dirty sand bottom

[hawkster]

I wrote last month about the same problem and there hasn't been any improvment so I figure I'll try again. I now have a 55 gal salt tank with about 2 inches of sand which wasn't live at frrst but I beleive has gathered som life frome the approx 80 lbs of live rock.I may add some live sand later if need be, My problem is : every time I clean the glass a ton of brown alg. falls to the bottom and looks ugly, I want to clean it out but havent figured out how. I recently added10 bl legged crabs,2 scarlet leg crabs and one sea cucumber,to go along witha half a dozen other crabs already in the tank.The only thing the blue crabs seem to be interested in are the turbo snails for food and shelter! , at least the scarlet legged crabs don't bother them but they are more costly. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[logan15]

get 2 fighting conchs great sand bed cleaners clean everything

 

[cmpowell]

How well does the nassarius snails work on helping keep the sand clean.Sorry to jump in your post hawkster.

 

[logan15]

they're okay certainly not as good as conchs or a goby i like the conchs better because they're 6.00 a piece or less but a sand sifting goby would be the best

 

[jauringer]

I posted with basically the same problem as you a couple of weeks ago. I was told to get conches and brittle stars and that has seemed to have done the trick. I purchased two of each for my fifty gallon. (i wanted to get about four fighting conches, but the LFS guy said they get huge and that is all i would need for a 55.)

 

[leigh]

get some extra shells for your hermit crabs too and they'll stop bugging your snails.

 

[bonzarelli]

I JUST ABOUT TO LET U GUYS KNOW I WAS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM I HAVE A GOBY BUT HE IS NOT CLEANING IT FAST ENOUGH I ALSO GET IT ON THE BACK GLASS BAD I HAVE 10 TURBOS & 10 MARG SNAILS AND THEY SEEM TO ON THE LIVE ROCK MOSTLY WHAT ELSE COULD I TRY.

 

[jferrier]

Maybe consider a fuge. I've tried snails of all sorts, crabs, brittle stars, horseshoe crabs, and all helped, but total algea erradication didn't happen for me until I added a refugium. I still get some on the glass, but it scrapes clean and doesn't seem to accumulate on the bottom.

 

[elan]

hope you dont mind me jumping in your post as well...
I just finished my cycle a few weeks ago and added 7 blue-green chromis and 2 peculia clows on friday. all seem to be doing well.
The problem i am having is in my research of gobies. In doing my reasarch, i hear they are excellent sand sifters and will keep my DSB stirred.
The problem i have with this is my DSB has not yet been given 6 or so months to mature and i dont want to get something that will eat all the critters i want in the bed..
Just to clarify.. is there a difference between detrius and pods? is detrius what i want to get rid of and pods i want to keep? or do i want to keep both since i have a DSB. And if i get a gobbie, will it eat both?
Also, what do i do about all the fish poo that is accumulating on the sand bed? will the gobbie eat that stuff too?? or will the detrius or pods eat that?
thanks!

 

[thomas712]

Increase your water ciruculation if possable as well as all the suggestions above.
Thomas

 

[fshhub]

nassarius are great
so are conchs
and crabs
I would increase the circulaion as thomas suggested and retest the water
Then I would get some nassarius snails and 2 fighting conchs, forget about sand sifting fish, they do not clean the sand, but stir ti while eating soem of the stuff that will help you to avoid this happening again. Not only are they eating yoru pods, they are also hiding the problem, by stiring it, NOT fixing the problem.
chances are that it is either/or the cirulation/water quality
as for the turbos, I have never seen mine go on the sand they like glass and rocks.

 

[elan]

CheerFlip1, i wish my emeralds did that.. they are always hiding, and are very careful to be seen. I even have one that will sit in holes in the rocks, and all i see is his claw come out of the rock, grab stuff, and go back into the rock. did you ever write that post
SquishyFish, I actually see alot of pods running around. sometimes whissing across the tank and climbing all over the rocks... i have seen a few that are a few millimeeters long too. They are only in few areas of the tank. is a well established pod population all over the sand bed and rock and pretty much everywhere?
logan15, i saw the fighting conchs at the lfs and think they are the coolest looking snail i have ever scene.. almost like an elephant trunk vacuming the sand. remarkable.. i gotta have me bsome of those.!!! do they usually prefer the sand or rocks?
hawkster , i have had the same problem. i think one of my blue legeds has even killed a red legged for his shell. but not the snails yet. i am even thinking about trying to grab all the blue crabs and replacing them with red ones. i already tried getting putting in shells for them, but it seems the blues want the homes that are not abandond.

[hr]
!

 

[elan]

i have 5. and they get really scared when i come up to the glass..
do you feed the crabs something when you go to the tank?