Dirty tank bottom

[poohmarie]

I have looked at lots of pictures of other tanks lately and noticed that everyone has a clean looking bed in their tank. Mine is not pretty at all. All I have is sand in it. But you can see everything from crab shellings to snail poop. I have all kinds of snails and hermit crabs, but they just don't stir up the sand at all. I go in there and do it manually. Any ideas for this?

Thanks

 

[reefman23]

well first of all, dont disturb the sand bed too much...just the top 1/2" or so. Second, do you have any true nassarius snails? I have 3 or 4 of these guys and they are great. thirdly, i think we all have sand beds that are littered with snail/hermit poo's too, i think it just doesnt show up in the photos. I think that microstars work at the detritus as well. if you dont have any that hitchhiked, you can get those at floridapets.com.

jesse

 

[skipm]

Another thing that helps make the sandbed look better is having some sand that is not too fine, this allows for alot of the poo and stuff to hide between the larger grains. I try to use a mixture of mostly fine grain sand with some that is a little coarser. HTH, Skip

 

[Anonymous]

more flow would keep the detritus suspended for removal with a mechanical filter

 

[Jennie]

Nassarius snails are a good idea. You know they're working when they smell food and they have to unearth themselves to go find it.

 

[poohmarie]

I have looked those up on the internet and that is probably the one snail I don't have. I am planning that 2hr trip to my "lfs" this weekend. I am also going to look for something to help with the water flow. Hoping that will help to. Thank you all for your help with this.

 

[sadielynn]

for more flow you could use a mini jet either 606 or 404 either one should help you . I have 2 of the 606 in my 7 gallon and a 404 in the 2.5 gallon both give good flow :mrgreen:

 

[reefman23]

make sure you get the large species of nassarius... http://www.thatpetplace.com/LiveFish/Pr ... etail.aspx . there seems to be two kinds of nassarius out there and the smaller species is rather small (about 1/4" or so) but the ones that are pictured in the link are about 3/4". i have read in my "A PocketExpert Guide to Marine Invertebrates: 500+ Essential-to-Know Aquarium Species" (a pretty useful book for all reefers) that these snails can live for 20 to 30 years!!! My reef has been set up for over 2 years and i have only lost one of these guys.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Fighting (AKA Tongan) conchs will also help stir the sandbed and keep it clean.