Nassarius Snails eat critters

was told today that it may be my nass snail eating all my critters in the sand bed. i have a DSB and its not working, is it possible there eating pods, worms and smaller inverts in the sand bed that help turn the sand bed over to get a DSB to work?

 

how do you know you had critters to begin with? they dont just appear ya know lol

 

The Nassarius may eat some criters but, they mainly scavenge.

 

Nassarius snails eat detritus, uneaten food, decaying organics, and fish waste. Your DSB will need to be populated with a variety of Mcrofauna if you wish to keep it heathly.Over time the population of these animals will wax and wane.It is necessary to add micro fauna occasionally to keep the population of these creatures as stable as possible.While DSB's do work they require maintenance.You can buy Microfauna "packs" online.
Inland Aquatics - Detritivores

 

Ok so buy macro fanra kits, back to square 1. Spending money. Thats why i did a dsb so i woyldnt have to do water changes as often, salt gets pricey when you have a 120g worth of tank.
If i choose to give up on the dsb how quickly can i removw the sand. Ior coyld i just stir it little by little. ts been a year scince i have had my watchman goby id add one of them in the tank. Would he cause a sulfaric bomb go off or would he smell it in the sand and leave that area alone.

 

If DSB's were the answer believe me we would all have one.
I am not saying they do not work but IMO they can cause issues and there is more then 1 way to skin a cat.(Sorry Alex)Disturbing it now could be harmfull. If you are patient it would be possible to remove small portions at a time but it would take several weeks.I would go slow.
Adding sand sifters can help but microfauna tend to be much more gentle.I would choose Nassarius snails or a fighting Conch over a SS fish.

 

Be sure tha you have a nassarius snail and not a whelk. I thought I had a nasarrius, but it was actually a whelk. I found this out when I saw it finishing off my first crocea within 24 hours of introducing the clam.

 

Exactly how deep is your DSB?

 

IIRC from your other threads, the DSB is in the fuge. If that's the case, you can shut down the fuge and completely remove the DSB. Just be sure to clean the fuge compartment thoroughly before reusing/restarting the circulation.

FWIW, a GAC reactor would help reduce WCs by absorbing DOCs that the skimmer misses, thereby lowering nitrate production in the system.

BIO-pellet reactors also work wonders at reducing nitrates if applied and maintained properly; if not, however, they can do more harm than good.

Hope this helps.

 

I have nassarius snails and no nitrates. I don't have a DSB though.