Bottom dweller for sand bottom tanks?

Springtyme

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 22, 2005
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Bethlehem & Philadelphia, PA
Well I've decided that my little Rams and demasoni's are quite the messy little buggers... I've been using my net to sift through the sand and pick up as much debris as possible without really disturbing the fish too much. It's a freshwater tank, are there any suggestions as to what I can put in the bottom to help clean up the mess? I had a pleco, but he wasnt happy (I'm guessing he doesn't like the taste of sand) and I ended up giving him to a friend.
 

Springtyme

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 22, 2005
84
1
0
Bethlehem & Philadelphia, PA
piranha45 said:
you siphon the gravel with one of these:
http://newt150.tripod.com/infopic/gravel.jpg

its called a python, and its prolly the most convenient of the gravel vacuums, though you can buy a cheap regular gravel vacuum for $5

you can get them at wal-mart, lfses, online ordering...
Not to be rude.... but if you take note i specifically mentioned the fact that I do *NOT* have gravel... i have a SAND bottom and can't use those.
 

piranha45

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Mar 30, 2005
2,982
13
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kay
my bad. Ffor sand keep the cleaner just above the surface. Waste rests on top of the sand, so thorough digging is not necessary. I've found for larger fish (4"+ length) the waste is often too big to easily get sucked up, so I often have to tilt the siphon upside down while still submerged to get it down the tube.
 

guppy

Small Squiggly Thing
Apr 15, 2005
11,582
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confused, lost, and lonely
No scavanger will do it all but burrowing trumpet snails will help in sand, they are the equivalent of eartworms in your garden. you can also add a undergravel filter, if the sand is to fine just top the plate with plastic screening.
 

Springtyme

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 22, 2005
84
1
0
Bethlehem & Philadelphia, PA
guppy said:
No scavanger will do it all but burrowing trumpet snails will help in sand, they are the equivalent of eartworms in your garden. you can also add a undergravel filter, if the sand is to fine just top the plate with plastic screening.
The sand is definately too fine, and uprooting EVERYTHING to put an undergravel filter in now would be kinda difficult (and a pain in the @$$).... can those snails live in freshwater and NOT multiply 653122378 in a week? ;)

(nothing personal, just dont want to wake up with snails crawling all over me...)
 
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