Slight Algae buildup.....Sand sifting star OR golby....See pics

[jkcrumb]

Hello all.............Everything has been going awsome with my 125g for the last few months........All my fish look great and my corals are growing like wildfire............only issue is I have some greenish algea on my sandbed. I can control it if I sift the sand with my fingers and let my filters take it away but I know thats not good for the sandbed..........So, I am looking to either get a sand sifting star or a golby (or a pair if safe). Over 50% of my sandbed is exposed (not covered by live rock) so I think the starfish would be fine but I would rather go with the golby's...........any advice?????
If I go with the golby here is a list of ones I'm interested in.....Are some better than others for what I'm trying to accomplish??
- Diamond Golby (only 1)
- Firefish Golby (maybe)
- Golden Headed Sleeper Golby (1 or 2)
- Shrimpgoby - Yellow Watchman Golby
- Sleeper Banded Bullet Golby
- Tiger Goby
Heres a few pics of my algea so u can see what I dealin with

Thanks

 

[baloo6969]

Diatoms maybe in there early stages...!!!
Couple of things to suggest, First, this is *normal* in new tank, infact it can hapen as a cycle in some tanks. They suck up "some sort of acid" then go bye bye. When i first had mine set up, it lasted for about 2 months, then went away.
2, vacuum, or pull it out if it gets too thick or over abundant. BUT in my experience, i would let that go...
3, some suggest that that is a "dead" spot in a tank, and seeing that you have a square tank, the corners can get ugly... try putting a low GPH PH pointed down towards the sand to get it moving...may help out.
I think there’s very helpful discussions on this forum about diatoms.

 

[zeke92]

um, that doens't look like diatoms....at all...that looks liek green algae >_>
i would get a sifting star, there cool and fun to whatch move around.

 

[jkcrumb]

Thanks for the input guys

!!!!!!!!!!!! But now I have two different opinions

.........any others out there????

 

[sh00tist]

Nassarius snails live down in the sand and will come up when you feed,they do a decent job of stirring the sand up.also more hermits wont hurt. I find the scarlets work the sand a lot more than the blue legs but they grow quite large. A pistol shrimp with a couple of shrimp gobys do a good job of sirring things up,also my dusky jawfish is always digging around.

 

[jkcrumb]

Any other thoughts?? I need to order some little friends if their gonna help my situation but I dont want to put them in my tank if what is growing is gonna hurt em.
I already have a decent amount of snail and hermits and a cuccumber.

 

[dogluv]

I have engineer gobies in my tank, two sand sifting stars, nassarius snails, and cucumbers to move my sand. the four engineers are a blast to watch as they pick up and move sand constantly. The sand stars come out often and are great to watch.

 

[jkcrumb]

Originally Posted by Dogluv
I have engineer gobies in my tank, two sand sifting stars, nassarius snails, and cucumbers to move my sand. the four engineers are a blast to watch as they pick up and move sand constantly. The sand stars come out often and are great to watch.
Cool..........thanks........how large is your tank?? Do they do a good job of keeping the sand clean???