question about dirty sand???

[addicted2]

question is:.....after sand gets that dirty look...brown with some green...from "less than good maintanence"...does it ever get white again? I am considering taking over a small saltwater tank (30gal) of a friends...but their sand looks like crap. Everything else in there looks fine...any suggestions??

 

[spanko]

If you have to move the tank anyway, gonna have to empty it, just get new sand. But to answer your question yes you can get the sand white again. Put in an army of Nassarius and an army of Cerith snails.

 

[addicted2]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2754553
If you have to move the tank anyway, gonna have to empty it, just get new sand. But to answer your question yes you can get the sand white again. Put in an army of Nassarius and an army of Cerith snails.
well, not to sound cheap...but I already have a 75 gal reef...and that is my #1 love...this 30 gal deal...well, I don't really want to spend any money other than weekly upkeep...I just don't have it. But if there is a way it will just clear up with water changes...?? normal weekly upkeep??

 

[novahobbies]

It'll clear. Like spanko said, Nassarius snails will help. Throw 5 or 6 in there (well, not literally) and it will go a long way to cleaning it up. Weekly water changes, sandstorms.....it'll be fine again soon. I rake the top 1/4 inch of my sand every other day or so, and it stays pretty durn nice.

 

[maryg]

My sand was getting that dirty look. I got some snails, blue legs, and a sand sifting starfish. The starfish is awsome. Cleaned up the whole tank (55gallon) in a matter of days.

 

[addicted2]

Originally Posted by MaryG
http:///forum/post/2755577
My sand was getting that dirty look. I got some snails, blue legs, and a sand sifting starfish. The starfish is awsome. Cleaned up the whole tank (55gallon) in a matter of days.

I have heard that the sand sifting starfish eat alot of good bacteria too. I need my pods for fish...do they bother them?

 

[maryg]

Originally Posted by addicted2
http:///forum/post/2755645
I have heard that the sand sifting starfish eat alot of good bacteria too. I need my pods for fish...do they bother them?
Not sure. He burries himself in the sand and he also climbs on the glass and rock. He has these little suction cups that he moves around with. They are supposed to eat leftovers, waste, detrius and stuff. Not sure about pods.

 

[novahobbies]

I'm sorry to say this, but a sand-sifting starfish in a 55 gallon may prove to be a problem in the near future. These guys will eat all the microfauna in your sand...maybe not copepods, but isopods, amphipods...all the detrivore crustatea that we should really be relying on to help our closed systems quickly become food for a hungry starfish, and once they strip the tank of "food," they will starve and die. Which they will do down under the sand, probably under a piece of live rock in Murphy's Law has any say.

This is based on what I've read and...sadly....personal experience in the 55 gallon tank I started out with. I could have had a bad starfish, but I honestly warn others away from these animals. If you have a 300 or 450 gallon tank, then you're probably fine, but tanks with small footprints should probably use other animals to sift the sand. I've got 8 nassarius snails, a couple fighting conchs, and a serpent star for the sandbed of my 110 (same footprint as a 90 or 75, btw) and they seem to keep the sand pretty clean.
Again, just my $0.02. Your exchange rate may vary.