, i got 5 turbo snails to clean the sand and they went straight onto the rock, have not been off since,,,,buggers...

 

my turbo snails occationally go on the sand but its really only to get from the rock to the glass. i need a shrimp to help out with the sand i think haha

 

Granted I am new to the reef tank hobby I fully agree as to NOT disturbing anything more than the very top layer of your DSB.

I say this practically. I live in Florida, I fish, snorkel, observe and love the sea. I also have seen my fair share of Hurricanes and what they leave in their wake.....

DEATH - Relocation - Destruction of the reefs - filling of the troughs.

I am sure somewhere benefits from all this. Maybe even right at the destruction point, but it take months just to see good water quality and years to see some of the habitat restored.

DON'T create a Hurricane in a 100 gallon Ocean