cleaner crew role call

[Brad Moehl]

Howdy team

Here's the veriables. Seventy five gallons, thirty seven pounds live rock, sixty five pounds live sand, nice power head for water movment, Emperor 400 Biofilter, three suicide Demsels. The cleaning crew will be purchased next Thursday. Who and what should I incorperate, how many ( I need numbers). The Humble reef is looking real nice.

Thanks
Brad

 

[Len]

Hey Brad, try a variety of snails, from Trochus to Nassarids to Turbos to Ceriths (to name a few). Variety is a good way to start and reduce competition for food. A dozen of 4-5 types would be nice. I probably would add them after algae starts to show up though .... they gotta feed after all

There's mixed opinions about hermit crabs (blue legged and scarlet are the best if you want to use them). Serpent/brittle stars are another clean-up crew that has got mixed reviews, but IME they are good additions. Other common possibilities are sea cucumbers, tropical abalones (kinda pricey), and conches.

Mix em up.

 

[Anonymous]

Len's got it right there for ya.
See my avatar? (the picture to the left of this word block, incase youre behind in your terminology)
Electric blue-legged hermit crabs are great cleaners; they both sift some sand, and eat diatoms and algae off of rocks and sand and such--at least mine have... I would get like 5 of them, just incase. Fancy serpent sea stars are great too; almost too great, I wonder... I had one of my green chromis disappear; dont know if it died, or... 8O Or became a sleeping meal for my star! Anywho, they will eat dead fish, decaying sponges, and other forms of nasty detritus and garbage. Definitely get at least two; maybe a red one and a tiger-banded or blue...?
Snails; gotta love em! I have a super tongan nassarius snail thats the fastest snail youll ever see! Fun to watch, and eats algae and stuff! You cant go wrong with at least one of them... You also cant go wrong with Margaritas; those guys I practically set down running when placing them in the tank after acclimation! They started eating right as I set them down! defnitely go with at least 10-15 of them.
If you want to get a bit more diverse and colorful in your cleanup crew, a Fancy Turban snail is an awesome, spectacular addition to the janitorial work force! Just one should do, though you can always do more.
Finally, you gotta toss in the shrimp! My scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp eats just about everything in that tank, from decaying food and stuff, to dead skin on my fingers! Plus, they are just too cool to watch; great behaviors and colors!
Well, that about does it, as far as I know; somebody slap me if Ive forgotten anything!
Hope that helps! 8)

 

[Anonymous]

IME all hermit crabs will eat snails. Hermits are definitely cool looking, entertaining, and good cleaners but they will certainly end up killing some snails. I've never found snails and hermits to be like ebony and ivory (ya know- perfect harmony and such...) I'm sure this topic has been exhaustingly debated on these forums... :roll:

 

[J.Howard]

I have nassarius and strombus snails. They were added after algae started to get established along with small hermits. Everything went to work right away. Who ever thought snails would be this fun? I have turbans in my small tank and they easily make a difference. Remember that most snails will reproduce in good conditions.

 

[Anonymous]

I have nassarius and trochus in my tank, along with 10 scarlet hermits...and I haven't seen any interaction problems in well over 2 years. IMO, you don't want to get too many snails...they have to eat, after all. Also, if you do get some snails/hermits, remember that the acclimation time for inverts is longer than for fish. Acclimate very slowly! Good luck!

Chris