CoralClark
Stick Head
i have a 120gal tank and am looking to get a large clean up crew. about 100 assorted snails and hermits. my question is can you add to many reef cleaners at once. should i be ok adding this many? thanks guys.
quick clean up crew question?
- Thread starter CoralClark
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Bouncingsoul39
Valuable Member
100 is waaaayyyy too many. Live aquaria and all these vendors that sell cleaner crew packs are just out to make a buck. They're businesses, that's what they do. But really, it's overkill. I can't imagine there would ever be enough food for all of them so the die off would be regular and high which would hurt your water quality. In my 125 I have 12 small astrea and trochus snails, one halloween hermit crab, and one fighting conch for the sand bed and this is plenty. I do have a yellow tang and a tail spot blenny that also help keep the rock clean.
redemer123
Active Member
yeah in my tank I have about 20 hermits, 10 astrea snails, 10 nassarius snails, 2 turbo snails and a sand sifting star and I have the cleanest sand bed a guy could ask for, a big ol clean up crew like that would just do more harm than good
Troylee
all about the diy!!!!!
You guys are crazy I have over 100 in my 70gal cube and there not enough haha... I guess it depends on how heavy you feed... Fwiw when you get 100 snails from reef cleaners etc there tiny.. Now 100 turbo snails that's a different story .... I have 25 naz 100 or so nerite or ceriths can't remember I get confused and like 10 of the which ever I don't have 100 of haha....
I ordered from reefcleaners for my 150...I tried getting about 100 dwarf ceriths, 30 normal, 30 nerites, 20 nassarius... well, I recieved about double that of everything maybe more than double in the dwarf ceriths. They come out every night and seem to be feeding fine, no excessive die off or shells piling up, during the day everything is hidden in the sand bed cant even tell it is there. Depending on what specific snails you order 120 is not to many (maybe not enough). You won't be dissapointed ordering from reefcleaners, I got the penny gorgonia too, which I am actually impressed with.
Bouncingsoul39
Valuable Member
Wow, troy do you bomb your tank with food? What's your regimen like? I feed twice a day what I feel like is a small amount but I can't imagine keeping 25 nassarius fed and happy....haha
I feed my tank two times a day and the sand starts boiling at feedtime with nassarius (30+) popping out to catch their piece, and when I feed my corals at night
SunnyX
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Chet, I wouldn't get any. If you need a clean up crew then there is something wrong with the system. A handful of snails is no big deal, but a large cleanup crew is not needed. If you really want some great cleaners stop by and ill give you some bristle worms. I have thousands in my setup, and they do a great job. I also have two large serpent stars which are great. I have had them for almost eight years now. I have one snail. 
Thanks,
Sonny
Thanks,
Sonny
_sludgefactory
Valuable Member
Pretty much every system is different, but i definitely think a good clean up crew is essential. You need the little critters to clean up fish waste, excess foods, and dead or dying organic matter. That is why these animal are around in the first place. They break the larger matter into smaller pieces for lower life forms to eat and so on. I personally love the large cerith snail, the ones with the rough shell not the smooth. The stir the sand be nicely and come out in force at night, they also seem to be quite long lived. Another benefit of them is that hermit crabs dont seem to be as able to kill them for their shells. I bought the large nassarius before at almost 4 bucks a pop and my hermits wiped them out in a week. Which brings me to another issue. I used to buy a lot of hermits, recently i think i am going to move away from them. I may keep 10 or so in my 54 but the have a tendancy to steal food from corals when feeding, especially my dendro. Snails never seem to even attempt to steal food. As far as algae control is concerned I like the atreas, they live a long time and graze constantly. Do your self a favor and avoid the big mexican turbos at all costs! They are good grazers but they will bulldoze anything in there way, instead opt for a sea hare. The sea hare does a great job at eating algae and will eat thick patches of briopsys in a very short period, and despite their large size they a quite nimble and will not knock anything over as they glide around the tank. Finally I wouldnt get a sand sifting star, they can get up to over a foot in size. They will quickly wipe out your sand bed and then slowly starve as mine did after about 2 years. Instead try a sea cucumber, they clean and sift nicely but dont decimate the sand bed the way the star does, mine has been going for about 3 years now and there are still plenty of worms in the sand bed but he is constantly working at cleaning day or night.
