Lets start this off with the obvious, I am by no means the expert on this, it is just my opinion and has been backed up with 7 years exp. setting up and running multiple tanks... but I am still learning.
I plan on asking the most common questions I see and answering them as simply as I can. so lets get the show on the road and hopefully I can save you a chunk of change on the way that you can use elsewhere.
Q: Do I really need 1 snail and 1 hermit per gallon!?!?!
A: This is an OLD rule, way before skimmers, way before UV filters, it even predates most of the fish and coral that are commonly available today. Because of the lack of quality filtration available they needed much larger clean up crews.
Q: I see clean up crew packs everywhere is this the best way to go?
A: No not really. They tend to go by the old rule and you end up with way to much. They do this mainly because everybody has heard the rule so it is basically believed and that means they can sell you more. There are exceptions and I will explain them shortly when I explain my method.
Q: Snails? hermits? Both?
A: This one is a tough one and you will find people fighting on both sides just about everywhere. Personally I have rarely had a problem with hermits. There are tons of horror stories but I find that it comes down to the particular animal when it comes to destruction. The only constant I have found is that hermits will over a period of time kill your snails to get bigger homes UNLESS like me you make a small pile of empty shells somewhere behind your rock. I will add my suggestions in a bit
Q: I need a sand stirring critter and I hear stars are the best. Should I get one?
A: NO! nonononono..... These poor critters are so often pushed off on unsuspecting new folks that I think most LFS's keep a score board in the back. Cucumbers are almost as bad but not quite. Sand sifting stars ARE the best at cleaning the sand bed... they are TO good, they will wipe out the standard 180g tanks sand bed in less than a week then starve and die and make a huge mess. Please do not try these guys unless you truly have a 180+ WITH a deep sand bed and even then it is iffy. Cucumbers are OK with a moderate sand bed (2ish inches) in a 125 in my experience.
My Method: Madness
This is just how I do things it is not a rule, I wont force it on anybody but I have found this leads to the least amount of wastage of money and more importantly lives, with the added bonus of giving you cycle a jump start straight into high gear.
When first starting a tank everybody watches that dang cycle like a hawk and the second "the rules" say it is ready, BAM! fulla fish and clean up crew...
I personally have broken "the rules" on every single tank I have ever had, some were disasters, others great success.... I'll share the best of the bunch. I like everybody watch for that ammonia spike like a hawk and after it peaks I start planning.
My general rule of thumb is 1/2 the 1 snail 1 hermit per gallon rule and just go 1 critter per gallon at a rate of 1/4 hermits and 3/4 snails. Of hermits a straight 50-50 split red leg blue leg. Snails 2 algae, 1 detrivore. so the break down ends up looking like:
100g tank
25 hermits (12 or 13 of each red and blue)
75 snails (50 algae eaters of various types, 25 detrivore)
HOW I add them, this is the part that upsets people..
Once ammonia hits less than 0.25ppm I add 1/4 of the total crew ( I normally wait till 0.1ppm) this causes a stutter in the cycle and they do need to be fed if you have gone lights out (there will be no algae).
I wait until nitrItes are just barely detectable like I did for ammonia and add the next 1/4 of the crew.
Next AFTER the cycle has finished and after your first 1 possibly 2 fish are in the tank look around and wait until you see any algae growing or piles of fish food that have hit bottom and not been touched after an hour this may even happen later than the 2nd fish... at this point add the 3rd 1/4 of the clean up crew.
The final 1/4 should be considered upkeep, over the course you will end up losing some critters here and there and these will replenish the numbers, you will end up adding this one close to the end of your fish stocking I am betting. This way I have ended up spending MUCH less on clean up crews, not only that but I don't lose alot due to starvation that is caused by dumping the whole crew into a tank with nothing really growing in it yet.
Well thats my dollar and 36 cents worth for tonight
I plan on asking the most common questions I see and answering them as simply as I can. so lets get the show on the road and hopefully I can save you a chunk of change on the way that you can use elsewhere.
Q: Do I really need 1 snail and 1 hermit per gallon!?!?!
A: This is an OLD rule, way before skimmers, way before UV filters, it even predates most of the fish and coral that are commonly available today. Because of the lack of quality filtration available they needed much larger clean up crews.
Q: I see clean up crew packs everywhere is this the best way to go?
A: No not really. They tend to go by the old rule and you end up with way to much. They do this mainly because everybody has heard the rule so it is basically believed and that means they can sell you more. There are exceptions and I will explain them shortly when I explain my method.
Q: Snails? hermits? Both?
A: This one is a tough one and you will find people fighting on both sides just about everywhere. Personally I have rarely had a problem with hermits. There are tons of horror stories but I find that it comes down to the particular animal when it comes to destruction. The only constant I have found is that hermits will over a period of time kill your snails to get bigger homes UNLESS like me you make a small pile of empty shells somewhere behind your rock. I will add my suggestions in a bit
Q: I need a sand stirring critter and I hear stars are the best. Should I get one?
A: NO! nonononono..... These poor critters are so often pushed off on unsuspecting new folks that I think most LFS's keep a score board in the back. Cucumbers are almost as bad but not quite. Sand sifting stars ARE the best at cleaning the sand bed... they are TO good, they will wipe out the standard 180g tanks sand bed in less than a week then starve and die and make a huge mess. Please do not try these guys unless you truly have a 180+ WITH a deep sand bed and even then it is iffy. Cucumbers are OK with a moderate sand bed (2ish inches) in a 125 in my experience.
My Method: Madness
This is just how I do things it is not a rule, I wont force it on anybody but I have found this leads to the least amount of wastage of money and more importantly lives, with the added bonus of giving you cycle a jump start straight into high gear.
When first starting a tank everybody watches that dang cycle like a hawk and the second "the rules" say it is ready, BAM! fulla fish and clean up crew...
I personally have broken "the rules" on every single tank I have ever had, some were disasters, others great success.... I'll share the best of the bunch. I like everybody watch for that ammonia spike like a hawk and after it peaks I start planning.
My general rule of thumb is 1/2 the 1 snail 1 hermit per gallon rule and just go 1 critter per gallon at a rate of 1/4 hermits and 3/4 snails. Of hermits a straight 50-50 split red leg blue leg. Snails 2 algae, 1 detrivore. so the break down ends up looking like:
100g tank
25 hermits (12 or 13 of each red and blue)
75 snails (50 algae eaters of various types, 25 detrivore)
HOW I add them, this is the part that upsets people..
Once ammonia hits less than 0.25ppm I add 1/4 of the total crew ( I normally wait till 0.1ppm) this causes a stutter in the cycle and they do need to be fed if you have gone lights out (there will be no algae).
I wait until nitrItes are just barely detectable like I did for ammonia and add the next 1/4 of the crew.
Next AFTER the cycle has finished and after your first 1 possibly 2 fish are in the tank look around and wait until you see any algae growing or piles of fish food that have hit bottom and not been touched after an hour this may even happen later than the 2nd fish... at this point add the 3rd 1/4 of the clean up crew.
The final 1/4 should be considered upkeep, over the course you will end up losing some critters here and there and these will replenish the numbers, you will end up adding this one close to the end of your fish stocking I am betting. This way I have ended up spending MUCH less on clean up crews, not only that but I don't lose alot due to starvation that is caused by dumping the whole crew into a tank with nothing really growing in it yet.
Well thats my dollar and 36 cents worth for tonight
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