CUC Size (210g)

[Aaron-A2]

The tank was just setup. No coral, no fish (yet!). So far, I'm looking at the following:

• Mexican turbo snail
• Nassarius Snail
• Astrea

How many should I really get of each? Are there are choice recommendations for a CUC team? There isn't much algae (yet), if at all. I don't want to starve my CUC right out the gate.

I want to avoid hermits for now till my tank becomes a bit more established.

 

[Crabs McJones]

The tank was just setup. No coral, no fish (yet!). So far, I'm looking at the following:

• Mexican turbo snail
• Nassarius Snail
• Astrea

How many should I really get of each? Are there are choice recommendations for a CUC team? There isn't much algae (yet), if at all. I don't want to starve my CUC right out the gate.

I want to avoid hermits for now till my tank becomes a bit more established.

Check out reefcleaners.org ordered from them many times. They have a "kit" if you want to call it that, that varies by tank size.
https://www.reefcleaners.org/cleaner-packages-with-free-shipping

And you can get kits with or without hermits

 

[Aaron-A2]

Check out reefcleaners.org ordered from them many times. They have a "kit" if you want to call it that, that varies by tank size.
https://www.reefcleaners.org/cleaner-packages-with-free-shipping

And you can get kits with or without hermits

Hmm, those kits seem like a lot, don't they? For a 210:

• 205 Dwarf Ceriths
  
• 32 Nassarius
• 75 Florida Ceriths
  
• 60 Nerites

Keep in mind, I don't have any coral/fish yet.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hmm, those kits seem like a lot, don't they? For a 210:

• 205 Dwarf Ceriths
  
• 32 Nassarius
• 75 Florida Ceriths
  
• 60 Nerites

Keep in mind, I don't have any coral/fish yet.

You can choose a smaller kit. I choose the 20 gallon for my 40 breeder. But I was referencing it more for the what kind should I use over what quantity should I get.

 

[Aaron-A2]

You can choose a smaller kit. I choose the 20 gallon for my 40 breeder. But I was referencing it more for the what kind should I use over what quantity should I get.

Good point. I'll check it out for smaller units.

 

[madducks42]

We have a much smaller tank, 90 gallon plus 20 gallon sump, but this is what we ordered from live aquaria when we started our tank almost a year ago:

- 5 Bumble Bee Snails - Almost all of these died in the first month, I think we still have 1 in the tank. I only got some because they looked different from the other snails and I liked their shells. But I probably wouldn't order them again.
- 2 Emerald Crabs - 1 died after about six months. The surviving one was huge and I really enjoyed watching him. I had some concerns about him munching on the corals but I never actually saw him damage any of them, he would dig through the zoas picking stuff of them and while it seemed like he was being pretty rough the zoas were never damaged. I haven't seen him in a few days so I'm hoping he's still okay. I'll probably always keep one in the tank.
- 2 Fighting Conches - The first two died within 2 months, I think I got them way too early. I bought two more from a LFS in December that I think are a different type than the ones listed on LA. They've been doing fine so far, I think our tank is established enough that they have enough food to eat. I find them really entertaining to watch. They're probably worth having later on but I wouldn't add them at the start.
- 5 Mexican Turbo snails - Started out with 5, two have died in the last 3 months. Not sure if that was because of lack of food or other reasons. They do an awesome job at eating algae. They were part of our original batch and 3 out of the five are still with us, all made it past 6 months. I wouldn't over do it with these guys because they move fast and eat a lot. They are big and bulky though so they can't get into tight spaces like some of the other snails.
- 2 Peppermint Shrimp - Both died within the last few months but were in the tank for over six months. Not sure how I feel about these guys. We added a blood fire shrimp and Scarlett skunk cleaner shrimp later on and both of those are cooler looking shrimp.
- 5 Scarlett Hermit Crabs - All but two were DOA, those two survived for about six months but I believe both have died since. These guys seem to have a poorer survival rating compared to the blue legged ones.
- 10 Nassarius Snails - I love these guys. They're like zombies rising from the dead during feeding time. It's hard to keep track of their numbers since they spend so much time buried in the sand. I thought we didn't have many left so I bought 5 more in December from the LFS. Yesterday when I was feeding about 15 came up from the sand to eat on left over food including some really tiny ones. So they've definitely reproduced in the tank.
- 12 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs - They totally prey on the snails. But I find them really entertaining to watch. They have reproduced in the tank so we have probably 20-25 now.
- 10 Cerith Snails - These guys have reproduced like crazy in our tank. We easily have 300 of them currently, most of them are super tiny and will probably die off. If they grow big enough to be a decent size then I'll give them away to local reefers in the area.
- 10 Banded Trochus Snails - We might have 1-2 of these left but almost all of these were wiped out by the hermit crabs. Not sure why the hermit crabs targeted them over all the other types of snails.

To me it makes more sense to start with low numbers of CUC and add as necessary. Most of our CUC reproduces enough that we don't have to worry about adding more, if anything I'm going to have to give away some snails soon. Possibly some hermit crabs too, I really like them but I deliberately keep their numbers low so that they don't decimate the snail population.

 

[Aaron-A2]

Thanks for the response @madducks42 . I'm curious about your thoughts on hermits being kept with snails. Have you had any types that do not attack snails? I understand the need for extra empty shells, but my concern is them killing the snails.

 

[madducks42]

The blue legged hermit crabs definitely attack and kill the snails. I keep some empty shells in the tank and it makes no difference. One day I'll notice a snail with a nice shell spattered with coralline and the next day there will be a hermit crab in that shell. The turbo snails are too big for the hermit crabs so they're out of danger, at least in our case. Not sure if anyone else has run into problems with hermit crabs attacking them but our turbo snails are easily 3-4 times the size of even our biggest hermit crabs. Our tank has only been up and running for just under a year but so far the snails reproduce considerably faster than the hermit crabs so while they might be preying on the snails for their shells the hermit crabs are still outnumbered at least 10 to 1 in our tank. I personally enjoy having both in the tank but I can see why people would prefer to do a snail only CUC. I just find hermit crabs entertaining : )