Clean Up Crew Suggestions

[pagan.n.damaged]

We're going to be setting up our 60 cube here in the next month or so and are starting to think about a clean up crew for the tank. I'd love some suggestions of things you guys love or hate in clean up crews. Thanks so much

Dani

[zcatzmeow]

Personally, I really don't like hermit crabs. When I had them they were just bullies trying to eat all the snails, even when provided with extra shells.

Snails I really like are: caribbean nerite, margaritas, nassarius, ceriths, and turbos. I also keep cowries, but I believe that may be out of the norm.

Crabs: emerald and strawberry crabs

Misc: I love blennies. They are great little eaters :)

[Captain Jack]

nassarious are great. not big on hermits. I've had better luck adding the cleaning crew gradually, so that no-one starves.

[BioCube14]

If it were me I would do only turBo snails get different sizes small and large and maybe a few hermits thats all you need

[lhoy]

Well, given I just did a presentation on this for Austin Club here it goes (and know that my philosophy is start with low numbers and add if need be. Most dump in the old 1 per gallon and wonder why they have 50 empty shells in a month. Some snails live for 100 years in wild!

Also, if your hermits are eating your snails it is probably because they are starving.

Snails all eat and specialize in different things.

If you are going barebottom (ugghhh), then you can't keep ceriths and nassarius. They require a sand bed to thrive and survive long term.

Nerites eat diatoms, filamentous algae, and cyanobacteria. Not all species are marine and many live at tide line and crawl out of water waiting for tide to come back. Don't buy any you see in the store that have already crawled out of water. They will die.

Ceriths eat red hair algae, cyanobacteria, film algae, diatom (will not eat filamentous algae). Also scavengers on detritus and fish waste.

Nassarius eat dead, organic matter and are scavengers and they DO NOT eat algae. Great for eating fish poo, leftover food, etc. You can tell this because when you feed they pop out of the sand!

Trochus species eat diatoms and filamentous algae (doesn’t eat macroalgae).

Turbo species eat diatoms and filamentous algae (doesn’t eat macroalgae).

Margarita snails will not live at temperatures above 78 degrees and usually won't last long in our tropical tanks as they are a temperate species.

Bumblebee snails are actually in the whelk family and DO NOT eat algae, they will decimate your sand bed macrofauna.

I would start out with a few of each of the good and then add more as needed. I keep gobs of hermits of different species and RARELY have seen them kill a live snail. On the rare occasion they do, it tends to be cerith snails as they seem to prefer their shells.

I suspect if you stock your hermits lightly, they won't bother your snails.

Lee



Turbos & Trochus species - diatom

[MKCindy]

Really good info. Thanks!

[zcatzmeow]

Lots of great info. Why is it the more I learn, the more confused I get? :lauging:

I think my hermits hunted the snails just for fun. They'd come together in packs and to attack the snails. There is no way those little meanies were starving because the tank is typically overfed for Beemer. I also gave them a variety of empty shells to move into, which they did, and then went hunting in their new gear ;) They killed ceriths often which I tolerated but then they took out a turbo, not okay.

I've keep margarita snails and some sort of black cyano algae grazer snail (Tegula funebrallis). They do well in my tank, but maybe because my tank usually 79-80, perhaps they acclimated or something.

I also forgot about Stomatellas. I have a couple of those. They've been attempting to breed, but so far, no baby stomatellas.