Keeping sand clean

[ryan115]

As my tank gets older it seems as though the sand just get uglier. Mainly the part in the DSB where it meets the glass. Also i am still having problems with diatoms everywhere on the sand and on the glass, not near as bad as it used to be. Im using RO water so could this be from over lighting. Also any suggestions on how to keep the sand clean without siphoning it up and releasing all kinds of chemicals into my tank?

 

[bushviper]

Hey, do you have any sort of a cleaning crew? Such as hermits, snails, crabs etc? Those are you best bet, but there are also fish that will clean the sand, somtimes they eat the good critters in the sand though. For my tank I have a Yellow head sleeper goby and then hermits and they make a good cleaning crew... Hope that is of some help...

 

[ryan115]

i have several hermits and snails (planning on a few more this weekend) a brittle star and a CC star but still dirty

 

[arkey.d]

Margarita Snails and Fighting Conches eat Diatoms..... Might want to try Distilled Water instead of RO also....

 

[ryan115]

ive heard that the conchs get big and like to rearange your tank though?:notsure:

 

[arkey.d]

Not sure if thats for the fighting or queen conches or both though... I'm planning on getting a fighting conch for my 55 and one for my 29...

 

[ryan115]

it might be the queens i am thinking about but i would still like to find out some more info