Are Clean up Crews (cuc) worth the trouble?

[Jared's Little Reef]

So the main question here is do you guys think clean up crews (cuc) are worth the trouble.
Do you guys think do they help fix nutrient issues over the years or just put a big bandaid on the issue?

Example of a major negative with cuc is them dying off and causing the algea breakout that they are supposed to be preventing.

What are your opinions for having them? Especially in a nano tank 20 gallon which I have.

 

[harthag12]

I believe they're great. I've had corals I've gotten with hair algae on them and they promptly mow all the algae off the frags, they keep my tank clean & for me are often more entertaining to watch than the fish. I feed the tank extra just to make sure the crew gets fed.

 

[DQM5]

unless you want algae on the rocks and glass. CUC is a must imo.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

On the natural environment they are necessary so the correct amount depending on the size tank will be helpful.

 

[LesPoissons]

You just have to find the right balance for your tank. If you are able to maintain your tank with gravel vac/water changes/+/- refugium etc and dont have algae issues then there is no need for a clean up crew. If you have too little algae and detritus in your tank and some cuc dies then yes, you will get a nitrate spike depending on the size of your tank. So I recommend starting slowly. How big is your tank? How old? What algae issues are you having? Those determine what cuc can help.

 

[Entz]

Snails are great. I am still on the fence about hermits... leave the poor snails alone ;Dead

 

[LesPoissons]

I have both in my tank. I like the activity of the hermits and they are better at cleaning up the fish food (and any deaths), but if I was starting from scratch, Id try just snails. They are expensive to replace and the hermits seem to see them as a constant food source.

 

[ReeferReefer]

Die off is only and issue if they are overstocked. I have had hermits live for years. If you feel they do not have enough to scavenge, you can give them a little extra food.

 

[Jared's Little Reef]

Current tank setup is a nuvo 20gallon 30lbs of live rock and marine pure bio balls as secondary.
Lighting two AI prime HD, vortech mp10, and tunze ato.
Doing 20% water change everyweek everyweek. Tank has been setup for 4 weeks now and cycled 2 weeks ago (was doing daily water tests)
What do you guys think 2-4 snails for the whole tank?

 

[Goose91]

Think of it this way, you are attempting to re create a tiny slice of the ocean in your tank. They are there in any and all natural settings and so should be there in your tank as well regardless of what your stocking. Anf as said above, you need to balance the cuc for size of tank /bio load etc. But ya, id strongly recommend keeping them unless you enjoy lots of exstensive cleaning.

 

[ReeferReefer]

Current tank setup is a nuvo 20gallon 30lbs of live rock and marine pure bio balls as secondary.
Lighting two AI prime HD, vortech mp10, and tunze ato.
Doing 20% water change everyweek everyweek. Tank has been setup for 4 weeks now and cycled 2 weeks ago (was doing daily water tests)
What do you guys think 2-4 snails for the whole tank?

In my 30l I have 2 snails and 10 small hermits. You can always add more later if you want.

 

[Hemmdog]

Current tank setup is a nuvo 20gallon 30lbs of live rock and marine pure bio balls as secondary.
Lighting two AI prime HD, vortech mp10, and tunze ato.
Doing 20% water change everyweek everyweek. Tank has been setup for 4 weeks now and cycled 2 weeks ago (was doing daily water tests)
What do you guys think 2-4 snails for the whole tank?

They are very important, for your tank a diverse cuc would be, 5 trochus snails, 2 turbo snails, 2 nassarius snails, 3 blue legged hermit crabs.

 

[Sailingeric]

I like my CUC. I have several hermits and I love watching them move around the tank. I throw in a mussel a couple times of week for them to snack on.

 

[specwar]

I am complete in favor of a good CUC - they take care of the algae and detrus keeping whatever potentially lurks away. I dont know why you're going through the dirty water from death syndrome - might be something else?

 

[LOVEROCK]

How do you guys qt your cuc ?

 

[BeejReef]

I like them. More fun to watch than the fish. Love my emerald crabs. The odd snail or crab death really shouldn't spike your nutrients unless it's a ping pong ball sized snail.

 

[ReeferReefer]

How do you guys qt your cuc ?

76 days in a fishless system.

 

[specwar]

My CUC was the first livestock in my last set up and will be in this new one. I let them QT for a month then add fish. The food I drop in there for them helps get the right bio cycle in the water for the fish.

 

[lapin]

So the main question here is do you guys think clean up crews (cuc) are worth the trouble.
Example of a major negative with cuc is them dying off and causing the algea breakout that they are supposed to be preventing.
Do you guys think do they help fix nutrient issues over the years or just put a big bandaid on the issue?

I dont think they fix nutrient issues. What they do is consume extra food and eat extra unwanted algae. Storing some nutrients and processing some into smaller particles.
If they die off the same amount of nutrients will still be in your tank just in a different form to be consumed by others.

What are your opinions for having them? Especially in a nano tank 20 gallon which I have.

If you dont want them then dont get them. If you find you have algae or a dirty sand bed and dont want to clean it some more then get some sort of cuc to help you deal with it

 

[PatW]

If you have a mouth nutrients to have corals, you will have algae. What you hope for is benign algae...... that is yummy algae because a proper population of snails will keep your rock work nice and clean.