Best clean up crew for sps tank?

[write2bfree]

Hello,

I was just thinking what would be the best clean up crew for a sps tank with fish?

I have 15 nassarius snail, one turbo snail (he's getting fired as of today from knocking things over), and a conch snail as my current clean up crew. I was thinking about blue hermits for algae but not sure if they would kill my nassarius snails, so I've decided to ask what would be the best clean up crew in your opinion and how many of each I should get?

Also, sorry for posting something many newbies probably have asked in the past. Thank you.

 

[write2bfree]

Also my tank size is a 40 breeder with 4 bags of sand

 

[crew]

I'm not sure you will ever get a specific answer with clean up crews because everyone seems to have their own, unique experiences, but the goal is to figure out what your needs are.

You will probably want some mixture of sand sifters. In my opinion, Cerith and Nassarius snails are best for this. Ceriths are good for eating algae. Nassarius don't eat algae, but they are great scavengers and will tend to get any food that your fish miss.

If you do use hermits, you will probably experience them eating snails for the shell. It's kind of part of the whole clean up crew experience, but animals do what comes natural to them. Smaller hermits tend to be less aggressive and snails can usually hold their own against anything their size or smaller.

Another good addition is an emerald crab - they are pretty awesome algae eaters, but you only want one as they are pretty territorial.

Hope this helps as a good start.

 

[crew]

If you do end up going with just snails and no hermits, I would recommend 10-15 ceriths and another 25 or so dwarf ceriths. They will get the rock and sand pretty well and give you a pretty solid CUC. The nassarius you already have is plenty.

 

[write2bfree]

Thanks a lot for the reply! I think im gonna go pick up some blue legged hermits and the cerith snails today!

 

[write2bfree]

Crew;1013874 wrote: If you do end up going with just snails and no hermits, I would recommend 10-15 ceriths and another 25 or so dwarf ceriths. They will get the rock and sand pretty well and give you a pretty solid CUC. The nassarius you already have is plenty.

Also do you think the emerald crab will eventually eat any of my fish?

 

[declanisadog]

write2bfree;1013878 wrote: Also do you think the emerald crab will eventually eat any of my fish?

I'd be more worried about corals than fish. Most of the time thy are fine, but I have had a couple bad experiences with them and heard many other horror stories. I had one kill an acan mini colony (That I paid waaayyyy too much for) the day after I got it.

 

[write2bfree]

Declanisadog;1013883 wrote: I'd be more worried about corals than fish. Most of the time thy are fine, but I have had a couple bad experiences with them and heard many other horror stories. I had one kill an acan mini colony (That I paid waaayyyy too much for) the day after I got it.

Ok nvm on getting an emerald crab lol

 

[crew]

CuC's are funny that way. It's hard to say "You won't have any issues with X" on anything really because we are dealing with animals that are opportunistic eaters.

Personally, I've never had an issue with anything that I suggested, but I also know that plenty of reefers have had problems with everything I listed.

 

[write2bfree]

Crew;1013888 wrote: CuC's are funny that way. It's hard to say "You won't have any issues with X" on anything really because we are dealing with animals that are opportunistic eaters.

Personally, I've never had an issue with anything that I suggested, but I also know that plenty of reefers have had problems with everything I listed.

Oh okay so I could technically try it and see what happens. Also what is a CUC? Sort of new at this stuff.

 

[civics14]

CuC = Clean up crew

 

[write2bfree]

civics14;1013894 wrote: CuC = Clean up crew

Ahhhh hahaha okay got it...thanks

 

[dball711]

If you do go with Emerald crabs get the ones with SMALL claws, usually those will be females and be less likely to be destructive but really good for various algae (good bubble algae eaters). I have observed some with large claws eating some of my stags.

 

[write2bfree]

dball711;1013899 wrote: If you do go whit Emerald crabs get the ones with SMALL claws, usually those will be females and be less likely to be destructive but really good for various algae (good bubble algae eaters). I have observed some with large claws eating some of my stags.

I'm gonna try everything! My valentini puffer doesn't nip at anything and leaves everyone alone so I think I can try different mixtures