what species of Starfish/snail/sand sifter of any sort?

[Rogue951]

Cerith and Nassarius snails are the way to go.
Tonga Nassarius are fast moving dead matter eaters. they only start checking out corals if it's dying or dead. I usually find them on the odd fish body that dies.
but they live in the sand with only their snout sticking out and at the first smell of food (frozen, they don't seem to go after pellets unless they're hungry) they'll come boiling out of the sand.
Ceriths have a tendancy to fall off rocks and get stuck on their backs, then u gotta get in there and flip them

[Fishward]

ok so im being led towards a nassarius snail. will they stir up the sand bed and eat the algae that might grow on it? any down sides to this particular snail?

[saltwaterseahorses]

tigertail cukes clean out stuff from sand bed, I know that they do that that's why I'm getting one!

[chandigz]

For me tiger tails are my favorite for sand bed cleaning I find they do the best job. They constantly vacuum the surface of the sand(dirty sand goes in one end and clean out the other end). I have never had a problem with one in over four years other than they tend to slowly, over a long period, move the sand to the back of the tank.

Conchs are really cool and are good for stirring the sand and eating diatoms and algae on the sand. Fighting conchs are probably the most common reef safe conch. Their are lots of different kinds some get to large, most are reef safe but some like the Crown conchs can be preditory feeding on other snails and sand bed organisms.

Nassarius snails are another favorite of mine they are great detrivores but they do not eat algea. They are like sand submerines with their periscope sticking up and with the first smell of food or dead matter they come out of the sand like surfacing subs in full attack mode.

Most starfish have low survival rates due to shipping stress, poor acclimations, and starvation.

[saltwaterseahorses]

if i got tigertail would it move back sand enough too make rocks fall over?

oops srry for hi-jacking thread.........

[intarsiabox]

I had 3 nassarius snails in my old tank and gave them away when I switched back to a nano without a substrate. They didn't do much of anything visually in my tank, they left my sand bed undisturbed and only came out when I fed my fish. They would then glide right over any algae without touching it and go for the food that reached the bottom before a fish got to it. I'm sure they moved the bottom layers of sand around which is good but they never touched the surface of the sand bed. If you're looking for something to clean up the visible area of your substrate I don't think you'll be happy with just these snails, if you want to prevent lower levels of sand from becoming anoxic then they have a bonafide purpose. my 2 cents.

[intarsiabox]

I have a serpant star in my tank, they are very hard as I have abused mine in 3 rather fast new acclimations in the past. They won't clean your sand bed very well but will probe into every corner of your rock bottoms to find every last bit of food and deteris. Great scavangers and seem to leave all inverts and fish alone, just avoid green brittle stars as they have been know to go after sleeping fish.

[chandigz]

Originally Posted by saltwaterseahorses

if i got tigertail would it move back sand enough too make rocks fall over?

oops srry for hi-jacking thread.........

They often have their back end under the rocks and extend their head? out into the open sand areas to feed and poop it out the back, under or around the rock. My rock is mostly at the back of the tank so it tended to accumilate there. With my inch and a half sand bed, It took about 2 years before i could start to see the glass on the bottom at the front