Cleaners that won't be eel food.

[Chase_SATX]

I just finished up adding my porcupine puffer and snowflake eel to a tank and they are messy some messy eaters! I'm feeding them mostly squid and krill right now and they take one bite of food and spit the rest out for the flour. I'm wondering what bottom feeders I can add to clean up that won't become eel food? Right now in the tank is a snowflake eel, porcupine puffer, dragon goby, clownfish, blue tang, yellow tang, a damsel, hawk fish, valentini puffer, some small coral (that will eventually be eaten) and a few small emerald crabs. I'm trying to find the balance of feeding the eel enough so that he won't eat all my fish and not over feeding and spiking ammonia. I know not to put in shrimp cause the eel will destroy them but are crabs with shells better off or should I go with say a lawnmower blenny or other ideas? Thanks in advance everyone!

[Kristy]

We've got a fairly aggressive tank and I know what you mean, those guys can EAT! Some of our livestock is similar to yours (we have a porcupine puffer too and a couple of voracious triggers). The crabs will be a snack sooner or later. We found that having a kole tang and a couple of angels in there keep it pretty reasonably clean. The kole tang is in the family of bristle tooth tangs, so they really graze on the rocks and so does the angel.

I do have to wonder if you are feeding too much though if they just let it fall to the sand and none of the others are gobbling it up? Or maybe it's a matter of not feeding the right foods or the wrong particle size?

[ramsey]

For detritus, you may look at a goatfish though they're generally a peaceful fish I think. Urchins may be another option but that puffer may still figure out how to eat it.