Plants for Refugium and cleanup crew

Mjpisanti · Apr 27, 2014

Hi all! I have a refugium, established for a few months now with macro algae the cheato i believe it's called growing in it. I also have my tank established for about two years and have never had a clean up crew. The main tank is 75g salt water FO and the sump under is about 17g three chamber, regular refugium setup. What other plants would i put in the sump if i just wanted one or two more to help with the natural cycle of breaking down nitrates??? Also i just got five hermit crabs for the tank and a sand sifting starfish for the refugium. I already know this is very small for a clean up crew but i wanted to start small and work my way up. I heard if turbo's fall they're basically done for is this true and if so is it worth getting any turbo's? Basically i'm looking for advice on what to stock for a cleanup crew, basically what to add to the small amount i got started with. I have the deep sand bed in the refugium thats why i got the star fish and my regular substrate is crushed coral. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My nitrates have gone down significantly since i switched to refugium, from about 80 a week to 20 now consistantly. Is this level too high for shrimp still??? Thanks all

Reefing Madness · Apr 27, 2014

For the Shrimp I'd try to keep those trates at or under 20.
For a Clean up crew, for the DT, I'd throw in Turbos, they can right themselves, I've had some of mine for a few years now, I don't have to go setting them back up at all. If your not going with any corals, then mix and match with hermits. The hermits are scavengers and will clean up the detritus for you, snails will help remove algae on the rocks for you. I'd keep the snails out of the fuge, as they are liable to eat up your macro algae.
Mangrove
Shaving Brush Plant
Sea Lettuce
Red Gracillaria
Halimeda
Mermaids Fan
Maidens Hair

Mjpisanti · Apr 28, 2014

alright thank you i appreciate the advice! I'm going to order about 20 turbos and 20 hermits for the DT this week at the lfs. Should i put a few crabs in the refuge with the sand sifter or keep the star fish by himself???

Reefing Madness · Apr 28, 2014

You can throw some hermits in the Sump, won't hurt anything, watch which type you get, because they too will mow down macro if they get hungry.

Mjpisanti · Apr 28, 2014

Alright thanks

Arnie · Jun 4, 2014

Reefing Madness said:
For the Shrimp I'd try to keep those trates at or under 20.
For a Clean up crew, for the DT, I'd throw in Turbos, they can right themselves, I've had some of mine for a few years now, I don't have to go setting them back up at all. If your not going with any corals, then mix and match with hermits. The hermits are scavengers and will clean up the detritus for you, snails will help remove algae on the rocks for you. I'd keep the snails out of the fuge, as they are liable to eat up your macro algae.
Mangrove
Shaving Brush Plant
Sea Lettuce
Red Gracillaria
Halimeda
Mermaids Fan
Maidens Hair

I just finish setting up my sump/refugium last weekend... and I have celuptra right now and will be getting chaeto.... do I need the other macros as well like you mentioned??

Mangrove
Shaving Brush Plant
Sea Lettuce
Red Gracillaria
Halimeda
Mermaids Fan
Maidens Hair???