# Cleaning debris from the sand at the bottom.



## Michael (Jul 17, 2006)

Hi everyone,

Ever since we got our Dog Face Puffer and Bicolor Angel we have been putting frozen silverside fish (thawed out of course), mysis congelee, and krill into the tank.

It seems little of it gets eaten, and the bottom of the tank is starting to look very littered. We had our water tested recently and our ammonia levels went way up- I'm not sure if it is on account of adding the two large fish or because of the waste accumulating at the bottom.

It is extremely difficulty to pick up the uneaten pieces of food with a net from the sand at the bottom of the tank. 

Is there some kind of a scavenger fish that will eat uneaten food from the bottom of the tank so that the tank does not become a graveyard of decomposing, uneaten food? Or is there another solution to this problem?

Thanks!


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

You are over feeding. If you cut back on just one feeding a day till the ammonia goes down. That will get your ammonia down. For the depris on the bottom there are numorous things. In my reef setup I have a sand sifting star fish that eats depris out of the sand. My emrald crabs(which eat algea) will eat uneaten food of the bottom. (If it ever made it that far) I have a serpeant star fish that eats meat. At night he scavenge's the tank looking for food. He has even hate dead fish that I couldn't reach. For now you can siphon out all the left over food. When thats done Feed them once a day till you notice that the ammonia is droping then you can resume your normal feeding routine . Then only feed them what they can consume.


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## Michael (Jul 17, 2006)

usmc121581 said:


> You are over feeding. If you cut back on just one feeding a day till the ammonia goes down. That will get your ammonia down.


I am only feeding them once a day already.


usmc121581 said:


> For the depris on the bottom there are numorous things. In my reef setup I have a sand sifting star fish that eats depris out of the sand. My emrald crabs(which eat algea) will eat uneaten food of the bottom. (If it ever made it that far) I have a serpeant star fish that eats meat. At night he scavenge's the tank looking for food. He has even hate dead fish that I couldn't reach.


So which of these fish consume the most from the bottom and which are compatible with a Dog Faced Puffer and Bicolor Angel? I think that buying a fish that eats much from the bottom and is compatible with my fish would be the best solution for me.


usmc121581 said:


> For now you can siphon out all the left over food.


How do I siphon out the leftover food?


usmc121581 said:


> Then only feed them what they can consume.


I am feeding them the three foods I was told to at the LFS. The only thing I see being eaten, though, is the silverside by the Dog Face Puffer. I have not seen the Bicolor Angel eat anything at all and I have not seen either fish eat the mysis congelle or krill. Should I simply stop putting the mysis congelee and krill into the tank?


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

If you don't see the fish eating the food I won't give it to them. My fish wont touch the krill either so I just stop putting it in the tank. For your problem with the food on the bottom it's kind of hard to pick excatly which to get because the dog face puffer ears invert. to keep there teeth filed down. You will have to experiment with it to see what the puffer will eat any of the invert. They sell siphon hose's at walmart or your local fish store. When you do it just becareful not to disturb the sand bed to much. I would go with the siphon hose because you wouldn't want to spend money on some inverts. just to have them eatin by the puffer. For the Bi-color they like meaty foods such as small pieces of shellfish, plus Mysis and brine shrimp, live or frozen; also plenty of green foods and algae (will consume algal growth in tank)


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