Yes, my CUC is unconventional.
I got tired of the vicious cycle of restocking snails and the temperment of certain hermits so I largely did away with them. I keep quite a few stars, 5 pincushion & tuxedo urchins and 3 sand sifting sea cucumbers.
My current CUC worked very well for me in the past year. Those that had seen my tank knows that my tank is algae-free, and those that know me on a personal level might know that I'm really not scrubbing my rocks and glass regularly.
This CUC configuration is a liability too.
The urchins are absolute, voracious algae eaters. Be warned, as they're also liabilities at large. They will mow down on long hair algae, even stuff snails will ignore, and bulldoze through unstable rock structures and unsecured corals, in the relentless search for more algae. These urchins will also grind off coraline algae and will happily decorate themselves with your favorite & most expensive frag. I have my pieces nailed down good, sort of speak.
The mix of stars I have are about a dozen various fromia stars, a few mystery deepwater stars, a few red serpents and this spikey, dark red star that moves like smoke. The fromias seem to be detrivores and living off biofilms. The get their arms into the crevices that hermits can't seem to access. These can suck because if my water chem changes drastically, some of these stars will melt at the arm tips.
Sand ingesting sea cucumbers are nice, but can also suck if they melt. I've had my trio for 3 years and counting.
I still have 1 scarlet red hermit and 2 golf ball-sized Mexican turbos that have been with me for a long time - they're grandfathered into the tank. Various black, white and green stomatella snails, and micro brittle stars also pitch in at night.
In short, unpopular, unconventional and requires a stable tank.
(Puts on flame suit)
