Sifting sand

I use a sand sifting star fish, just make sure you have lots of sand that is atleast 3 months old, gotta give those ole star fish something to eat. I have also use golden headed gobbies, get a matted pair. Be warned the gobbies are VERY messy, they will put sand everywhere but if you don't mind cleaning behind them every few days they are awesome cleaners.
 
sand shifting stars and gobies are good but while there sifting they are eating.They will rapidly deplete your sand of critters(copepod and amphipods) that eat detris and algae
 
Thats what the refuge is for, making more copepods. :) My sand sifting star was crawling the tank walls the other day.
 
sand sifting star

my sand sifting star crawls up the wall sometimes, too. It's the coolest thing to see the way he mooves. I don't have a lid at all. I doubt he'll be able to climb over the lip, though. What do you think? I didn't know what a refugium was until the poll. I will be building one in the future. Seems like an inside winter project.
 
A refugium is awesome to allow small animals to grow and if seeded with some algea it can really help reduce nitrates and makes free food for your herbivores.
 
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