Here is a Suggested CUC from one of those sites

joeyprice

joeyprice

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It seems like a lot, way more that what I was planning on, thoughts? It's a 100g, currently planning on LPS and softies. It's very lightly stocked at the moment with just 2 clowns. Been running for about 3 weeks and starting to grow diatoms.

70 Dwarf Ceriths - tiny cleaners
21 Nassarius vibex
32 Florida Ceriths
28 Astraeas
 
That’s a terrible list.

Firstly, of those 4 snail species, I only recommend the Florida Ceriths. The other ones are nice, if you want, but don’t expect them to contribute much.

And as for the Astrea, expect most of them to eventually flip over and die.

also, the amounts are absurd IMO to add all at once to a new tank.
 
From what I've been able to find poking around on the net I thought so too.
Any suggestions?
As the tank matures I was hoping to add some things that were a little more interesting than snails, like stars and/or urchins, but for the time being I just need something to get me started fighting the uglies.
 
While every tank is different, a more realistic list would be:

10-20 Florida Ceriths
10-20 Red Stripe Trochus
4-8 Tongan Nassarius
20-40 Small hermits (blue leg, Mexican red leg, dwarf zebra, left handed, scarlet, or Polka Dot hermits to name a few options)

As time passes, you can supplements some of these populations to fit the tanks needs.
 
Urchins eat a LOT! Wait 6-12 months to add any of them. I recently put one in my new tank (which is 2 years old), and I still worry a little because he needs some supplemental feeding (partially due to my other grazers).

As for sea stars, I’d also recommend avoiding for a few months. At that time, look at various species Serpent stars and brittle stars. Many other species have very short lifespans in aquaria.

Similar advice would also apply to shrimp, crabs, and other cool critters. Wait several months, and then determine if your tank is ready. In the meantime, see what a modest cleanup crew of the much-needed essentials will do before you begin adding specialists or goliaths. Lol
 
ActiveAngel said:
While every tank is different, a more realistic list would be:

10-20 Florida Ceriths
10-20 Red Stripe Trochus
4-8 Tongan Nassarius
20-40 Small hermits (blue leg, Mexican red leg, dwarf zebra, left handed, scarlet, or Polka Dot hermits to name a few options)

As time passes, you can supplements some of these populations to fit the tanks needs.
Click to expand...
Are these readily available locally, or do I need to mail order?
 
ActiveAngel said:
Urchins eat a LOT! Wait 6-12 months to add any of them. I recently put one in my new tank (which is 2 years old), and I still worry a little because he needs some supplemental feeding (partially due to my other grazers).

As for sea stars, I’d also recommend avoiding for a few months. At that time, look at various species Serpent stars and brittle stars. Many other species have very short lifespans in aquaria.

Similar advice would also apply to shrimp, crabs, and other cool critters. Wait several months, and then determine if your tank is ready. In the meantime, see what a modest cleanup crew of the much-needed essentials will do before you begin adding specialists or goliaths. Lol
Click to expand...
That was the plan, thanks
 
joeyprice said:
Are these readily available locally, or do I need to mail order?
Click to expand...

Most of these are the most popular of all CUC. There are only a few that would require mail orders, such as polka dot hermits. But that easy to get around... just order one of the many other small hermits in the list. That is why I provided options for you ;)
 
Generally, they will be fine together. People mix all of these often. 2 of these species, dwarf zebra and left handed hermits are often confused with each other (despite one being orange&black and the other being black&white).

I find the Polka Dot hermits to be moderately aggressive towards all hermits, even each other. But they look super cool, and are sometimes well behaved.
 
I use reef cleaners.org for CUC orders. They have good prices.

In terms of how many and what you should get, opinions will vary. I agree astreas flip over too easy and bigger Florida cerith’s and trochus are preferable.

I’m not a fan of hermit crabs, personally, because I find as they get bigger they tend to get more aggressive and eat the rest of your CUC. I usually do snail only for that reason - my two cents. I also have one urchin and agree that it’s important that your tank is established and params stable before you consider one. They’re sensitive to nitrates.


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If you buy blue legged, buy as big as you can find. Most of the littles I purchased have died, but the bigger ones are fine. Adam noted for me previously that you need extra shells to help when they molt and move into bigger shells too.
 
I agree you don't need as much as they typically tell you - especially in a non mature tank. Once the tank is fully matured and carrying a heavy bio-load their numbers may be more realistic.

Keep an eye on the tank - if you pay attention to detail you'll know when you don't have enough cleanup crew. Algae build up, increase in things like bristleworms, glass needs cleaning daily or every other day etc.

I'll second giving Reef Cleaners a look if you have trouble finding what you want locally.

I've ordered from John a few times - always a solid experience with plenty of good communication. They seem to care about the livestock they are sending you and have always done a great job.

I just ordered a 180 gallon cleanup package from them - I will be using it to not only populate a 180 gallon tank - some stuff will be used to replenish our other tanks as well as a 30+ gallon refugium.

Personally I don't mind various crabs or specific types of snails - as long as the snails are not carnivorous. We have 4 tanks and each has a sump so I have plenty of places to put anything that starts misbehaving.
 
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