Sandbed cleaner with puffer?

Baffels · Sep 27, 2022

Hey! Have a porcupine puffer in a 250g corner tank. He is, obviously, a messy eater. I know he will destroy any inverts I put in the tank. Is there any safe inverts/fish that will clean the sand bed?

Spare time · Sep 27, 2022

I don't see why it would go for a diamond goby unless it already eats fish. Just place the gobby at the bottom of the tank so it doesn't think its food

i cant think · Sep 28, 2022

Baffels said:
Hey! Have a porcupine puffer in a 250g corner tank. He is, obviously, a messy eater. I know he will destroy any inverts I put in the tank. Is there any safe inverts/fish that will clean the sand bed?

How deep is your sand bed and what are the dimensions?

Baffels · Sep 28, 2022

i cant think said:
How deep is your sand bed and what are the dimensions?

1.5" sand bed and its a triangle corner tank with 4 foot sides.

WheatToast · Sep 28, 2022

Flounder? While they do not clean sand, their burrowing action will help keep it aerated. These will also prey on small fish and invertebrates.
https://www.saltybottomreefcompany.com/flounder (listed as Bothus lunatus but actually appears to be Trinectes maculatus which grows up to 6 inches long)

Baffels · Sep 28, 2022

WheatToast said:
Flounder? While they do not clean sand, their burrowing action will help keep it aerated. These will also prey on small fish and invertebrates.
https://www.saltybottomreefcompany.com/flounder (listed as Bothus lunatus but actually appears to be Trinectes maculatus which grows up to 6 inches long)

Interesting, never would have thought of that. Going to do some research

WheatToast · Sep 28, 2022

Baffels said:
Interesting, never would have thought of that. Going to do some research

Thanks! Note that Trinectes maculatus is more common in the freshwater hobby but can tolerate marine salinities.

WheatToast · Oct 5, 2022

Update?

Baffels · Oct 6, 2022

Nothing yet, just manually cleaning his messes up. LFS suggested a sandsifting goby, but want to wait for the sandbed to mature first. Putting in a zebra eel tomorrow, so more mess...

Bucs20fan · Oct 6, 2022

A diamond goby wont help that much with his messy leftovers, they cant eat foods that are very big. How big is the puffer?

Baffels · Oct 6, 2022

He's about 3-4". Eating krill and half shell clams. Sandbed is 1.5".

Bucs20fan · Oct 6, 2022

Baffels said:
He's about 3-4". Eating krill and half shell clams. Sandbed is 1.5".

Your best bet is going to be once he gets larger, 6-8 inches or so, you can go with small Caribbean blue leg hermits, They stay really small and he wont pay as much attention to them.