sand sifters

[ezjp]

I am looking to purchase some sand sifting fish from this site. I would like to know which fish would suit my tank best. 37 gallon reef, no corals yet. 1 clarki clown, 2 three striped damsels,2 serpent stars,1 coral banded shrimp and small cleanup crew. crabs etc....

 

[ophiura]

The main question is why do you want a sand sifter? They can make a mess of a tank, and eat all the "good" critters in a sand bed. Ditto with the sand sifter star, which will starve in your tank, most likely. Do you have an algae problem? Lots of Debris? You may want to go for a sand sifter snail or conch of some sort. Much cleaner, and much friendlier to a sand bed.

 

[ezjp]

I do have some algae in the tank. I am having a prob with red slime algae (cyano) at the moment and trying to cure. I thought the sand sifting fish would help hopefully.

 

[ophiura]

Nope, not a good solution, I am afraid. Definitely do some searches on that red slime algae...it is a common problem. But you are better off with sand sifting snails like nassarius and conchs. Also look into how much circulation you have in the tank. What are your water parameters (nitrates especially?). Do you use tap water or RO water?
But I definitely wouldn't go for the fish...believe me, they make a mess and actually are eating some of the microscopic critters that may help with the problem.

 

[reefeel]

I have 20 nassisarus snails and they don't sift my sand to well on top do you think I need some more?(85 gallon 48x18).