Possible clean up crew in predator tank?

[DerekT5]

Hey all, I am starting up a predator tank which was once a reef tank. I was wondering if i could keep my inverts that i have in the tank or add some other inverts that wouldn’t get eaten by the fish? any ideas would be great! thanks

 

[01xp]

I don't think so. They'll probably be a snake for whatever you put in

 

[Han]

You can keep hermits and snails, depending on what kind of predators they might have to be replaced over time.

 

[DerekT5]

You can keep hermits and snails, depending on what kind of predators they might have to be replaced over time.

will a lion fish go after inverts?

 

[Vette67]

Urchins make good cuc. Not too many fish can make a meal of a rock urchin.

 

[DerekT5]

Urchins make good cuc. Not too many fish can make a meal of a rock urchin.

what about a tuxedo urchin?

 

[WVNed]

I have urchins and conchs.

 

[Vette67]

what about a tuxedo urchin?

Unless you get a crown of thorns starfish or a sea otter, there’s not much likely to eat them. Some large triggers might be able to eat one... but it would have to be pretty hungry. Most fish are opportunists and will take the meal of least resistance.

 

[Feet4Fish]

will a lion fish go after inverts?

Lions would likely go after shrimps but would leave snails and crabs alone

 

[TheShrimpNibbler]

Limpets might be a good choice because of how tightly they stick to things.

 

[lion king]

will a lion fish go after inverts?

Lions or anglers won't go after hard bodied inverts. I never cared to put emerald crabs with my anglers for fear the emerald would pick on the angler. Anglers are very sedentary and emeralds can go rogue, but hermits are good. A tuxedo urchin is a great cleaner, I mean your rocks will sparkle. But unless the tank is large enough and mature enough to keep them in algae, they inevitably starve to death. You can keep an urchin in a smaller clean tank by feeding him strips of packaged algae/nori. I mean daily, these guys eat and eat and eat. And yes, shrimp is on the menu for lions and anglers. Ghost shrimp is actually one of the main foods you will feed them.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Snails, hermit crabs and urchins, but even the first two aren't 100% safe

My little eel has eaten 2 hermit crabs and 1 nassarius. My former lion never bothered them at all.

Shrimp on the other hand, are doomed. A buddy of mine wanted to get rid of his peppermint shrimp, and it was a race to see who got it first, lion or eel.

Urchins should be pretty safe from everything except some big Triggers. I've heard puffers have eaten urchins too.

 

[Feet4Fish]

Triggers and puffers do love urchin. It is part of their natural diet. I had a niger destroy a diadema!

 

[DerekT5]

Lions or anglers won't go after hard bodied inverts. I never cared to put emerald crabs with my anglers for fear the emerald would pick on the angler. Anglers are very sedentary and emeralds can go rogue, but hermits are good. A tuxedo urchin is a great cleaner, I mean your rocks will sparkle. But unless the tank is large enough and mature enough to keep them in algae, they inevitably starve to death. You can keep an urchin in a smaller clean tank by feeding him strips of packaged algae/nori. I mean daily, these guys eat and eat and eat. And yes, shrimp is on the menu for lions and anglers. Ghost shrimp is actually one of the main foods you will feed them.

yes right now i have a spike of algae and i already have seaweed strips ready if i get an urchin

 

[flabryth]

That the problem with predator's nearly everything is on the menu at some point in time. I would suggest anything you put into the tank be considered expendable. Most cleanup crew members are tops on the list for these guys eating habits. Yes, you can get them but 1. find a cheap source to get them from and 2. introduce them late at night when everyone is asleep.