To vac or not to vac....

[MikeLipyeat]

My tank is around 6 weeks old and doing well.... my lfs told me not to use a vac on my sandbed but how do u all get the little fish poops out? I know they cause ammonia and ive been advised to swirl and stir my sand so the poop floats uo and gets sucked into the filter. I have 3 powerheads in a 40gallon tank but tue poop still gathers in little dead spots

 

[cdness]

Get a cleanup crew to eat the poop and stir the sandbed naturally for you. I only vac occasionally to do major maintenance on the sandbed due to algae issues or another issue. You shouldn't need to vac the sandbed this early into the hobby.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Ive got 2 turbo snails 2 shrimp and 2 hermits. Is this not enough?

 

[mike007]

I only vacumn when i do water changes and only the very top not to deep. I agree with the above statements it probaly too early.

 

[dannyab84]

Ive got 2 turbo snails 2 shrimp and 2 hermits. Is this not enough?

In my 20G I have 5 turbo's, 15 nas snails, serpent star, 5 mar snails, 1 emerald crab, and 3 peppermint shrimp. And I think my tank still needs some more snails. So I think you need a little more. Especially when your tank gets more mature.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Thanks
I was told not to add more yet as i only have 2 clowns and there wouldnt be enough food for my cuc. I guess this isnt the case

 

[Reefing Madness]

Load em up. Can't go wrong there. If theres waste ya need more.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Just bought more hermits 2 star snails and a serpent starfish

 

[jservedio]

You should get more snails - 2 turbos alone probably aren't going to cut it. Get a few astreas, mexican turbos, and ceriths. Ceriths are small so you will need probably 8 or 10 to start with and astreas grow pretty big - so probably 3 or 4. Mexican turbos don't get all that big so maybe another 3 or 4. Getting that many snails some are bound to die - especially with hermits in the tank. They are nasty - I go through 2 or 3 ceriths every few 4-6 months because my hermit crabs murder them for their shells.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

I just bought 2 star snails and a serpent starfish

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Does anyone know what the star snails and serpent starfish feed on eg poop, algae etc

 

[Reefing Madness]

Spiny Star Info

Brittle Starfish will eat chopped meat, shrimp, mussel, or fish., chopped in small pieces. They aren't going to help your tank much.

And when the gang is talking about a CUC, we are talking about 10-20 snails and hermits at a time, instead of just a couple. The more the merrier.

 

[Trex]

How deep is your sandbed?

Each of my tanks have shallow sandbeds -- 2-3 inches -- which a "gravel vac" with each weekly water change.

 

[tupes]

Also what size tank do you have?

Sent from my Note II

 

[MikeLipyeat]

My sand bed is same about 2-4 inches and tank is 40 gallons

 

[SamsReef]

a mature tank should will have enough stomatellas that you do not require larger snails (turbos) and hermits. these larger snails die or hermits kill them for their shell and only cause issue. you have enough shrimp to eat or break poop into disolved organics. if you are needing too many snails to keep hair algae in check, there is something else wrong. Take a look at TOTMs and see if any of the tanks have 100s of snails and hermits. Just my two cents.

 

[Reefing Madness]

My mature system, I've only seen one Stometella. But I do have thousands of Limpets, and therefore don't need alot of snails.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Clean up crew and siphon the sand bed when you do water changes.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Thank u

 

[fyrfytr]

Not to hijack the thread, but I wonder what about those tanks with fish that are not invert friendly? Say like a puffer that wants to eat the CUC. Do you vac then so you keep the nitrates down, or do you use macroalge and hope it covers it all?