Keeping Tank Clean = IMPOSSIBLE

[pappa d]

My water for the last 3 weeks, since i got my dogface pufferfish, has been very cloudy. i'm thinking its from him either blowing at the sand, food deteriating, etc. i just have a feeling its from him because it was never like this before. how can i keep my tank clean with this guy in it!? even the nitrite rose to .2 probably from uneaten food im guessing??? can anyone give me suggestions. i currently have tunze nanostream 6025 powerhead, and using the two return lines from my pump as a current.., about a 3 inch bed of live sand, and plenty of live rock. in a sump im using a berlin classic turbo protein skimmer. what can i do to keep my tank clean with this slobb :hilarious

 

[jon321]

Dont overfeed. Lots of water changes. Larger cleaners like large sand sifting gobies or starry hermit crabs to keep sand clean and clean uneaten food.
Jon

 

[pappa d]

thanks Jon321 for the advice! i have been asking about 4 lfs what i can use as a cleanup crew and all of them said they didnt know which was very frustrating!!!! i will look into those, anyone else want to throw out some advice???

 

[zach]

Your LFS didn't know what fish were good cleaner fish? Thats pretty sad...

 

[pappa d]

well not so much the fish part, but the invert part more to speak. i asked all for crabs, snails, etc that a dogface wouldnt eat. none knew... which is still very sad.

 

[nictavius]

I would go with a few strawberry hermits.....very mean but they will help a little.......

 

[zach]

Yeah, anyone who works at a fish store should know that kind of stuff. I don't work at a fish store and I've only been into SW for about a year and I know all about that stuff...

 

[nictavius]

Yea...you could add some more inverts to your sump if you have a refugium.....i dunno about hermits but some filter feeders.....wouldn't help with eating extra food but would help with other levels......

 

[pappa d]

Originally Posted by Nictavius
Yea...you could add some more inverts to your sump if you have a refugium.....i dunno about hermits but some filter feeders.....wouldn't help with eating extra food but would help with other levels......
like what, and where?

 

[jon321]

If you have alot of live rock I would also consider a few brittle stars. They are very secretive and only come out at night, so as long as they have enough cover to stay hidden I cant see the puffer finding them.
And Id definitely consider getting a bullet goby (Amblygobius phalaena). They get large, 6"+ and are excellent sand sifters to cleanup all the gunk so your filter can collect it.
Jon

 

[jon321]

Originally Posted by Nictavius
Yea...you could add some more inverts to your sump if you have a refugium.....i dunno about hermits but some filter feeders.....wouldn't help with eating extra food but would help with other levels......
With the high nitrite and nitrate levels hes probably experiencing I wouldnt think many/any filter feeders would survive very long. Plus they will still need phyto feedings anyways.
Caulerpa or chaeto in a lighted sump can do wonders tho to keep readings at 0 once you have the situation under control.
Jon

 

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by Nictavius
I would go with a few strawberry hermits.....very mean but they will help a little.......
Don't these get HUGE? :scared:

 

[jon321]

Originally Posted by earlybird
Don't these get HUGE? :scared:
About the size of a tennisball. Perfect size not not become a meal and will grab any uneaten food and stir the sand a bit.
Jon

 

[pappa d]

Originally Posted by Jon321
About the size of a tennisball. Perfect size not not become a meal and will grab any uneaten food and stir the sand a bit.
Jon
oh wow, thats big hahaha. so probably should only go for one of those?

 

[pappa d]

also, can it help alot with how the powerheads and the flow is set up. For example, i just changed everything around a little so everythings angled down more and blowing the leftover food/ algea/ top layer of sand a little bit more. Seems to look better, is this what most people do? i am trying/still working on getting a revolving flow that gets things off the ground and pushes towards the direction of the overflow box.. any pointers, comments or knowledge if this is a good thing to do?

 

[jon321]

If you have fine sand I would not have powerheads near it to prevent 'dust storms'. If its coarser sand, yes, have as much flow as you can over the sandbed.
The hermits do get fairly large, and are pretty scrappy so probably no more than 1 per 50g.
Jon

 

[pappa d]

thank you very much jon321 for your time and answers, along with everyone else on the thread. one more question about the strawberry hermit crabs though, do they need to be fed or will they get all their nutrition from leftover scraps, algea, etc. if so does anyone know what or have experience with these?(little concerned that it might hurt my fish getting that big?) thank you very much.

 

[84chris]

Originally Posted by Pappa D
thank you very much jon321 for your time and answers, along with everyone else on the thread. one more question about the strawberry hermit crabs though, do they need to be fed or will they get all their nutrition from leftover scraps, algea, etc. if so does anyone know what or have experience with these?(little concerned that it might hurt my fish getting that big?) thank you very much.
My strawberry hermit is HUGE(easily the size of a tennis ball), but does the best job ever on keeping my sand clean. Ive never seen it bother a fish, except if one dies, they'll find it and eat it. As for feeding, ive never directly fed it anything. I definitely recommend one though.

 

[pappa d]

Originally Posted by 84chris
My strawberry hermit is HUGE(easily the size of a tennis ball), but does the best job ever on keeping my sand clean. Ive never seen it bother a fish, except if one dies, they'll find it and eat it. As for feeding, ive never directly fed it anything. I definitely recommend one though.
great, thank you for your advice! im very excited to get one now!