what will eat friggen diatoms off my sand?!

[jandree22]

Alright, this is upsetting. My tank has been beautiful lately, rocks are covered in coraline, glass is spotless except for coraline growth, and my sand is ugly brown! I have a bunch of nassarius snails that do nothing but hide until feeding time. Astreas do an awesome job on the rocks and glass but NEVER go on the sand.

Is there any kinda snail that will venture on the surface of the sand and actually eat this up? I was also considering maybe a star to help take care of the problem, thinking of one of these.... a Red Sea Star or a Orange Sea Star

I was also considering a Tiger Tail cuke, but it said something about how they attach to one spot and don't really move, so I'm worried I'd get a radius of 6" with white sand, then the rest still ugly brown.

I've tried Coralife's Silicate Remover in my HOB filter, but it did absolutely nothing at all.

Any thoughts?

 

[[)R@G()N]

Fighting Conch will or Sleeper Head Gobies, although they do make a mess with the sand. Do you have any powerheads in your tank? Maybe you do more water flow.

 

[Anonymous]

Conch's is the way to go mine are always cleaning the sand.
_________________
Mercedes MB100

 

[jandree22]

alright, cool.... i actually never checked into them but they look like they might do the trick! thanks guys

 

[baseman]

I'd go with a fighting conch or two. Queens can get pretty big.

 

[jandree22]

fighting conch it is.... how big they get and how many for a 75gal?

 

[Anonymous]

Although some on this board frown on keeping Cukes, I've got a drab yellow cuke, don't even know the latin name... but it's great.. eats up the small grained sand, and keeps my 55g in good shape. He also creates mounds of sand all over the place, which i think is kinda cool. Had him for about 6 months now, and he's actually grown a bit too. So, contrary to what you will hear, it appears that mine is happy. When the brown stuff comes around, he eats it like a champ.
IMHO,
~wings~

 

[reefNewbie]

if it spreads to the glass, my limpets will annihilate that stuff. Just never seen them on the sand, there always on the rock and glass.

 

[[)R@G()N]

fighting conch it is.... how big they get and how many for a 75gal?

1 maybe 2 at the most, but 1 should be good enough. Here's some links about them.

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/324374.html

http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/alatus.html

 

[psiico]

Cerith snails! I can't believe no one mentioned them. They move slow, so get a dozen or more for a 75g. I have 6 in my 29g and never see diatoms on my sand. It's a new tank and I was having outbreaks, but no longer, at least not that I can see. They eat it first. They also go on the rock and glass, but mostly I see mine in the sand.

 

[[)R@G()N]

Yeah, I'll second that on the cerith snails. They work great on glass, rocks and sand.

 

[Anonymous]

Ceriths work great but they are super small so you need a bunch. I add about 5 - 10 each month to make sure I make up for the lost ones

 

[Anonymous]

I have one fighting conch and he keeps my 125's sand spotless. He's about three inches long. They are the most practical and reliable than the others IMO.

 

[psiico]

The ceriths in my 29g are all about an inch long. I have 6 or 8, I forget how many now, lol. Equal number of nassarius and nerites and 3 astreas, fighting conch is coming, it's on order.

 

[Anonymous]

I think I am going to invest in a fighting conch too

How much do they usually cost?

 

[Anonymous]

"How much do they usually cost?"


http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_ ... CatId=1336

For example...

~wings~

 

[MDboyz]

I got 3 of fighting conches from floridapets.com for my 75gal tank and sump. It's around $5 each.. They are big.. around 2 inches or more.

 

[elpescado]

put in 3 or 4 sand shifting stars. Your sand will be back to its normal color in less than two weeks. I have 3 in a 120gal and my sand never gets brown.