Clean up crews
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Otter_rs
Well-Known Member
That is a high end number. You can get away with less. Cerith snails and blue leg hermits are very small though, so if you go with less, I would go with the Trochus snails and red leg hermits.
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Otter_rs
Well-Known Member
Scarlet hermits are great, but more expensive than some of the other Hermits for the same job.
I don't like the Turbos because they are too big for a small aquarium and knock stuff over.
I like the short spine urchins, but they will eat coralline algae.
The nassarius snails are good for cleaning up uneaten food and turning over sand but will not touch algae.
A cucumber might not do well unless your sand bed is established, but are great for established sand beds.
Just my opinion.
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niftyjosh
Active Member
Scarlet hermits are far less likely to kill snails and more likely to dine on vegetation than the over aggressive blue or red tips you suggested...you get what you pay for
Turbos are some of the only clean up crew that will actively eat bryopsis and other hard to get rid of algae. Zebra have been know to actively eat cyano as well...if knocking things over is a problem, secure them properly.
Short spine urchins eat every type of algae including coralline. If you can live with a few less purple spots I highly suggest them. Another alternative is to let brown wafer algae overrun the coralline and then figure out what is going to eat the wafer...
Nassarius eat leftover food and continually sir your sand bed slowly releasing unwanted buildup. If you bought them to eat algae, you haven't done your homework. They are a must.
Cucumbers eat anything from bacteria to diatom type algae living on the surface of your sand bed. While the expelled sand comes out in pellet form, it soon falls apart leaving your sand clean on top.
Otter_rs
Well-Known Member
I agree with everything that you say, but I stick by what I have said as well. Just playing devils advocate.
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niftyjosh
Active Member
Diversity is key to survival in nature, so why not in our tanks.
I'm suggesting a group of critters that work together to solve a problem while your filling a sack with kittens and puppies then throwing them down the river to see who survives.
Otter_rs
Well-Known Member
Hahaha..... If you say so.
I'm not disagreeing with your assessment, I'm just giving more info than what you provided. I gave a simple cleanup crew that does a similar job that yours describes in a different fashion assuming that the aquarium is new and the aquarist keeps the nutrient load at a reasonable level. I think that comment was uncalled for.
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Swordfish215
Community Member
Just wanted to comment on your post....liveaquaria.com....go to the build your own link, and all the cleanup crew members you buy(once u hit $60) will ship free.
Swordfish215
Community Member
Trochus are the longest lived, and actually all come from warmer waters....nassarius are useless in crushed coral but great in sand beds....cucumbers die in your tank,you better be running carbon,,,,,do your research based on your tanks specifics and it will all work out.:clap2:
Otter_rs
Well-Known Member
Agreed... Its all about what you want your cleanup crew to do, in your particular system. Although I think cucumbers do very well in established systems. If they do die though, it's a mess!
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agree with otter on this one, going for smaller snails in a 30g will provide more room for everything. I am not a fan of the mexican turbo snails, they do a heck of a job, ill give them that but they die often, they also don't turn themselves over and they stink the high heavens when u remove a dead carcass. I mean make your entire room smell like death for 10 minutes, including your hands.
Stick with snails that turn themselves over and do what you need, build around your needs / wants, there is a ton of info out there on CUC's they are fun to assemble, like a little team to help you keep your tank in tip top shape. I went with a bunch of different combos in the beginning but I have found (personal experience, nothing scientific about it) that astrea snails live for a long time, eat basically everything off your rocks, and don't knock anything over.
Only real piece of advice that you can take to the bank out of my experience is that if u get snails with larger shells then your hermit crabs (what ever you decide if any), your hermits, once large enough to outgrown their shells, will kill your snails for their shells, unless you provide empty larger shells for them. Some LFS in my area give shells away of dead snails and inverts.
I watched two hermits fight over a shell the other day, I wish I had a good video camera it was something out of national geographic I swear...
One hermit cleaned out the entire murdered astrea snail in the front of my display. It was front row seats like 1 inch from the glass and the hermit did some serious Mr. Clean type work, cleaned the entire slimy mess out of the shell. The other hermit paced around the scene just waiting and watching. Once the hermit cleaning left his shell to take the snails shell the other hermit muscled him out of the way to steal the shell, the shell less hermit scurried back to his previous home and I could swear I could hear him let out a long sigh and even winch out a tear
good luck with whatever your decide!
Stick with snails that turn themselves over and do what you need, build around your needs / wants, there is a ton of info out there on CUC's they are fun to assemble, like a little team to help you keep your tank in tip top shape. I went with a bunch of different combos in the beginning but I have found (personal experience, nothing scientific about it) that astrea snails live for a long time, eat basically everything off your rocks, and don't knock anything over.
Only real piece of advice that you can take to the bank out of my experience is that if u get snails with larger shells then your hermit crabs (what ever you decide if any), your hermits, once large enough to outgrown their shells, will kill your snails for their shells, unless you provide empty larger shells for them. Some LFS in my area give shells away of dead snails and inverts.
I watched two hermits fight over a shell the other day, I wish I had a good video camera it was something out of national geographic I swear...
One hermit cleaned out the entire murdered astrea snail in the front of my display. It was front row seats like 1 inch from the glass and the hermit did some serious Mr. Clean type work, cleaned the entire slimy mess out of the shell. The other hermit paced around the scene just waiting and watching. Once the hermit cleaning left his shell to take the snails shell the other hermit muscled him out of the way to steal the shell, the shell less hermit scurried back to his previous home and I could swear I could hear him let out a long sigh and even winch out a tear
good luck with whatever your decide!
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