Sand Bed Stirrer and Cleaner

What do you guys use to keep your sand bed stirred up? The guy cleaning my tank said my sand bed was like cement and I really need to get a critter (or a few) to keep it agitated.

Ideas?

Thanks!

 

i prefer the super tongan nassarius snails. sand sifting gobies work well but you need to make sure they have enough live food in the sand or add food to the sand.

 

sand sifting gobies, nassarus snails, conch snails, horseshoe crab if you have a large enough tank sand sifting stars

i personally have a horshoe crab and he does a great job...i had originally caught him in a shallow tidal area wild around may i think and he was maybe the size of a quarter he has since grown to the size of a half dollar, he had his own tank with some other critters from the sound however i let my brother take care of it and I had a major salinity spike (he couldnt listen to directions and topped of with seawater not fresh) and i lost almost everything besides him in the tank so i slowly lowered the salinity in his tank and decided i see them enough in other peoples tanks and im positive he doesnt have any parasites so i acclimated him into m 55 which he is currently loving and is doing fine because of his current size, i eventually plan on going bigger and he'll make the move into the new tank once i get it but for now he will be fine....worse case scenario im sure the touch pool will be glad to take it in at the aquarium near us or maybe mystic sea port

 

I have some nassarius snails, but I could get more.

He recommended a sand sifting sea star, but I've read a lot of horror stories about them starving to death, etc. Any input on that?

My tank is 90 gallons and has a 2-3 inch sandbed and has been running for almost 2 years.

 

Nothing is better than a cucumber. But make sure you don't starve it though

 

How do you feed them?

Oh - aren't those super toxic if they die?!

 

i wouldn't recommend the sandsifting star. i had one for a little over two years and it finally did starve to death. i don't think most tanks have enough live food in their sand to support them and it is a long slow process for them to starve. it was an impulse buy with no research for me and i wouldn't get another. what type of nassarius snails do you have? if you don't have the "super tongan" they are quite a bit larger than what reefcleaners sell (i don't think i have seen them on their website) so they cover more sand in my opinion and i think go a little deeper. i'm not sure that actually makes them better sand sifters but in my own world of make believe it does.

 

Ohhh ok yeah I just have the little nassarius from ReefCleaners. I'll look into these Tongan ones. Thanks!