Help Me Have A Clean DSB......

Craig Lambert

Craig Lambert

Member
Looking for the best critters to keep my dsb sparkling white.

My current stable of janitors includes:

Nassarius Snails..(They're OK, but Carnivors so they're best for leftover food)
Astrea Snails...(Fantastic for rock, but don't touch the sandbed)
Nerite Snails....(They're OK on the sand, but don't consume much)
Fighting Conch..(He's my best dsb cleaner, and I may add a second)
Turbo Snails..(Again, great for rock, but a bust on the sand)

Cukes are out for me do to a bad experience, so what do you suggest to keep a dsb clean? Anyone have experience with an Orange Sea Star? Or a Blue Linkia Sea Star?

My other inhabitents:

2 Cleaner shrimp
2 true perculas and a RBTA
Royal Gramma
Flame Angel

Corals:
Fox
Spaghetti Leather
Torch
Bubble
Pipe Organ
Ricordia
Open Brain
Closed Brain

Any suggestions to return the dsb to its previous luster are greatly appreciated!
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
No real help except I have heard that the blue linkas are hard to keep.
Gonna follow this thread though since I want to set up a DSB when I set up my fuge in the next couple of weeks. May save me some grief in the future.
Peace
Lynn
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
IME Fighting Conchs, Nassarius and Cerinth snails are the best ! Cucumbers and SS Gobies aren't recommended because they'll eat the infauna. What I noticed is since I decreased my flow I've had some isolated spots where I get cyano. I would make sure you don't have any areas where you have low or stagnant flow where you can get a buildup of detritus or cyanobacteria, keep it in suspension so it can be eaten by the corals or removed thru skimming. I would try to open up the rockwork as much as possible to allow for good flow throughout the tank.

AFA the starfish the ones you mentioned no one really knows what they eat although some suspect bacterial film on the LR.
 
J

jimeluiz

Active Member
I know they get mixed reviews as sometimes being bullies but our red legged hermits (I think they're less agressive than the blue legged) are very active scavengers across the sandbed. We have about 15 or 20.

What was your experience with the cuke? I've been thinking about adding one.

Also, I just started running a phosphate sponge (several months) to help prevent a cyano outbreak. Seems quite effective to date.
 
Mad Mike

Mad Mike

Active Member
You guys are gonna think I'm nuts but Bristle worms for the DSB. And then something to eat them to kep the population in control.
 
C

cheeks69

Wannabe Guru
RS STAFF
Mad Mike said:
You guys are gonna think I'm nuts but Bristle worms for the DSB. And then something to eat them to kep the population in control.
Click to expand...

Yes good point Mike, I've got alot of them !
 
Eric

Eric

Google Warrior
PREMIUM
Sand sifting starfish

engineer gobys but they get big and if you feed them fishfood they get lazy lol
 
reefjitsu

reefjitsu

Active Member
If you want a sparkling white sand bed, then I would suggest losing "the deep" part and go with a shallow sand bed. Get some of the cleaners and sand sifters others have suggested and you are good to go. If you have the DSB for "functional" purposes (like nitrate control) then I would suggest losing the desire for a sparkling white sand bed.
 
Craig Lambert

Craig Lambert

Member
I think Mike is on to something with bristleworms. I'm thinking of picking up about a dozen of them along with some spaghetti worms. I also think I'll add an additional fighting conch, and some cirinth snails. My dsb is actually in pretty good shape, but it's not getting stirred as much as I would like.

Jimiluiz,

I had a cuke that expelled it's guts after 3 days. It was probably a case where he was doomed no matter what I did, but the bigger issue was that he kept climbing the tank walls and hanging out around the overflow. I just didn't have a good feeling about it, because I sensed a potential flood situation.
 
ghostwolf

ghostwolf

Active Member
Our sand bed is approximately 2-3". We got our "clean-up" crew from Indo Pac. They are out of HI and everything we have gotten (2 orders) had come in in good condition and we have not lost any of them. We got strobus snails and their mini crab crew, speghetti and baby bristle worms, mini sand clams and mini sea stars.

http://www.ipsf.com

Lin
 
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