Are cuc's real?

[xxkenny90xx]

Ok here's a dumb question but i've been pondering this for a long time, are clean up crews actually good for your tank? I know that they eat detritus and algae but then they poop it right back into the water... I suppose they eat junk that I can't see or get too which is good, but at the same time, doesn't a clean up crew just add to the bioload? So what do you guys think, does a cuc keep your tank clean or just add extra waste into the system?

 

[ScottR]

Ok here's a dumb question but i've been pondering this for a long time, are clean up crews actually good for your tank? I know that they eat detritus and algae but then they poop it right back into the water... I suppose they eat junk that I can't see or get too which is good, but at the same time, doesn't a clean up crew just add to the bioload? So what do you guys think, does a cuc keep your tank clean or just add extra waste into the system?

CUC is real. Love mine.

 

[KorD]

Not only do my hermit's and snails clean well, they are also good for knocking one corals that are not glued down, fertilizing the corals, and just fun to watch.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I agree with both of you, my urchin and orange brittle starfish are tank favorites, but my question is if they actually improve the cleanliness of the tank more then they add to the bioload

 

[ScottR]

I agree with both of you, my urchin and orange brittle starfish are tank favorites, but my question is if they actually improve the cleanliness of the tank more then they add to the bioload

If your tank can handle them, why not. I never worry about fish waste. It’s nutrients for my tank. Part of a CUC includes filter feeders as well that help to eat nutrients in the water. (Think feather dusters) Shrimps will help to eat leftover fish food that would otherwise rot anyway.

 

[Matt Carden]

They help to form a complete food chain which includes pods and phyto

 

[xxkenny90xx]

That's an excellent point about the pods, I guess I don't think of them as cuc (even though they definately are) as much as fish food. What I mainly wonder is if having a ton of snails and hermits really helps keep a clean tank or if its just something extra for the lfs to sell us which may in reality make our tanks dirtier.

 

[Hermie]

That's an excellent point about the pods, I guess I don't think of them as cuc (even though they definately are) as much as fish food. What I mainly wonder is if having a ton of snails and hermits really helps keep a clean tank or if its just something extra for the lfs to sell us which may in reality make our tanks dirtier.

it's both an extra thing for an lfs to sell and it helps keep a tank clean, if they are healthy animals
as crabs grow, but even moreso snails, they take up nutrients from the tank to increase their body mass, and they also remove nuisance algae. So, while they need food to survive, they help transfer nutrients from algae into their bodies. That said, I don't think crabs are as good at "soaking up" nutrients as snails because crabs dont grow as large and their actual muscles are small compared to their exoskeleton. I wish I could have snails in my tank but I have a puffer.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Another interesting point about the body mass, I'm not sure how much mass they are really putting on but it does make sense (although once they die and rot in the tank dont they do the opposite)? Fwiw I had a big porcupine puffer for 2 years and my fighting conch survived the whole time (he always froze when the puffer was around)

 

[Bryson.bobby]

I know trochus snails keep my algae under control

 

[Ranjib]

Absolutely... but remember they are not a blanket solution, like most things in reef. Different CUCs have different abilities and can be extremely effective for their niche use cases. For example in one of my nano tank i have 5 CUC, involving three trochus, one nassarius and one hermit crab. They are just perfect and keep my tank in stable condition for my two week water change schedule. Without them I'll almost certainly get algae and in some cases cyano.

 

[ScottR]

That's an excellent point about the pods, I guess I don't think of them as cuc (even though they definately are) as much as fish food. What I mainly wonder is if having a ton of snails and hermits really helps keep a clean tank or if its just something extra for the lfs to sell us which may in reality make our tanks dirtier.

I’ll tell you what. I had a fallow tank. Full of inverts. Tons of pods. All different types. Since I didn’t have fish, the pod population was getting big and ugly. I struggled to get any type of algae growth in my tank. I got fish and they ate the visible pods and guess what: algae came back. My takeaway, pods are a good CUC as well.

 

[Hermie]

Another interesting point about the body mass, I'm not sure how much mass they are really putting on but it does make sense (although once they die and rot in the tank dont they do the opposite)? Fwiw I had a big porcupine puffer for 2 years and my fighting conch survived the whole time (he always froze when the puffer was around)

um... you don't leave a rotting animal in the tank lol

 

[Waters]

Definitely helpful for what we need them for...which is to help keep the tank clean Even if it is an endless cycle of removing algae and adding nutrients back into the water, at least the tank looks good!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

um... you don't leave a rotting animal in the tank lol

I've never noticed a dead snail before, they look just like live snails. I've even had fish disappear never to be seen again, they definately rot in our tanks (or in my case get eaten by the brittle and serpent stars). But maybe I'm the only one

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Definitely helpful for what we need them for...which is to help keep the tank clean Even if it is an endless cycle of removing algae and adding nutrients back into the water, at least the tank looks good!

This is what I'm thinking as well, they may not do much to actually clean the tank but they do make it look superficially better, and we need all the help we can get in that department

 

[ScottR]

This is what I'm thinking as well, they may not do much to actually clean the tank but they do make it look superficially better, and we need all the help we can get in that department

I look at it this way: we try as hard as we can to make a biome that mimics what the ocean can do but on a smaller scale. Therefore we should try to make the food chain as diverse as possible where our tanks can handle. Phytoplankton>zooplankton>inverts>fish. Most of these are in our tanks uninvited but help nonetheless. Without zooplankton, many types of inverts or fish may die. Without phytoplankton, zooplankton and inverts may die. We can keep fish only tanks and maybe only have phytoplankton (algae) uninvited. But then you get an algae problem that your fish don’t care about. You want something like a hermit that eats that certain type of algae and then you step into square one. <<<sorry, rant>>>

 

[vetteguy53081]

Many tanks would be disasters if it were not for clean up crews. While they expel waste, ye- the filter and biological system is to break it down and are both filtered and absorbed through skimming and infraction.

 

[Orcus Varuna]

I have never found much utility in clean-up crews. I have a few Banded Trochus and hermits currently just because I think they are cool and a Florida conch to agitate the sand but other then that meh. In the past I have had beautiful tanks without a single cuc member for years at a time. Effective nutrient removal and developed microfauna does exponentially more then a cuc ever does imo.

 

[McFly]

I agree with Orcus Varuna. I have gone through phases using them and not, never noticing a real difference. I have a crew right now more because they can be cool to watch.