Cali Kid Corals

Who's on your cleanup crew??

beaupierce

beaupierce

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Wanted to start a thread and see what everyone has as far as their clean up crews in their tanks......

Also wanted to see what everyone is using, myths, and valuable gems...

Please list size of tank, type of crew (snails, crabs, starfish, shrimps, etc), how many of each species, and any other valuable info.....

Cheers
 
40g
hermits
Snails


# of hermits /shrug
# of snails /shrug
type of hermits /shrug
type of snails /shrug

They die, eat each other, reproduce etc.

As long as they are doing their job, the CUC is it's own organic entity with quantity #1.
 
~42.1 gallons, I've got a handful of Trochus snails, mebbie 7-8, and a bunch of Stomatellas. I could use more to get that scrubbed rock look, but sometimes CUCs can be annoying knockin all of your corals around, and sometimes even dining on them.
 
My hermits.. I feed my tank twice. The second time, I hand feed the LPS. If the hermits are not dining, they go and rip food out of the LPS mouths.

Black footed Trochus, Stomatellas (although I can't find them after I moved:() and nassarius (sp) are my favorites.

The nassarius are good for stirring up the sand and eating meaty scraps (if you have sand). The Trochus graze all day long and won't fall over and die like astea snails (becoming hermit food).

And I hate how hermits constantly walk on zoas and LPS causing them to close up.
 
IMO, unless you're going mail order don't get a clean up crew until you actually need it. So the X-number per gallon rule doesn't apply. If you don't feed very much, or skim like a beast you won't need as many.

In fact I wouldn't put any in until your tank stabilizes, because you will get diatom growth, you will get algae growth, you shouldn't use that as a gauge to how much cleanup you'll be using. Common mistake toss a bunch of snails/crabs in, and they eat the mess then starve because there's not enough food available.

Hermits, I think I have 5 in each of my tanks, 100g & 115g respectively. Some people might like more, some don't like them period, I like them to a certain degree. Bristleworms will probably be some of your more efficient un-eaten food eaters however.
Snails in my 100g (stony) tank I have a 5-6 mexican turbos, and maybe 5-10 trochus & other type snails. Snails might eat stuff on glass but they will NEVER keep glass clear of brown diatoms (you'll see little "bite" marks as they travel).
 
20 gallon + 30 gallon sump

1 trochus
1 turbo
2 blue legged hermits
numerous bristle worms, stomatella, and mini brittle stars

the bristle worms, stomatella, and brittle stars were hitchhikers and have reproduced prolifically
 
I am battling hair algae so I bought $120 worth of mostly snails (Astrea), 12-hermits (blue-legged), lettuce slugs and emerald crabs.

I wished I had not bought so many snails. Most are dead and I think are contributing to nitrate and phosphates of my tank (120g + 20g sump+ 30g fuge).

I have never seen any of these critters eat the hair algae, but I believe they are eating/trimming the really young algae.

I've tried sea hares, but these slugs are very algae-specific. Even if it eats a fellow reefer's hair algae, it does not mean it will mine.

Mexican turbos worked for me, but I hate it when they die because they are big and stinky and they die in back of the tank.

I like the Nassarius vibex if you have sand. They are hardy and I can see them eat leftover food.

I also like Strombus maculatus from ipsf.com. They are small and multiply in my fuge. Dunno what they are eating, but my fuge has no hair algae.
 
In my 40, I have 4 fire shrimp, 2 Trochus, several red legged hermits, 3 electric blue hermits (which seem to dine mostly on coralline algae) and hundreds of Asterina starfish. Well maybe not starfish, more like a hundred Asterina legs. Mostly amphipods in the refugium.

I don't know if they are actually much of a clean up crew, because I find I have to feed the tank a little extra to make sure they get fed. I also dose trace elements (iron & iodide) to make sure I have enough algae on the glass to feed the Trochus , Asterinas, Escenius blenny and Coral Beauty. Funny how the algae only grows on the glass though.
 
20 gallon tank. I have 3 scarlet red hermits. I think 5 blue-legged hermits. 1 emerald crab. 2 giant nassarius snails. 3 astrea snails. 5 cerith snails and 2 mexican turbo snails. I think I need more snails so I'll probably get more cerith and mexican turbos since they can flip themselves over. I've lost a few astrea snails since they get flipped over when I'm not around and die. I also have a ton of bristleworms (some are freakishly large) and mini-brittle stars that came in as hitchhikers similar to Pixelpixi.
 
180G display and over 1 year the cleanup crew added are appx:
40 hermits (blueleg, red scarlet, zebra)
10 astereas
10 cerths
10 nassarius
recently added 60 blue leg hermits, but they're not that noticeable.
not sure how many of above are still alive but the best green algae cure has been my foxface- he ate all green algae when the other critters either didn't touch it or make a dent in it.
 
14g total volume.

1 zebra hermit crab (sucker won't die; made it through 2 interceptor treatments and 98°+ heat)
4 chestnut turbo snails
2 blackfooted trochus
countless # of stomatella
countless # of baby chestnut turbo snails
 
im trying to rid a bunch of algae in my 125 I know it is a excessive nutrient thing, and hopefully have fixed that...now want to get rid of all the excess algae.....

How many of which should i get??

125 with a 45 sump
Cheers
 
No sandbed: 5 Mexican turbos, 5 Trochus (dwarf hermits if there's tougher algae)

Sandbed: Same as above, and maybe some tongan nassurius (sp) snails
 
shrimp are NOT clean up crew critters, yeah they'll eat food items in the water column, but won't deal too much with scrap food.

snails and crabs don't eat that much, but you're not going to get an overnight result. I gave those numbers so you can start slow, and see how they're doing, if you see after a week or two any dent in the algae, then you should know they will eventually get it all.
 
So,
I went and got 6 Turbo snails, 10 hermits, and a sea hare....so far it looks like the turbos are doing a decent job and starting to eat a little of the algae....

Also got a yellow tang...think he will help??

Cheers
 
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