Cleaning crew selection and open to suggestions

[Old Man Of The Sea]

OK, its been a while, but I wanted to make a selection to what I might or can get and not just leave it up to everyone else :wink:

I located what I can with the free time which was available to me for I need now to move to the next step and make a fish selection for which SPS corals will be last here being that I will not look at add any to the tanks until pass the 5th month of age for the tanks. Now the list below, only snails and hermits will be added to the tanks in the beginning months and the other selections wont be added until a much later date while the tank ages, they will be added slowly. If im missing anything, please do make it a suggestion for me to look into and any comments to the selection you see here, im all ears (eyes)

Fighting Conch(Strombus spp.)
Chitons (When they become available)
Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber (Holothuria sp.)
Edible Sea Cucumber (Holothuria edulis)
Papillate Sea Cucumber/Light-Spotted Sea Cucumber (Holothuria hilla)
Alabaster Worm Cucumber (Opheodesoma sp.)
Turbo Snail Mexican (Turbo fluctuosa)
Turbo Snail (Turbo sp.)
Astraea Turbo Snail ((Astraea tecta)
Red Scarlet hermit crabs (Paguristes cadenati)
Blue-Legged Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius tricolor)
Peppermint Shrimps (Lysmata wurdemanni)
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
Blood Red Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius)
Pistol Shrimp (Alpheus sp.)
Indo-Pacific White-Striped Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
Blue tuxedo urchin (Mespillia globulus)
Globe Urchin (Mespilia globulus)
Emerald Crab (Mithrax sculptus)
Sand Sifting Starfish (Astropecten polycanthus)
Purple Burgundy Sea Star (Tamaria sp.)
Red Sea Star (Fromia milleporella)
Assorted Marble Sea Star (Fromia sp.)
Tiger-striped Fancy Serpent Sea Star (Ophiolepsis superba)
Fancy Banded Serpent Star (Ophiocoma sp.)
Blue Linckia Sea Star (Linckia laevigata)


MERRY CHRISTMAS

Buddy

 

[mr_X]

what exactly are you asking? are you planning to add all of these things to your tanks eventually..or did you want to narrow down the list? will you keep a deep sand bed? what type of substrate are you planning on having in the tanks?

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

are you planning to add all of these things to your tanks eventually

The list is only what I will select from and not that im too add everything you see for I know its a way too much. I know I will have not more then 2-3 starfishes.

I two addition to add here:
Red Mithrax Crabs ( Mithrax Sculptus)
Lettuce nudi

All what im asking is what new suggestions can be added to this and any opinions on the present list>

Buddy

 

[mr_X]

i wouldn't go with nudibranches of any kind. lettuce nudibranches supposedly only eat Halimeda incrassata and Penicillus capitatus, not just any algae.
do we even see these species out of control in our tanks?

the depth and form of substrate will narrow your list alot too. bare bottom or very shallow sand bed won't sustain sand sifter stars, and cucumbers.

 

[FinalPhaze987]

get 1000 snails and 10,000 hermits....nah, j/k...

dont get more livestock than your tank will nautrally support..i would stay away from the linckias for a while...they tend to have a high mortality rate and only feed on invisible filamentus algae..fromias are much hardyier but wait till your tank is a little older IMO..turbo snails are frag killers...i only have 5 in mine but they manage to knock down every frag (glued or not)...but they do the job...

 

[FifeReef]

Here's something to consider adding to your list of possibilities. I recently purchased a pair of golden-headed gobies. Not only are these guys a blast to watch....alot of personality, but they are AWESOME sand-sifters. I have a substrate that is fairly course and they are constantly picking up rocks, spitting them out. They will go around cleaning deitris from nooks and crannies in your life rock as well. When they get going they can produce a small sand storm, and sometime litterally look like they are smoking from the gills. My filter socks off my overflows definitely get dirty quicker since they've been around. And as long as your adding bioload, why not make it visially worth while as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Turbo Snail (Turbo sp.)
Astraea Turbo Snail ((Astraea tecta)
Peppermint Shrimps (Lysmata wurdemanni)
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
Emerald Crab (Mithrax sculptus) only if you have bubble algae


Is all I would add from you list but would add

Nassarius vibex
Cerith Snail

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

FinalPhaze987, The fish or so in which I will need to feed at lease twice a day I will not be getting at the beginning, And as for what your saying on knocking over, im sure that im too have my problems in this as well, im not looking to have a large number of turbo snails.

