another dumb newbie ?
- Thread starter ziggy002
- Start date
maeistero
Active Member
some people do suction, but they all do it about 3-4 inches above the sand to not disturb it. in that case i would think they're just feeding too much.
mudplayerx
Active Member
My sand was dirty until I got a sea cucumber. A lot of people will warn against the cucumbers, but only because they are repeating what they hear and they don't have full knowledge of all the species.
There are two kinds of sea cucumbers. The first group are the brightly-colored filter feeders. These are the highly poisonous ones prone to fouling the tank when upset or killed. It is my opinion that these should probably be avoided.
The second group is the detrivore sea cucumbers. They tend to have drab colors to blend into their surroundings. They spend most of the day hiding and come out at night to feed. These guys use specialized tube feet under their "heads" to scoop up sand and detritus. After processing and digesting this, they expell it out the other end of their body. The reason I recommend these guys is because the sand they poop out is clean as a whistle!
I have gone as far as prying my cucumber off of a rock without having him get upset (a very stupid move, but included here just to make a point). It is my opinion that a detrivore cucumber would need something as drastic as its body being torn or pierced before it will emit toxins.
Go get yourself a detrivore sea cucumber and your sand will never be dirty again. Mine even cleans the live rocks.
There are two kinds of sea cucumbers. The first group are the brightly-colored filter feeders. These are the highly poisonous ones prone to fouling the tank when upset or killed. It is my opinion that these should probably be avoided.
The second group is the detrivore sea cucumbers. They tend to have drab colors to blend into their surroundings. They spend most of the day hiding and come out at night to feed. These guys use specialized tube feet under their "heads" to scoop up sand and detritus. After processing and digesting this, they expell it out the other end of their body. The reason I recommend these guys is because the sand they poop out is clean as a whistle!
I have gone as far as prying my cucumber off of a rock without having him get upset (a very stupid move, but included here just to make a point). It is my opinion that a detrivore cucumber would need something as drastic as its body being torn or pierced before it will emit toxins.
Go get yourself a detrivore sea cucumber and your sand will never be dirty again. Mine even cleans the live rocks.
maeistero
Active Member
:happy: agreed with the cucumber, just be careful which ones like he said. on a similar note, i've a chocolate star that does a dang good job as far as topofthesand algae and detrius goes. i know they're touted as terrible. this is my first, but it eats anything but snails.
philgmiami
Member
i have a 55 with a sump..60pOUNDS of LS ..its been about 2 months.. the only thing that is stable is my ph, everything else is very high my NH3-NH4 IS IS - 5.0 MG/L(DARK BLUE) AND MY NO-2 IS - 0.3 MG/L(ORANGE)....I HAVE BROWN STUFF GROWING ON BACK OF GLASS AND ON MY ROCK(THEY ARE NOT LIVE ROCK).. I HAVE A FEW DEMSALS(THE TIGIR STRIP HAS FIN ROT AND I CANT CATCH THE BUGGER 
...I DID A 30% WATER CHANGE TODAY AND THOSE ARE MY RESULTS... WHAT SHOULD I DO :notsure: ... THANKS PHILGMIAMI
...I DID A 30% WATER CHANGE TODAY AND THOSE ARE MY RESULTS... WHAT SHOULD I DO :notsure: ... THANKS PHILGMIAMI
I
italianwjt
Guest
what about crushed coral? should i clean above the crushed coral or suck it up and let it drop back down from the syphon?
