Best sand sifter non-fish?

bdejong1112o · Jan 2, 2018

I love my goby. I know you are looking for non fish options but I have one in my 220 and he keeps the sand very clean all by himself. Worth the QT setup IMO.

Tried a sand sifting star but he lasted about a month and melted away. At least with a fish they will eat other foods if the sand bed is to clean.

Hazenight · Jan 2, 2018

Cronicreefer said:
I too keep a fighting conch in my 75 gallon. I had two but I don't think there was enough food for them both to survive. It's not easy for them to climb rocks because their foot is not shaped for doing this although mine has sure tried, he fails every time. The only thing it won't eat is cyano but otherwise it is great for the sand bed and won't eat microfauna like star fish will.

do you think two would be to many in a 34 gallon tank?

Greybeard · Jan 2, 2018

I vote fighting conch, nassarius snails, and bicolor goatfish

Others have made the conch argument... I agree. Great sand bed cleaners. The nassarius snails are wonderful, as well. I know, you said no fish... Most of the fish make a mess, dumping sand all over sand dwelling corals and whatever. The goatfish stirs the surface, occasionally going in after something under the sand, but doesn't make bare spots, piles, or messes. I know, he's eating beneficial critters, but I like him, and he does a great job of keeping the surface stirred up.

ChrisOFL · Jan 2, 2018

Hazenight said:
do you think two would be to many in a 34 gallon tank?

If the conch isn't sleeping it is constantly eating. Every tank is different so I would just start with one in yours and you would have to judge if adding another would be beneficial. I have seen mine bury itself for over week and just make its way around underneath the sand bed so if yours goes missing don't assume it is dead. I just happened to see his nose sticking out from the sand bed but his entire body was hidden, I captured a video of it at the time as well.

Hitman · Jan 3, 2018

tutmatt3 said:
Crazy! What size tank.

Good to know, so since u have 240 display with 2, 1 should be good in my 75 yeah? =D

1 should be perfect for your tank. I don’t think even my tank could support 3 of them properly. They have a big appetite

SashimiTurtle · Jan 3, 2018

Fighting conch... Added one to my 35 cube and the next day the sand was clean and he's buried himself somewhere. I'm sure he'll pop back up when the sand gets dirty again.

I've got fine black sand, not that horrible magnetic Hawaiian "sand," and it shows dirt really well, or really badly... not sure how that goes. Anyway, it gets dirty quick. I've got a pretty deep sand bed, this guy is big and he can bury his whole shell.

working_man · Jan 3, 2018

Does the sand bed need to be deep enough for the conch to completely bury himself? Meaning would the conch be unhappy if he wasn’t completely buried?

schooncw · Jan 4, 2018

Sand sifting stars need way more food than the average aquarium can provide.

Servillius · Jan 4, 2018

Sand sifting cucumbers are totally the way to go. Conchs are great too. Small hermits and cerith or dwarf cerith snails help keep things clean as well.

Flameback Pair · Jan 4, 2018

This video at time 10:50

tutmatt3 · Jan 5, 2018

I miss Toby =(
he was perfect... ate a ton of frozen, made his home in the FRONT of my tank, and when he was in the dt for a month or so, he kept the sand dang clean after he got comfortable coming out of his hole

another reason i don't want to jump and get another goby just yet is IDK still if these are dinos, cyano or what. The fact that he, and only he, mysteriously died - when coincidentally he was also the only thing in the tank touching the stuff on the sand (no snail or hermit has, they all avoid it), makes me feel that maybe he got poisoned.

I think i'll take a stab @ a fighting conch or 2. maybe two, and if they overperform, i can donate 1 to a local.

I'll forsure get another goby, just maybe when I feel more confident he survive