Fis For Turning Substrate?

[K Vee Gee]

I was just wondering if there is any fish out there that would be good at turning over the sand substrate in my tank?

 

[fishguy2727]

My goldfish love to. Loaches will burrow and root around in it. Cichlids also sift through it. Most fish won't get very deep in the sand bed at all, Malaysian trumpet snails are a great option since they will burrow deep.

 

[pablothebetta]

+1 on the trumpet snails. Cories seem to like to play around around on the surface, but don't really turn or disturb it.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

My malawis rescape my tank everyday....

 

[K Vee Gee]

I was thinking about getting some MTS, but do they not reproduce like mad?

I can't keep Cichlids in a community tank, can I? What about Kuhli loaches?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

yeah, dont want cichlids in the community. they will eat your community lol

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I was thinking about getting some MTS, but do they not reproduce like mad?

I can't keep Cichlids in a community tank, can I? What about Kuhli loaches?

MTS will reproduce like crazy with excess food available for them. If you keep your feeding under control, they will remain under control.



Why do you want something specifically to turn your substrate?

 

[TheAmazingLoaf]

I have sand substrate in my tank, and I got a couple of loaches, a Clown and a Zebra. They seem to do a pretty good job at moving the sand around.

What fish do you already have in the tank and how big is it?

 

[K Vee Gee]

I am wanting something to turn the substrate, so that I don't get a build up of harmful gasses.

I have a 160 litre tank with, Guppies, Tetra's, Rainbow shark, Golden Nugget Plec a couple of Swordtail's, probably some I have missed out though.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I am wanting something to turn the substrate, so that I don't get a build up of harmful gasses.

There is no need to get any species for the purpose of stopping that. This is a persistent myth that it can be dangerous to your fish. First, unless you have an extremely thick layer of sand, this isn't even possible. Second, just giving a little stir when doing a water change would be sufficient in the unlikely event that any gas were to build up in the first place. Finally, if the gas were to build up and were released the toxic gas would be neutralized almost immediately by the oxygen in the water and all there would be is a local (extremely local) section of the tank that momentarily doesn't have the amount of oxygen that the fish need. That would last just moments and diffusion would spread the existing oxygen in the tank to the area of concern, and just as quickly gas exchange at the surface would refill the oxygen that was depleted. In other words, you are worrying about nothing.


Have you ever heard of ANYONE who actually lost a fish due to the build-up of gasses in a sand substrate?

 

[doresy]

A pair of chop-sticks are good for turning over the sand to release gasses in any tank.

As your original post does not give any idea as to what fish stock you have then it's near impossible to recommend a fish but if it's a community tank then Gobies are a great excavator.

 

[K Vee Gee]

Nope have never heard of anyone losing a fish that way, just heard that gasses can be harmful.

Thanks for correcting us on the matter.

 

[fishguy2727]

Many people apply the word 'myth' to anything they haven't experienced. Everything is impossible until it happens.

I have seen toxic gas pockets build up under various circumstances. It can happen when use have driftwood on slate with a sand substrate, with thick sand, or even with only 0.5-1" of sand. Fortunately I have caught all of mine before it got so bad that it killed everything, but I have had customers who were not so fortunate. I have had it get so bad that when I found it, it made the whole tank (and room, and that part of the house) smell like skunk (hydrogen sulfide). It is definitely worth doing something as simple adding some trumpet snails to prevent.

The hydrogen sulfide is produced when there isn't enough oxygen, but that doesn't mean that being exposed to the water column will neutralize it instantly.

IME Malaysian trumpets are easy to keep under control. Worst case scenario they do become a plague of locusts in your tank and you buy some loaches.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Many people apply the word 'myth' to anything they haven't experienced. Everything is impossible until it happens.

I have seen toxic gas pockets build up under various circumstances. It can happen when use have driftwood on slate with a sand substrate, with thick sand, or even with only 0.5-1" of sand. Fortunately I have caught all of mine before it got so bad that it killed everything, but I have had customers who were not so fortunate. I have had it get so bad that when I found it, it made the whole tank (and room, and that part of the house) smell like skunk (hydrogen sulfide). It is definitely worth doing something as simple adding some trumpet snails to prevent.

The hydrogen sulfide is produced when there isn't enough oxygen, but that doesn't mean that being exposed to the water column will neutralize it instantly.

IME Malaysian trumpets are easy to keep under control. Worst case scenario they do become a plague of locusts in your tank and you buy some loaches.

yeah but you really don't want to recomment loaches to deal with a future snail problem, especially since we do not know the OP tank size. Plus loaches prefer shoals of 6+

 

[K Vee Gee]

So would you suggest I get some snails? Or will turming the sand with my hand when I do my weekly water changes be enough?