[Mirkle]

my sand is satrting to look bad, its growning some algae on it what can i get to munch on it and keep it turned? are sand sniffing sea stars hard to keep? would the do the job? also i think i need something to clean up this detritus think its gettin a lil backed up..

[dfurbee]

Some cerith snails would keep the sand stirred, and also some hermits. the mexican red legs do an awesome job of keeping detrius off the sand.

[e_baer]

Sounds to me like there may not be enough flow in the tank. How many powerheads and at what gph do you have?


Also, if there is algae, that shows signs of nutrient buildup. Do you have a protein skimmer? How often do you do water changes?


Nassarious snails do an awsome job of stirring the top laying of sand. Sand sifting stars are also very affective at sifting through the sand....hence the name.

[Mirkle]

i have Two Hydor Koralia 3, one facing the top of the water and one facing across the tank, one facing accross the tank is about 4" away from the surface.. i do have a Skimmer its a AquaC Remora hob... i change my water once a week 5 gallons.. i was useing Zoe which messed things up for me with algae but since i stoped useing it my glass dosent get a constant algae flim on it.. my skimmer was wroking pretty good about a week ago, only had to empty it about once a day and was getting a good dark color in the cup.. now i have put Chaeto in my fuge my collection cup fills up pretty fast with a lighter colored skimmate.

[e_baer]

How do you like the k-3's? They are 850gph?

[Taras1]

Might get a sand sifting starfish or a tigertail cucumber (or both). Mine do a great job of moving sand around.

[Mirkle]

this is my first attempt of a saltwater tank so i dont really know good from bad with the K3's ... they are 850 gph.. i was told that 2 of the K3's would be good, is my placement with them ok?.. with the sand sniffing sea star i read that its a difficult invert to care for is this true also same goes for the cucumber's read they hard to care for as well.. this true? i dont want to buy something that im going to easly kill hehe.

[jimw369]

Water Params and tank set up needed to form a reasonable diagnosis and prognosis.

[e_baer]

As far as those critters being difficult, it all depends on what species.

Sea Life Inc. has some common sea cukes for sale. They breed in my tank! Thats how easy they are to care for!

I have 2 sand sifter stars. IMO they are easy to care for. I guess it all depends on how much sand you have and what your parameters are.

[Taras1]

The sand-sifting star is very easy to care for. I have one who likes to meander throughout the tank. Sometimes it's buried in the sand, other times it cruises along the sand and sometimes even up the glass.

Tiger Tail Cukes are easy to care for, IF you watch your water parameters and do a very gradual acclimatization. When stressed cukes literally "spill their guts" which can poison the tank. I purchased mine from Welcome to Pacific East Aquaculture as part of a cleaner pack. I have 3 for my 90 gal and they do a great job. They hide during the day and come out at night.

[lazy reef guy]

try also reefscavengers.com and look at the sand packages I just added some sand sifting crabs very interesting creatures . they go right into the sand as if they were moles and i also see them out at night and then right back into the sand