Kevin K, Im not as yet was putting a fish selection and im having a number of Goby species and im to see about collecting pairs. But what I need to do there when the time come, is to learn of the ones which spits gravel more often then others, im assuming that they all come close for the most part in this.

Thanks Mark, I added the two> And crabs of any kind, I will stay away from if at all possible for Im too also have clams as well and with it, in the 180 at some later date a pair of dwarf eels, Redface moray (Monopenchelys acuta). But first I will replace around the end of the 4th or 5th month of 2008 the dragon eels in which I sold to a zoo after having for more then 14 years. Im already a price of $1,200 for the pair.

Buddy

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

My cleaning crew is now looking as:

Fighting Conch(Strombus spp.)
Chitons (When they become available)
Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber (Holothuria sp.)
Edible Sea Cucumber (Holothuria edulis)
Papillate Sea Cucumber/Light-Spotted Sea Cucumber (Holothuria hilla)
Alabaster Worm Cucumber (Opheodesoma sp.)
Turbo Snail (Turbo sp.)
Astraea Turbo Snail ((Astraea tecta)
Pistol Shrimp (Alpheus sp.)
Blue tuxedo urchin (Mespillia globulus)
Globe Urchin (Mespilia globulus)


And that is possible cleaning crew for I will not have all those cucumbers>

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Buddy

 

[Anonymous]

Merry Christmas Buddy.

I'd like to add that urchins are great but they tend to knock over my corals every now and then.

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

Hi there young man, what is happening these days for you, for how is your SFE doing?

I not believe that urchins knocking over corals is as big of an issue then the one turbo snails in which I removed from my selection. The main thing is that they be kept well feed. I not know if I had told you this, I sold my pair of dragon morays that I had for more then 14 years about less then a year ago and im planning to get a replacement pair around the 4th or 5th month of 2008 and it will cost me only $1,200.

And a Merry Christmas to you

 

[Anonymous]

As far as cleaning... I'd start with turbos (mexican I guess, too many "turbo" species around).. then if you start getting other issues, add microhermits.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi there young man, what is happening these days for you, for how is your SFE doing?

I not believe that urchins knocking over corals is as big of an issue then the one turbo snails in which I removed from my selection. The main thing is that they be kept well feed. I not know if I had told you this, I sold my pair of dragon morays that I had for more then 14 years about less then a year ago and im planning to get a replacement pair around the 4th or 5th month of 2008 and it will cost me only $1,200.

And a Merry Christmas to you

I'm two terms away from graduation and two more terms to be eligible for the CPA exam. Growing up is definitely not fun!

Snowflake is doing well. I've been varying his diet and he's growing well. I read about your dragons in this thread. At least you get to train them all over again with a new pair. Are you going to have any eels in your sps tank? I still have all my shrimps

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

Hi there young man, what is happening these days for you, for how is your SFE doing?

I not believe that urchins knocking over corals is as big of an issue then the one turbo snails in which I removed from my selection. The main thing is that they be kept well feed. I not know if I had told you this, I sold my pair of dragon morays that I had for more then 14 years about less then a year ago and im planning to get a replacement pair around the 4th or 5th month of 2008 and it will cost me only $1,200.

And a Merry Christmas to you

I'm two terms away from graduation and two more terms to be eligible for the CPA exam. Growing up is definitely not fun!

Snowflake is doing well. I've been varying his diet and he's growing well. I read about your dragons in this thread. At least you get to train them all over again with a new pair. Are you going to have any eels in your sps tank? I still have all my shrimps

Yes, im still in plan for a pair of dwarf morayus for both reef tanks. For the 180, im looking to get me a pair of Redface Morays and after fixing up the 240 and with a same waiting period once the tanks stocking begins, Im to get a pair of dwarf golden morays. I had this in my plans from day one of first thinking about these tanks more then eight years ago

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Buddy

 

[johnmaloney1]

No Nerite Snails? Hardly a list at all without Nerites...Nerites and Ceriths are a great team to control a brown diatom bloom, I don't see any others on your list that would take care of that, except maybe the Chitons, depending on the species. I got some Chitons, they are just to cool.