Sand sifter ideas for predator reef

[jenajet]

Hey Guys! Quick question. What kind of sand sifter if any can I get for a 90gallon dsb? I have 6 larger turbos, 3 large conches. I would like something to eat detrius and stuff. Oh also the green brittle star but he never leaves the rock work. The eel and lion do not bother the snails as big as they are. Are there any big crabs that are reefsafe? What about a small horse shoe crab?

[tims]

you could do a Hcrab, but as everyone gets bigger the Eel will start looking at them as lunch

[jenajet]

I have been thinking of finding a new home for the eel. He keeps the water cloudy constantly cleaning house. He doesn't like sand under his rocks so all day long he is cleaning so I have a 24 sandstorm. I really like the little guy but my corals stay covered in sand.

[frankandmaura]

I am not sure if they actually sift sand or not, but my LFS had Flounder the other day and they get right down there and mix it up. Just a thought, I am sure someone will chime in and say yeah or neah...

They are pretty cool though.

[tims]

frank they are and are not..
they use the sand to hide ..so sorta sift it but really

[frankandmaura]

Uhhh...lol, so they are cool and are not sand sifters? Just clarifying...

Are they really ok to be housed in a tank? Don't they get pretty big?

[Geoff]

it all depends on what you mean by sand sifter. most of those critters labeled as sand sifters should prolly be labeled as sand depleters. not a good thing on a tank of your size. i would not put anything that sifts the sand in anything smaller than a 180. they will eat all of the good critters that are in your DSB helping it work.

the flounder on the other hand sounds like a pretty good idea. it will disrupt the top layers of substrate allowing the detritus a chance to make it to the skimmer. if you can get a flounder that eats i would say go that route. double check the size of the flounder first. i am not sure which one you are looking at, so i can not tell how big it will get, but in general flounders are large fish.

G~