Anybody got tips for keeping the sand bed of your reef tank clean?

[CrazyDuck959]

I have been noticing on every reef tank I see, they have clean sand beds... Any tips for that? I cant seem to keep the algae out of it no matter what I do, its not a bad breakout its kinda just there... In some spots but not in others.

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I have a Fluval Evo 13.5, and the sand bed is about a Inch and a half deep.

I have a pretty well rounded cleanup crew, consisting of -
x1 Trochus Snail
x1 Turbo Snail
x1 Cleaner Shrimp
x3 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
x3 Nassarius Snails

NOT PART OF THE CLEAN UP CREW
x2 Ocellaris Clownfish

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I was looking into doing regular siphoning, but I'm not sure if that would cause any problems. So if any of you guys have suggestions please please please let me know, I'm a clean freak and algae always makes me want to delete the sand bed and add a new one. I also don't overfeed, no corals either. I do weekly 10 - 20 precent water changes. Any suggestions will be appreciated, thanks in advance yall!

 

[JaimeAdams]

Sand conchs are really good

 

[Reffetsevla]

Cerith snails, they will burrow slightly and clean while submerged too. Once that's clean they'll go on the rocks and glass too. Eats GHA as well, great little guys.

I have a sphaghetti worm or something similar in my tank, hitchhiker. I wish you could buy them, the spot where their tendrils poke out is the cleanest spot of tank every time it makes an appearance. They live completely submerged within the substrate and burrow around eating detritus. Ugly buggers though.

 

[blaxsun]

Are we talking about on or under the surface? On, you just need the right cleaning crew. A small orange lip conch (or similar) will work wonders on the sand bed. Nassarius and cerith snails are also great at burrowing under the sand to keep it clean.

 

[CrazyDuck959]

Are we talking about on or under the surface? On, you just need the right cleaning crew. A small orange lip conch (or similar) will work wonders on the sand bed. Nassarius and cerith snails are also great at burrowing under the sand to keep it clean.

Surface of the sand to be specific, I can post a picture if any of you need!

 

[blaxsun]

Surface of the sand to be specific, I can post a picture if any of you need!

A small conch and some cerith and nassarius snails will definitely make a dent.

 

[bruno3047]

Algae grows on the surface because of what’s under the surface. Rotting detritus. I use one of these to keep my sandbed clean. When algae starts to grow, I comb the top of my sand bed with a tool to turn the gravel at the surface. A few weeks or so later algae starts to grow again. When the algae grows right away, like a day or two later, I know it’s time to clean the sand. Here’s what I use. Good luck.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/python-no-spill-clean-n-fill-replacement-gravel-tube-36-%28large%29-3028674

 

[Reffetsevla]

Surface of the sand to be specific, I can post a picture if any of you need!

Definitely look into Cerith's, they'll do exactly what you're looking for. One of their favorite places to eat is right against the glass, eating the algae below the substrate line as well as feeding right on the top of the bed. They also burrow and eat the detritus that is trapped in the bed too. Also pretty cheap lol