Best for Detritus

[Jcar]

What's the best thing you've had eat Detritus from experience? Looking to add a few things mainly to eat as much Detritus as possible

 

[blaxsun]

What do you have currently?

 

[MaxTremors]

Bristle worms, mini brittle stars, spaghetti worms, basically all the microfauna from quality live rock.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IME nothing really eats detritus in way that it keeps your tank clean. Detritus is basically poop and dead decaying matter, not many living animals will eat poop as their first choice. Especially if you feed the tank every day, they will not choose to eat poop over the good food being fed to the tank.

 

[Idech]

I am certain my snails eat the poop in the tank, as it’s been set up for 6 months now and there is no trace of poop anywhere. I’ve never seen this is any of my tanks, over many decades. This is my first saltwater tank.

When I added my tail spot blenny, there was a lot of accumulation, as this little guy is a poop machine. But a few days later, it was all gone.

I have a trochus snail, a few nerites and 1 nassarius snail but if I had to bet, I would say the nassarius is doing all the work.

So if you don’t have any nassarius snails, definitely get some !

 

[Hadla]

Best IMO is bristleworms since that’s their specialty lol. I know you said you have some but maybe add more? Also like posted above, maybe skip days when feeding and don’t feed as much. My tanks get fed every 3 days but I don’t have coral or animals that need the constant food supply

 

[Jcar]

I have a ton of different organisms all over the live rock and about twenty blue leg hermits. Spots on rocks that don't get direct flow accumulate Detritus/ the white snow type junk especially after 6 months. I blow off most of it with a powehead but if there's something that I can put in there that strictly eats the Detritus that would be great! Save me some effort during tank maintenance. Cerith snails maybe? I have basically everything you could possibly think of that comes in on quality live rock including some limpets. Was hoping someone on here knew some type of snail or hermit crab that eats Detritus. Im pretty sure after a while accumulating Detritus raises my nitrates. I may just figure out a way to vacuum it out if one of clean up crew type animals don't eat it specifically. Would be nice to have something slowly picking away at that stuff. Someone has gotta know something that eats Detritus specifically.

 

[Hadla]

Is there a sand bed? Maybe try a sea cucumber, they’re good at cleaning sand

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Snails will eat detritus, but the absolute best clean up crew is the person keeping the aquarium. Get that gravel vac out!