To GOBY or not to GOBY?

[VIC]

Fellow reefers,
I have a 250 gallon reef tank that is doing well with a plenum system and about 2.5 inches of very fine sand. I have tried using "sand cleaners" like gobies before but they always starve and die after 6 months. I have about 600 hermits and 300 snails in the tank as well as 2 mithrax crabs and 5 brittle stars. The sand remains nice and powdery. The sump on this system is 100 gallons and it supports about 150 lbs of live rock. The tank has about 250 lbs of live rock in it.
The point is do I need some creatures to sift. I run no nitrates now and change about 14-15 gallons a week. I'ts been running a year or so now. The load is light. 1 antheas, 1 swissguard, 1gramma and 4 green chromas. I am concerned that I need sand stirring creatures to keep it in good shape as it ages but I do have huge populations of copepods and fauna. Is it nesessary to get any sand sifters?
All opinions are welcome.
Vic

[addicted2fish]

With a good population of worms and such, I doubt very much that you NEED any sand sifters. If you WANT something to keep the surface stirred up, I personally think cukes are a great addition.

[Sker]

^^^^^ Second the above, as long as you have a good worm population they will keep the sand bed healthy. A couple of cukes would not hurt either.

[VIC]

Aren't cukes poisionous if they die? What cukes would you recommend and how many?
Thanks
Vic

[Sker]

Vic, I would recommend a Tiger Tail Cucumber. As far as the quantity goes I would probably only get about 4 or 5 with your size tank. I think you could get more but this will allow them enough to eat out of the sand bed. Just my 2 cents...

[Atkins]

Hi,


"Is it nesessary to get any sand sifters? "

Only of the correct variety.......gobies and other predatory fish will wipe out any sand fauna you have over time.

"Aren't cukes poisionous if they die? What cukes would you recommend and how many? "


Sea apples from what i remember are "poisenous" when they are hassled by fish.............i'm not 100% sure but aren't the eggs toxic too.
The tiger tails and the "black turd" types do a good job but beware cover your PH intakes sufficiently!


I had one of the black cuckes go into a 3500lph PH that wasn't coverd properly about a month back. I lost the whole tank bar the LR.

The PH was located high up near the top of the water column and the cuke "climbed" the back glass one night and tha was that............dumb mistake eh