Sand Stirrer (1 Viewer)

[DFS]

Looking for something to stir my sand bed, I was thinking lawn mower blenny but was told the med to small crushed coral is not good for them. Is this correct? Anybody have any ideas on what I should get to turn the sand over.

Thanks

 

[DGTG]

Sand sifting starfish, fighting conch, nassarius snails is what first came to mind.

 

[dayton]

I have a lawnmower and he dosnt really sift the sand. I had a dragon goby and he did, however when he would "sift" he would do it as he was going up in the water so it would get all over everything. I have a small tank (29g) though so im not sure if it would happen in a larger tank or not.

 

[RR-MAN]

In my 200/g, I have 2 turbo snails and a sand sifting starfish. The starfish is doing a good job keeping the sand clean. If you do buy a starfish, keep an eye on it to make sure it does not starve to death.

 

[wendy32693]

My diamond goby is a real good sand sifter, hes always sifting through the sand and doesnt go up so it doesnt go everywhere, havnt had any problems with him getting any sand on any corals on the sand bed either. Theyre neat fish to watch

 

[BiGPiNK]

i have an engineer goby and he sifts a little bit of sand, but only really from his burrow, he just spits it on to the pile right in front of his hole. ditto with my yellow watchman. i didn't think lawnmowers were technically sifters, they seem to be grazers...may be wrong through, often am ;-)
i was in the same position as you, i needed something to keep my sand bed moving, after trying the two different gobies i ended up getting a queen conche and a sand sifting starfish...
honestly, in my opinion (fwiw) the queeny and starfish are the way to go!

 

[BiGPiNK]

in fact further on from that, without meaning to hijack the thread...has anyone ever heard of an engineer goby and watchman goby sharing a burrow??? i know the engineer isnt technically a goby...but they actually seem to appreciate each other's company...they sit side by side, touching most of the time, on the lip of the burrow, taking turns to run back inside and drag out a bit more sand!

 

[CBBSteve]

Hi, DFS.
Lawnmower blennies definitely do not stir the sand bed, they are primarily algae eaters.

I had a rainford's gobie that was a very good sand sifter. But he eventually starved to death because my sand bed was not sufficiently mature enough to supply him with all the microfauna he needed.

good luck,
Steve

 

[ange062]

Nassarius snails work well for me.

 

[padanky]

Diamond Gobies work good, but I lost two due to jumping. I'll be trying a Sand Sifting Star when I can.

 

[cliner]

I have seen a few lm blennys sift sand. Diamond goby, nassarius, conch are working for me. Sand sifters don't do well long term,, they starve.