Sand Sifter Gobies & Deep Sand Beds .. friend or foe?

[eleyan]

Is it a good idea to add a diamond watchman goby to my 72G reef. I have about 3" of sand, I know it's less than the 4" recomened for deep sand bed, but I can see gas bubles in the sand, which should be a sign the denitrification is going on. I also have about 100G of live rock, so I'm probably getting the rest of the denitrification from there. The reason I wanted to add a sand sifter is that I'm starting to get some patches of algae on the sand. I wasn't sure if the goby will completly wipe out all my sand critters in that size of tank. And if it does, will the fact the the goby is stering the sand still keep the precess going anyway? or will he stir it too much, that the sand will be too oxiginated and denitrification stops. Is it better to get a two spot goby instead, they seem to be smaller in general?

[NaCl_H2O]

I would skip the gobie and get a sand sifting start (or two), I have both. The Star does a great job and does it "Neatly". The **** Gobie builds HUGE mounds of sand all over the place and causes "sand rain" as he cruises around sifting his mouth full of sand as he goes! :x

The Gobie is going back to a LFS as soon as I move stuff to my new tanks!

FWIW - Steve

[Moonrs]

I can definately second srodgers; I had a banded sleeper goby for over a year. He made a huge mess of everything, besides constantly digging lairs underneath the LR. I tried to get used to the mess he created, but finally got rid of him (sold him back to the LFS). I also have a sand-shifting starfish and no algae.

[eleyan]

I had a yellow head sleeper goby at one time, and your right, he made a mess with the sand. I heard the diamond goby is not as bad since he stays close to the ground as he is sifting.
I have a brittle star, but its not doing much. What kind of star do I need to get?

[1salt]

This is what I have in my tank...

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=23&pCatId=572

[Bigreefer]

Be careful if your trying to keep a live sand bed , sand sifting stars decimate it ..... Cukes are the best way to keep the sand turned with out killing every thing in the sand bed.

more information here... http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

[JimD]

Nassarius snails and fighting conches,,,, period!

[eleyan]

That was a good article Bigreefer, I couldn't find "Cukes" in there though? I guess I should get another bag of live sand and increase the depth to 4", that will also re-seed my sand as well. Anyone knows what's the best deal in town on the 20lb live sand bags?