how do you keep your sand bed clean and stirred?
i was thing about getting a fighing conch. does anyone have experience with them? i know there many options out there, it would be helpful if you could post what your using.
Syphon Vacuum it to get the dirt out. Otherwise they are all plenum sandbeds now. they do grow spaghetti worms and stuff. but thats just an extra bonus. Oh, and dose extra Sand & Gravel Cleaner, Special Blend, and Nite-Out bacteria from Microbe-Lift. I’m experimenting with their brands this year.
So far, So good.
I have had conchs before. generally they don’t stir. they graze on waste, algae and slime on the sand, rock and glass. when they are small, they can climb a bit. but the last one got big and old, about 5 inches long. couldnt get off the sand. never dug in at all. The larger Nassarius snails do much more digging. Or an orange spotted sand sifting goby, like i had. but he made big piles and always covered my frags on the bottom with sand.
Oh this is easy for me. Let me give you a hint, my skimmer is starting to grow algae on it, it is located in the sump under my tank, and I don’t have a light on my sump…. Give up? The light from the display goes all the way down to the sump… No sand bad. That’s the easy way to keep things clean. 
“No fuss no mussâ€ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ, as Ken would say.
KISS. No I’m not blowing anyone a kiss, sorry guys. Keep it simple stupid. If you’ve never had luck with a sand bed and made a good effort perhaps it’s time to consider something else.
Now obviously if you need sand for certain fish, this wouldn’t be an option.
[quote=“kaptken, post:2, topic:4396”]
I have had conchs before. generally they don’t stir. [/quote]
I think there is significant difference between the species not only in behavior. I’ve seen a cardinal fish eat a scarlet cleaner shrimp whole, but that doesn’t mean I would count PJs, or Banggais as non reef safe.(was a fish from a different genus same family) Queen conchs get way too big and no one should buy them in my opinion especially since aquacultured ones are practically never available. I prefer the animals that come in with the common name “fighting conchs” of the genus Strombus(not Strombus gigas). There are different species which reach different sizes, at least from what I have found, but why not try a mixture.
Large Tonga Nassarious really help stir things for sure. I like to mix in a couple of small Nassarious as well. Little bit of variety may hit different areas of the sand bed. Something different to look at.
I read something recently that said Serpent sea stars could help stir a sand bed as well. While they don’t dig into it too much, when they walk around at night they can help stir that top .5cm where algae, bacteria, and other items might settle. I like the look of them and keep a couple of colorful ones in my basement. They don’t add hardly anything to the bioload and aren’t near as sensitive as many stony corals.
Outside of biological stirring, keeping low nutrients and Ca, Alk, and Mg where they need to be. Odds are if you do all of that you won’t have much of an issue. If you stir the hack out of the sand bed, but nutrients are high and the levels aren’t right then whatever was growing on your sand bed will just grow on your glass or you rock.
i agree with you jon.
i did try BB but i was paranoid that if i dropped a rock my live stock was gunna end up on the floor.
also i needed the sand for wrasse. they have so much color. but so far, the fairy wrasse i have sleeps in the rocks. go figure.
Many LFS use glass tanks to house live rock that goes in and out of them all day long. I’ve never broken a tank with a rock and actually I’m not aware of anyone that has. I remember many many years ago seeing one image of a tank on a forum that dumped out the bottom pain, but I couldn’t tell you if it was bare bottom, drilled for a closed loop, or whatever.
So is there a particular thing on your sand or just preparing for an increased bioload and deeper sand bed?
i may take the sand out… someday. slap-stick
i have brown algae (diatoms??).
i am still in the process of cleaning up the system, and with the increase in bioload, the algae is growing. nothing major, just unsightly.
at some point i will be adding anthias, and my bioload will go up again. i want to get a few snails to help clean it up.
by the way i have been keeping up on water changes, for the second week in a row hahaha.