Originally Posted by 1journeyman
That's not entirely accurate.
Stirring a shallow sand bed should not be an issue. Stirring a deep sand bed can kill anaearobic bacteria throwing your water chemistry off.
Now, if you have a lot of detritus in your tank then stirring a deep sand bed could spike the ammonia as it overwhelms the bacteria, but I really don't consider that a cycle per say.
Nass. snails do in fact make great sand stirrers. The Goby however, not so much. The snails burrow in the sand and come out to feed (they like meat). The constant burrowing they do is a good way to keep sand stirred. plus they won't burrow deep enough to disrupt a deep sand bed.
Gobies, on the other hand, sift your sand. They eat the beneficial critters in your sand bed that can help keep your tank clean.
I definitely agree here. I have 10 nassarius snails in my 46 reef, and I just added another group of them into my soon to be seahorse tank. They pretty much stay under the surface of the sand until they sense food in the vicinity, come up to feed, then go back under to go about their business. In my experience, they've been very beneficial.
Lisa :happyfish