Using CUC for taking out pests: Do you do it? Is it a good idea?

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

All week we have been talking about pests. One of the solutions people often have for dealing with pests is purchasing predators to deal with pests. Is this something that is beneficial?

What are the CUC members that you have used as predators to eat pests (flatworms, aiptasia, cyanobacteria, dinos, etc.) in your aquarium?
Has this been helpful?
Has it ever caused problems?

Here's an interesting article by Jay Hemdal that gives some food for thought on this question: Clean Up Crew (CUC) or Food For Thought

 

[Gtinnel]

I tried peppermint shrimp for aiptasia and my wrasse ate them. I tried emerald crabs for bubble algae and my wrasse ate them (well killed them at least).
I have bought fish that eat some of the pests, do fish not count as CUC members?
My wrasse took care of my planaria problem. My foxface eats my bubble algae. I have a copperband in qt that will hopefully deal with my aiptasia problem.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Personally I use a balance of harmony. I'll pick out anything I can remove easily. I avoid things that breed like crazy or could harm other things than what I'm targeting if possible. Like everything in this hobby, it's a balancing act

 

[BuddyBonButt]

I tried peppermint shrimp for aiptasia and my wrasse ate them. I tried emerald crabs for bubble algae and my wrasse ate them (well killed them at least).
I have bought fish that eat some of the pests, do fish not count as CUC members?
My wrasse took care of my planaria problem. My foxface eats my bubble algae. I have a copperband in qt that will hopefully deal with my aiptasia problem.

Good luck on the copperband, thats my end goal fish. I think they are amazing to look at and when I feel I can handle it, it'll be the centerpiece of my tank

 

[MoshJosh]

I've had great luck with peppermint shrimp (fingers crossed)

 

[Sharkbait19]

I have a peppermint. No aiptasia to test him on (and hopefully it stays that way).
My emeralds are great at keeping algaes off the rocks, especially bubble.
I had bumblebee snails, but found them to be quite ineffective.
My pistol shrimp will eat bristleworms.

 

[Pneumatic_Addict]

For sandbed algae, Tiger Conch are worth their weight in gold.

 

[tbrown]

All week we have been talking about pests. One of the solutions people often have for dealing with pests is purchasing predators to deal with pests. Is this something that is beneficial?

What are the CUC members that you have used as predators to eat pests (flatworms, aiptasia, cyanobacteria, dinos, etc.) in your aquarium?
Has this been helpful?
Has it ever caused problems?

Here's an interesting article by Jay Hemdal that gives some food for thought on this question: Clean Up Crew (CUC) or Food For Thought

Wrasses, Peppermint Shrimp, and mithrax crabs are all in my arsenal. I had aiptasia for two days, got Peppermint Shrimp and haven't had them again since. Had bubble algae so I got an Emerald Crab, everything was doing good until he disappeared and then I had Bubble Algae again. Hired a wrasse for my 125 and then a week later found Nudis in my 75. Considering getting another wrasse for the 125 but starting him in the 75.

 

[i cant think]

I use fish I like (Pseudocheilinops ataenia being my most recent addition to my pest eating gang). I have used Lysmata wurdemanni before and all 4 times they worked.

 

[d2mini]

The only CUC I've bought for getting rid of a pest problem (and had success) was Berghia Nudibranches for eating aiptasia.

 

[Greybeard]

How 'bout fish as pest predators?

I keep a coris wrasse for flatworms, a blue cleaner wrasse for parasites, a mottled filefish for aiptasia, (several) tangs for algae control... Not exactly cleanup crew, but they do a great job

 

[porkfishaquatic]

I've used peppermint shrimp (unsure of the specific species but Lysmata for sure) for aiptasia. Extremely effective. Trouble was, once aiptasia were completely eradicated they moved on to frogspawn and hammers.

Then of course various critters used for algae maintenance, particularly foxface and tangs for nuisance turf algae.

 

[kevgib67]

I’ve used Berghia nudibranch for aptasia and bumble bee snails for vermatid snails. Both quite effective.

 

[Sump Crab]

Melanarus wrasse > red planaria

 

[kdx7214]

I have a six line wrasse and he seems to keep the aiptasia under control. I've actually watched him munch on some of them. I had a bumblebee snail as well as numerous banded trochus and nassarius, but the chemiclean treatment I did killed off all my snails. My peppermint shrimp does a great job too.

I want to add a tang into the mix, but I have a lot of macro algae that came in as hitchhikers on live rock and I don't want to lose that.

 

[design.maddie]

Bumble Snails are my favorite.

 

[anthonymckay]

I unintentionally eradicated my tank of bristleworms after I added my copperband butterfly. Before I added him, I had tons that would come out after the lights went out (which I was ok with, they were part of the CUC as far as I was concerned). Within a week of adding the copperband they all vanished. Occasionally I see one, but it's rare. As soon as the lights go out you can see the copperband start hunting around the edges of all the rock work.

 

[mfinn]

I've used pretty much all of the critters list to go after one pest or the other.
Sometimes there are unintended repercussions. Such as emerald crabs going after zoanthid frags and after adding peppermint shrimp for aiptasia, I found out I couldn't keep mini maxi and rock flower anemones, the hard way when they ate 16 ultra rock flowers and mini maxi's.

 

[Rmckoy]

When I was dealing with the red flatworm issue . I’ve tried almost every natural predator in terms of fish with no luck
I was finally able to find blue velvet nudibranch

a few months later every one of them was gone .
could have been just the nudi or was it a combination of everything

 

[jiffyjhn]

Bumble Snails are my favorite.

Good to know!! I've been fighting Vermatid snails for a year now and can't eradicate them. Every month I would take out each rock one by one and clip off all the vermatids I see(from the base). But after some time new ones grow back.
Any downsides to these bumble snails? I've read many reports of them not eating the vermatid snails.