Gravel and Algae

[dfee]

What's the best way the keep the top of the gravel "turned" ? Other than manually. Keep getting bits of green and brown and would like it to stay white. Every couple of days I take a stick and just stir it up but it only stays clean for a day. Shallow gravel bed, by the way.

I wanted a diamond goby but lfs talked me out of it because I have a rimless without a cover and said they're known to be jumpers. Anyone have luck with diamond or dragon gobys NOT jumping out? I know I need to reduce nutrients obviously but I still want a critter to move my sand a bit.

I have a bunch of nasarrius snails. It's a 75 gal though. Not doing enough.

Second question. Currently working on bringing my nitrates down from 80. Wow. Currently at 20. Zero algae problems at 80 ppm. Had to clean glass a lot but no hair on my rocks. Currently a different story at 20 ppm. Tons of hair algae. Why when lowering nitrates did this happen?

Thank for the help in advance.

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[icedearth15324]

For the sand, you could get a fighting conch or something like that. They'll stir up the sand looking for food.

 

[Cubano32]

Fighting conch are hit or miss some say they do good some say they dont do anything

Me personally I'm on the they dont do crap I purchased 3 of them for my tank most of the time they dont move at all

For the sand, you could get a fighting conch or something like that. They'll stir up the sand looking for food.

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[GugsJr]

Fighting conch are hit or miss some say they do good some say they dont do anything

Me personally I'm on the they dont do crap I purchased 3 of them for my tank most of the time they dont move at all

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Mine are active but 2 aren't enough for my 120, and not even close for my 210. Might add 2 more

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[Sawdonkey]

I had a conch for quite a while, and he was fairly active, but could by no means keep my gravel stirred up.

I’m not sure if they actually stir sand, but i like keeping Mexican turbo snails. They cover a lot of ground and seem to be constantly eating algae. They might help solve your issue. I just got a bunch of them from Aquarium Depot, and they are huge! Also got some urchins, jumbo nerites, nassarius snails, and pods. The pods are the really big ones too and there were tons.

 

[Cubano32]

I had a conch for quite a while, and he was fairly active, but could by no means keep my gravel stirred up.

I’m not sure if they actually stir sand, but i like keeping Mexican turbo snails. They cover a lot of ground and seem to be constantly eating algae. They might help solve your issue. I just got a bunch of them from Aquarium Depot, and they are huge! Also got some urchins, jumbo nerites, nassarius snails, and pods. The pods are the really big ones too and there were tons.

You get the pods from aquarium depot also? If so how many and was it fair price

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[Sawdonkey]

You get the pods from aquarium depot also? If so how many and was it fair price

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Yes, I think for $29 you get 1000 pods, but it’s buy one get one.

They are the big ones that look like little shrimp. I got two bags like this picture and there are many more than you can see here.
I bought something similar about 4-5 years ago and my sump was always crawling with pods for years.

The pin cushion urchin, the orange Yuma, and the cerith snails I got were laughably small. The pin cushion is literally smaller than a dime.

Sorry to the OP here for derailing your thread.....