Disturbing the sand bed is only really a concern when a plenum is concerned, although it could also be a problem with a DSB. Disturbing the anearobic area of a sand bed can have negative results on the anearobic bacteria that live there which convert nitrates into free nitrogen. The problem with most sand sifters is they eat the "life" in a live sand bed such as the "pods, and tiny crusteaceans. Horseshoe crabs are not suitable for most home aquariums, they get too big and require a lot of open sand surface. Have you ever seen one at the beach, they get huge and usually starve to death in captivity. If your looking for something to help clean your sand look into small sand dwelling creatures like nassarius snails, mini brittle starfish, bristle worms, "pods", and other creatures that live in and on the sand feeding on wastes and algae. A good source is fresh live rock, or sand from a tank with a good population of critters. HTH
[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: Adrian ]
