Cleaning sand

T

Thresa

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Sep 15, 2004
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What do I need to use to clean my sand (it is very fine aragonite) and live rock with? Do I use a gravel vacuum or is there something special made for sand?

I have noticed a lot of spots in my sand in my aquarium that look like a darker colored sand and it's on my live rocks too. Does anyone know what this could be? A week ago my aquarium was really cloudy, but it has cleared up quite a bit.

Also my aquarium is a still a little cloudy does anyone know what might cause this? I have just recently cycled it and I do not have any fish as of yet. Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia all read 0, but my pH is reading 8.4.

Thanks,
Thresa
 
That's okay for the pH, a tad high but not enough to warrant any corrective actions, IMO. The cloudiness will probably clear up as the tank establishes a balance of microfauna.

Any ideas what fish you'll have? The sand is best cleaned by animals--crabs, shrimps, stars, worms, snails, and cucembers that will burrow in, consume organics and keep it stirred up. Mechanical cleaning, like is done with gravel or crushed coral, isn't really effective in sand, though solid wastes that collect on top can be manually removed. For now, though, the patches are probably not a problem and I wouldn't worry about them. It could be a type of algae, and trying to treat it now, without any cleaners in there, may be messy.
 
What do you suggest using to clean live rock with? Should I just use some tubbing or should I use a gravel Vac?

I have a 135 gallon LRWFO and far as fish goes I am looking at starting a mixed community tank. I have not looked into pricing yet so if any of the fish I have mentioned are really expensive then I probably won't get them until I have more confidence in taking care of my system. If you have any suggestions on my choices of fish I would love to hear it.

Royal Gramma

Banggai Cardinalfish

Either Ocellaris or Percula Clownfish
Which is hardiest?

Canary Wrasse

Yellow Tang

Maybe a Toby puffer, but I'm not sure. Are they cleaner crew safe?

Maybe a flame hawkfish, but if it will eat my cleaning crew then I won't get one.

Some type of Goby or Blenny or both not sure which is best. I am looking at Convict Blenny, Bicolor Blenny, or Neon Goby. Which do you recomend?

Snails I'm looking at Limpets, turbo, american star shell, or tower shells. Which do recomend?

Shrimp either Peppermint or Banded coral. Which do you recomend?

feather duster worms

That's my list so far.

Thanks,
Thresa
 
The cleaners will take care of the rock as well, at most you may need to use a line of tubing to clean out the 'dust' that builds up in low flow areas.

For stock:
First three are just fine. The perculas are pretty similar for maintenance, so pick the color pattern you prefer. A yellow tang should be happy in a 135, but make sure it's healthy before adding it. The toby will pick at cleaners and will also nibble the encrusting critters on the live rock. They vary, some are worse than others, but they can also be fin nippers. I would avoid the convict blenny (also sold as an engineer goby, though it's neither a goby nor a blenny) they are pretty, but dig unstoppably and will toplle your rock if you didn't stack it with them in mind. Had one, ended up getting rid of it--the LFS has it now and it's happy there. Neon gobies are tiny, and you could probably have more than one.

Some hawks will pick at inverts. There are a few that won't, but I think it's mostly the smaller ones, like the pixies.

Widest variety of snails you can get. I like nassarius and cerith best. Limpets can be hard to buy--all mine have come in on live rock.

I would probably go with cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp instead--a bit costlier, but peppermints tend to snack on encrusting critters and beneficial worms, and banded coral shrimps can be very aggressive to other shrimp and crabs.
 
Do you think a Canary Wrasse would be a good addition?

Are there any Blennie's or Goby's that you prefer?

Thanks for all the great advice,
Thresa
 
I'm partial to lawnmower blennies--sometimes called eyelash blennies. But, they need lots of algae to eat, so I would hold off to see if he's needed. Otherwise, the clown and citron gobies are a favorite.

Canaries are decent fish, though not always reef safe. They too will consume many of the smaller worms and I would not trust one with a feather duster at all.
 
Are there any fish that I haven't mentioned that you think would be a good addition to my aquarium?
Thanks,
Thresa
 
Help

I have an existing 75 gallin tank that has 10 african chcilids in it. I am moving it to a new home and wanted to change the bottom from coral pieces to crushed coral. I have tryed to clean the coral and cant seem to get rid of the milk like water what do i need to do??

tbolgar
 
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