Best Sand Sifting Fish

GoatmealJones · Apr 5, 2019

I use coarse sand in my tank, and one consequence is that algae easily grows on my sandbed in clumps. I also have shards of nori that settle to the ground when I provide it for my kole tang who is messy. Thus, my sandbed is constantly full of plant matter and it detracts from the clean look I am going for. I know there are many different fish that sift sand. I would get a lawnmower blenny but I am specifically looking to add a more aesthetically pleasing fish if possible. Any suggestions? Function is more important than looks, so if you guys think the lawnmower will really be the best at its job then I might just go for one. On a side note, I dont have any crabs because I have a slight phobia of them, so nothing in my tank currently sifts the sand.

justmee · Apr 5, 2019

Diamond Goby...

Tom Blevins · Apr 5, 2019

GoatmealJones · Apr 5, 2019

Thank you. They do look nice. I do however prefer the looks of a clown goby or yellow goby. How do the two compare in regards to sifting if at all?

nereefpat · Apr 5, 2019

Coarse sand could be a problem for a diamond goby. Clown gobies definitely won't sift coarse sand.

Lawnmower blennies aren't really sand-sifters. Mine will bite at the sand a bit, but it doesn't keep my sand clean.

mattzang · Apr 5, 2019

idk how course your sand is, but i love my conch for sandbed cleaning. but you're getting clumps of algae growing? i'd definitely say hermits or an emerald.. but uh

cracker · Apr 5, 2019

The diamond is about the best sand sifter fish the otherg oby's I think just move sand for a cave to live in .

GoatmealJones · Apr 5, 2019

To clarify, I use the arag alive reef grade sand, so not super coarse, yet not fine sand. Problem for diamond goby?

BigT75 · Apr 5, 2019

By far may favorite and great colors to

GoatmealJones · Apr 5, 2019

thats a really nice one. Is that a yellowheaded jawfish or am I mistaken?

cracker · Apr 5, 2019

that sand is probably ok. Can You give us a pic of your sand? just want to see how course it is.
Also there are some attractive cucumbers They do a good job at sand sifting .
I don't like crabs either. none in my tanks .

Gareth elliott · Apr 5, 2019

Not really a fish recommendation but...

Honestly i prefer inverts for this job.
Detritus eating snails that move the sand inadvertently while burying and a fighting conch. Larger hermits also do a good job as they drag themselves like a rake but more risky, my thin stripe moved anything that wasnt well secured.

This way no risk of them depleting the beneficial microfauna in the sand.

BigT75 · Apr 5, 2019

GoatmealJones said:
thats a really nice one. Is that a yellowheaded jawfish or am I mistaken?

It’s called a yellow head sleeper goby he’s a beast my sand is clean AF in a 135g 6ft tank

Juniorh2r · Apr 5, 2019

Blue dot goby keeps my sand white I had a gold sleeper head goby and he would spit sand on my corals I lost a scoly like that and you'll have to be constantly blowing off sand from your corals I also have a bella goby hes alright so far beautiful colors but by far the blue dot goby is awesome he sifts sand and stays low not spreading it everywhere

GoatmealJones · Apr 5, 2019

Was actually thinking about that. I keep many frags on my sandbed so might not be worth it.

BadPanda · Apr 5, 2019

Pearly jawfish. Mine likes to dig around specially on my low flow areas. What i like about my jaw fish is that it will dig one area for a day and will look for another site in a day or two. Only downside is both my lobo and/or blasto can get buried in the process.

Jesterrace · Apr 6, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
Not really a fish recommendation but...

Honestly i prefer inverts for this job.
Detritus eating snails that move the sand inadvertently while burying and a fighting conch. Larger hermits also do a good job as they drag themselves like a rake but more risky, my thin stripe moved anything that wasnt well secured.

This way no risk of them depleting the beneficial microfauna in the sand.

Agreed. I lost 2 Diamond Watchman Gobies over the course of a year and a half (Never had more than one at a time). They definitely were the kings of sand aeration but also created terrible sand storms in my tank that I definitely don't miss. I switched to Fighting Conch Snails almost a year ago and I haven't lost a single one. They clean the sand bed at night (and some of the rock work) and my sand bed looks just about as clean as when my DWG would go to town sand sifting.

@ the OP, With corals in your sand bed, I definitely wouldn't get a sand sifting fish as it's highly probable they will get buried in sand. Here are my conch snails in action. You can see between the 4 minute and 4 minute 30 second mark why they are called fighting conches:

Emma01 · Apr 6, 2019

I had an amazing sleeper-head goby. Done an incredible job of sand cleaning. BUT created havoc for my corals! He’d scoop the sand up and sprinkle it from a height all over my corals, they’d then retract their polyps. This happened all day, so if you’ve corals, it’s definitely something to think about.
They are jumpers, hence why I had one. So thats also something to take into account if you’ve no lid on your aquarium.
Emma.

jeffmr4 · Apr 6, 2019

These aren't fish but the sand sifting starfish and nassarius snails are good sand sifters.

Wolf89 · Apr 6, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
Not really a fish recommendation but...

Honestly i prefer inverts for this job.
Detritus eating snails that move the sand inadvertently while burying and a fighting conch. Larger hermits also do a good job as they drag themselves like a rake but more risky, my thin stripe moved anything that wasnt well secured.

This way no risk of them depleting the beneficial microfauna in the sand.

are thin stripes reef safe? I have a few really massive ones in my FOWLR and I'm turning it into a reef am I'm wondering if I could keep them?