Clean up crew question

[DalPal25]

Hey everyone, I'm buying my clean up crew today and had a question. How much should I be spending on the CUC? I have about 120 dollars to spend but I honestly don't feel like blowing it all on a clean up crew. This is my first saltwater tank so I'm not even sure at all what a reasonable price is for a solid crew. My tank is a 40 gallon cube if that changes anything.

 

[Wiz]

Don't need anywhere near that much. A few snails some for sand and some for glass. Maybe 5-10 of each. Maybe a couple scarlet hermits. A cucumber or conch. Maybe a brittle star. Think that's a great start.

 

[kateater]

Are you buying locally or Internet? $2-$3 per piece is what crabs and snails sell for in my area. Just make sure you get a variety of algae eaters, detritus eaters, and something that will stir up the sandbed. I like red and blue hermits, Astrea snails, trochus snails, Mexican turbos, nassarious snails, and serpent star.

 

[DalPal25]

Don't need anywhere near that much. A few snails some for sand and some for glass. Maybe 5-10 of each. Maybe a couple scarlet hermits. A cucumber or conch. Maybe a brittle star. Think that's a great start.

I definitely want a star, that's what I'm most excited about

 

[DalPal25]

Are you buying locally or Internet? $2-$3 per piece is what crabs and snails sell for in my area. Just make sure you get a variety of algae eaters, detritus eaters, and something that will stir up the sandbed. I like red and blue hermits, Astrea snails, trochus snails, Mexican turbos, nassarious snails, and serpent star.

Buying at my LFS

 

[Wiz]

Stars are some of the most touchy when it comes to variation in chemistry and temp. Just take it slow.

 

[Roboson]

It depends on what your LFS has but here's what you want give or take:

5-7 nassarius snails (for sand stirring).
5-10 cerith snails
5 blue leg hermits
3 red leg hermits

That's the basic clean up crew that I always recommend for a tank that size and that's really all a healthy tank will be able to support long term without any additional feeding. It's not enough, but I find that to be the best place to start.

Then on top of that you have a few options.

A sand sifting star is really cool and it really keeps the sand pristine. It does it microfauna though so you have to make sure you have a lot of life in your sand bed.

A brittle star (if your LFS has them) is an ok CUC member. It will search out food at night and will generally not be seen too often. Once they get above 5 or six inches, they won't be able to support themselves on what they can find and you'll have to start feeding them directly. Otherwise they get hungry and start going for what they can.

Other starfish aren't really CUC members and are mostly for display.

 

[DalPal25]

It depends on what your LFS has but here's what you want give or take:

5-7 nassarius snails (for sand stirring).
5-10 cerith snails
5 blue leg hermits
3 red leg hermits

That's the basic clean up crew that I always recommend for a tank that size and that's really all a healthy tank will be able to support long term without any additional feeding. It's not enough, but I find that to be the best place to start.

Then on top of that you have a few options.

A sand sifting star is really cool and it really keeps the sand pristine. It does it microfauna though so you have to make sure you have a lot of life in your sand bed.

A brittle star (if your LFS has them) is an ok CUC member. It will search out food at night and will generally not be seen too often. Once they get above 5 or six inches, they won't be able to support themselves on what they can find and you'll have to start feeding them directly. Otherwise they get hungry and start going for what they can.

Other starfish aren't really CUC members and are mostly for display.

Thank you!

 

[Roboson]

Buying all that from an LFS isn't gonna be cheap though. My LFS sells blue legs a $2 and there are place one the internet where you can get them for 50 cents or less. I'm all for supporting LFSs (except mine), but with CUC, it's often cheaper to browse a bit.

 

[DalPal25]

Buying all that from an LFS isn't gonna be cheap though. My LFS sells blue legs a $2 and there are place one the internet where you can get them for 50 cents or less. I'm all for supporting LFSs (except mine), but with CUC, it's often cheaper to browse a bit.

Hahaha what's wrong with your LFS?

 

[Wiz]

I would research each member first. Blue legs and red legs are cheap but have more of an attitude than scarlets. They will fight and kill each other and snails. Cerith and nassarius are great but both are sand snails. Ceriths will climb at night. But trochus, astrea, turban, or turbos are much better for glass and rocks. sand stars eat macrofauna. They are cool but are actually counter productive when it comes to cleaning.

Don't take my word either. Search each one you intend to get before hand. As you should do with any reef addition.

 

[Roboson]

I would research each member first. Blue legs and red legs are cheap but have more of an attitude than scarlets. They will fight and kill each other and snails. Cerith and nassarius are great but both are sand snails. Ceriths will climb at night. But trochus, astrea, turban, or turbos are much better for glass and rocks. sand stars eat macrofauna. They are cool but are actually counter productive when it comes to cleaning.

Don't take my word either. Search each one you intend to get before hand. As you should do with any reef addition.

I forgot about Scarlets. They're more expensive and a little bigger, but also a really great choice.

Hahaha what's wrong with your LFS?

They don't know how to do SW, so all of their tanks are full of cyano and all their corals are dying. They're really bad.

 

[DalPal25]

I forgot about Scarlets. They're more expensive and a little bigger, but also a really great choice.




They don't know how to do SW, so all of their tanks are full of cyano and all their corals are dying. They're really bad.

The closest thing I have to me is Petco and the next best option is an hour away... So you're darn right I'd rather travel an hour each time haha. Maine doesn't have a huge selection of aquarium stores