Is there a need for a small clean up crew in a 20L reef tank. I do have some detritus and slight algae on some rocks and the sand bed but it's not terrible. Would it be worth getting a couple trochus or nassarius snails? Just don't want them to starve.
Clean Up Crew Question
- Thread starter JimBonks
- Start date
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Retro Reefer
Slow and steady wins the race!
Yes you IMO you should always have a CUC.. Even in a 3 gallon Pico tank I had set up for a couple years I had a 6 piece CUC. Here is what reef cleaners recommends, I would only put about a quarter of that in to start a new tank and build it up as your tank matures.. add more if your feeding heavily or having algae issues and less if your tank is ULN or algae free.
Last edited:
Retro Reefer
Slow and steady wins the race!
Edited my post with list..
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
I'd recommend only getting what you need for the job vs those reef cuc packages. But the package above does look pretty good for types of snails, but the numbers might be a little high starting off.
Start out with a few and go from there as the need arises. That will keep them from dying off of starvation. Your LFS will have most of what you need and you can buy them individually. Is your tank having a particular algae type problem?
Nassarious only eat meat, not algae... good to have maybe 3-4 in that tank size to clean up any fish foods making it to the sand. Also, they will eat any other dead or dying cuc members.
I like astreae snails.... great little algae eaters. They can't flip themselves over, though... so you might have to rescue one now and then. Rarely do i needed to flip one over though. Maybe only 3-5 in a 20g long depending on the algae present.
Cerith and dwarf ceriths are great at eating algae as well. They are small and you need a lot more of these. I'd get probably 5-10 cerith and maybe 15-20 dwarf cerith. Several won't make it after acclimation... but the nassarious will fix that problem.
Nerite are nice...i think my atreae are better algae eaters though. Nerite can actually leave the tank to wander! Again, probably only 5 in a 20g long to start.
Trochus are workhorses from what I've been told... but i don't have any to give an opinion. Best to get a couple but only if you have a lot of algae for them to eat.
Stay away from margarita snails... they are big and not suitable for our warmer tanks... they will die in a couple of months.
Also stay away from bumblebee snails...look cool, but they are predatory and will eat your other healthy snails.
Start out with a few and go from there as the need arises. That will keep them from dying off of starvation. Your LFS will have most of what you need and you can buy them individually. Is your tank having a particular algae type problem?
Nassarious only eat meat, not algae... good to have maybe 3-4 in that tank size to clean up any fish foods making it to the sand. Also, they will eat any other dead or dying cuc members.
I like astreae snails.... great little algae eaters. They can't flip themselves over, though... so you might have to rescue one now and then. Rarely do i needed to flip one over though. Maybe only 3-5 in a 20g long depending on the algae present.
Cerith and dwarf ceriths are great at eating algae as well. They are small and you need a lot more of these. I'd get probably 5-10 cerith and maybe 15-20 dwarf cerith. Several won't make it after acclimation... but the nassarious will fix that problem.
Nerite are nice...i think my atreae are better algae eaters though. Nerite can actually leave the tank to wander! Again, probably only 5 in a 20g long to start.
Trochus are workhorses from what I've been told... but i don't have any to give an opinion. Best to get a couple but only if you have a lot of algae for them to eat.
Stay away from margarita snails... they are big and not suitable for our warmer tanks... they will die in a couple of months.
Also stay away from bumblebee snails...look cool, but they are predatory and will eat your other healthy snails.
