Help me build a clean up crew

[humptrax]

Here's what i have now:

6 Astreas
5 turbos (2 mexican, 3 zebra)
4 nassarius
4 cerith (could use more, it's hard to justify paying the same price as a turbo)
1 black brittle star (anyone keep one?)

i'm having a hard time convincing myself that i need crabs knowing that most are opportunistic predators and not scavengers. cucumbers would be good, although without food to feed on, they shrivel up and die (foul up your tank real good... had first hand experience) and non green brittle stars are hard to find (by the way, if anyone's interested, there's a tiger banded serpent star at the Aviarium for 12 bucks).

So, the question is, what else can i add? Abalone? Maybe a blue tuxedo pincushion? Help me build a clean up crew!!!

Thanks in advance.

 

[tnyga]

what size tank?

 

[purplegorilla]

scarlett and blue leg hermits. They will clean up lots of uneaten food not that there will be any, at least in my tank. Also emerald crabs, they eat hairy algea all day long.

 

[cameron]

I only trust red leg hermits and even then not very much. Size of the tank is necessary to answer this question accurately as tnyga pointed out.

 

[humptrax]

Cameron;147559 wrote: I only trust red leg hermits and even then not very much. Size of the tank is necessary to answer this question accurately as tnyga pointed out.

36" x 24" x 26". 96 custom Ocea tank

i'm with you about the hermits. IMO, they're too much of an opportunistic predator rather than a scavenger. furthermore, i don't trust crabs at all and am very weary about even an Emerald Mithrax.

OF COURSE, i could be convinced otherwise. i've added the snails slowly to help battle the nuisance algae explosion thanks to the recent crash but ~20 snails just isn't going to cut it.

 

[FutureInterest]

I think your mix of snails is pretty good. If the zebras are the ones I'm thinking about you're going to have corals strewn all over the place. The one I had was the size of a baseball! I ended up banishing it to the sump and it crawled out and died... in an inaccessible portion of my stand. It still stinks up the joint .

I would also add a few nerites to clean the small crevices, a queen conch, and some margarita snails. I think variety is a good thing when it comes to clean up crew snails as each specializes in some way. I've never had a problem with emerald crabs and always keep one in my tank and I keep scarlet and red-leg hermits without complaint but mileage will vary.

 

[humptrax]

FutureInterest;147611 wrote: I would also add a few nerites to clean the small crevices, a queen conch, and some margarita snails. I think variety is a good thing when it comes to clean up crew snails as each specializes in some way. I've never had a problem with emerald crabs and always keep one in my tank and I keep scarlet and red-leg hermits without complaint but mileage will vary.

perhaps i'll banish my zebra turbos to the lionfish tank... they're not as good as the mexican ones at eating micro...

I've heard of problems with Nerites crawling out of the water and dying on your carpet. My tank and canopy is sealed so i don't think it'll be a problem but the last thing i want is cooked snails (from the MH heat) falling back into the tank.

I've read that margaritas were cold water species and even though there are more tropical varieties, because it's hard to distinguish the two, they have very short life spans in our tanks. i added a lot of these (~20) from a free cleanup crew i got from an internet vendor to an older set up 2 years back and i've got 1 survivor.

i WANT conchs! Where can i get them locally? what would you recommend: queen or a fighting conch?

 

[FutureInterest]

I've got both a queen and a fighting in my the tank. They just cruise around mostly under the sand, stir it up and eat detrius and diatoms. I got mine from Cap Bay a few years ago and they're still going strong.

I haven't had issues with nerites crawling out, but my tank is pretty well sealed as well. I've heard the same thing about margaritas and I started with 6 about 7 months ago and now have maybe 4 which is not too great but acceptable.

I think its also good to get some hitchhiker snails from locals if you can. I've got about 4 different kinds of self-replicating snails in my tank. I can try and gather a few of the varieties if you like. They are all reef safe and a boon to any tank imo.

 

[purplegorilla]

I dunno, peppermint shrimps are hit or miss. I bought 2 ex large peppermint from saltwater city....its been a week and that one aptasia i see growing in my tank. ITS STILL THERE. If only I can reach down there with a syringe.

 

[FutureInterest]

prolly the wrong type of pepps...

 

[humptrax]

FutureInterest;147680 wrote: prolly the wrong type of pepps...

i wouldn't imagine they'd do too much cleaning in the first place.

i'd like to add some mini brittles... i just don't want to pay for shipping from indo pacfic farms for just 3 of them.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

How about a nice Sally Crab and if you really want to be on the cutting edge of things, go with a few little neck clams from the farmers market. Great water polishers from what I hear.

 

[humptrax]

Xyzpdq0121;148135 wrote: How about a nice Sally Crab and if you really want to be on the cutting edge of things, go with a few little neck clams from the farmers market. Great water polishers from what I hear.

i know you like your sally a lot, brandon, but i'm afraid i may not be so lucky with them. they're not the easiest things to catch...

Neck clams might be alright, although i've read that they're a cold water species. know the life span of the species in an aquarium?

 

[humptrax]

1 fighting conch and 1 tiger striped serpent added to the list.

 

[basscyn]

I just got a couple of nice big hermit crabs for my 75. They are very busy little guys...cleaning the sand nearly non-stop.They seem to do a great job of this. So...whats the rub about hermits being preditory? I was not aware of this.
Thanx!:huhsign: