A good well rounded clean up crew?

[Thunk]

You know I see so much variations in what places offer in thier clean up packs. And some is down right rediculous. On place gives you not 1 but 2 Queen conchs for a 55 gallon. Thats a bit nutty if you ask me.

So i have
3 Nassarius Snails
3 Mexican turbos
5 Hermits
and 2 peppermint shrimp

My first fish goes in tomorrow a Coral Beauty. YAY! But I am aggonizing over this invert question, lol.

I do have a bit of green algae on 1 rock and some hair shows up on the glass upon occassion.

What should I be adding?

 

[demonsp]

For a 50 gallon the CUC is low. But thats fine. Add little by little and if you have a SB then some type of sandsifting goby is great and the best part of a CUC for the SB.

A good mix of algea eaters , waste eaters , and sandsfiters along with fish that eat algea like a coral beuty.

 

[Thunk]

I checked the acronym list but still don't know what CUC is, lol?

 

[demonsp]

Clean up Crew.

 

[Thunk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11225878#post11225878 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by demonsp
Clean up Crew.

Lol ok now I feel pretty dumb:lol:

Thanks man lol:rollface:

 

[HABS#1]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I was wondering if in my 31 the crew I have is sufficient.

4XTrochus
4XCerith mind you I can only seem to find 2 of them at any given time
10XBlue leg hermits
1XSand sifting starfish

 

[demonsp]

The amount of CUC and type of CUC depends on your SB amount of stock and age of tank as well as your flow and amount of LR.
Many factors and theres no one way of know what you need.

Let the water readings help. If readings are low or zero with 1 or 2 fish then your fine. If readings like nitrate start to rise then counter with more CUC if needed.

The CUC is for algea control ( flow and water quality important also). Sand sifting ( but a sandsifting goby always better), and cleanup of waste ( overstocking , overfeeding , and low flow or water quality are imprtant also).

So theres no way to tell what you need. Go slow , test , monitor , and add stock slowly. Whene ever a problem arrises then thread that perticular problem to help fix.

Slow and easy the best way.

 

[HABS#1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11225966#post11225966 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by demonsp
The amount of CUC and type of CUC depends on your SB amount of stock and age of tank as well as your flow and amount of LR.
Many factors and theres no one way of know what you need.

Let the water readings help. If readings are low or zero with 1 or 2 fish then your fine. If readings like nitrate start to rise then counter with more CUC if needed.

The CUC is for algea control ( flow and water quality important also). Sand sifting ( but a sandsifting goby always better), and cleanup of waste ( overstocking , overfeeding , and low flow or water quality are imprtant also).

So theres no way to tell what you need. Go slow , test , monitor , and add stock slowly. Whene ever a problem arrises then thread that perticular problem to help fix.

Slow and easy the best way.

Thanks my params are all great now.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
PH is hovering around 8.1/8.2
SG is sitting at 1.024/1.025

I also used some black mollies to help the tank along after the ammonia spiked I also have a couple blue/green chromis in the system and they have been in for about 2 weeks now and all seem happy. I just need to find a home for the Mollies now as I am picking up a pair of small clowns tomorrow to go in the system and then when we are back from Florida in Dec I have a sailfin tang going in.

 

[Thunk]

Ahh that is how it works! Ok so i need to up my CUC since i have a nitrate of 5ppm. I dont think flow is a problem unless its tooo high, my tank gets turned over about 20 times an hour. its a bit breezy in there, lol.

 

[demonsp]

1. You dont need any fish for cycle and is unresponsible reef keeping. Rookie mistake ill let it pass.

2. Turnover not the same as water flow or current. Low flow can cause many problems from algea outbreaks , high readings , coral loss ,ect.. cant say you have enough or not just saying that exchange isnt enough.

Best advice i can give is before you do anything new from adding equipment to new stock or off readings come here and thread the question. It will help.

 

[Thunk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11226185#post11226185 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by demonsp


2. Turnover not the same as water flow or current. Low flow can cause many problems from algea outbreaks , high readings , coral loss ,ect.. cant say you have enough or not just saying that exchange isnt enough.

Best advice i can give is before you do anything new from adding equipment to new stock or off readings come here and thread the question. It will help.

Ah thats a good point about turn over. I do check ever 3 days (when I "feed" the tank) to make sure there are no dead spots.
Tank has been up and running 3 weeks. And my zoo's are getting a good bit of turbulance tho not so much that they retract, this was a tough part on placement for me. My LFS said medium to high flow. After I hung up I went "Ok whats that?" LOL I guess observing your animals is the best way to learn this sort of thing.

 

[zibba]

I really like nassarius and astreas. I'm not a fan of hermits because they kill snails to take their shells. Nassarius are great for cleaning up detritus and astreas are great for algae. I also have a few larger turbos, but again the hermits ate 2-3 out of the 10 I originally got. I probably won't pick any more of these up because they tend to knock over frags.

For a 50 display, I would recommend starting with 10-20 nassarius and 15-20 astreas. Certainly feel free to make adjustments as needed.

Peppermint shrimp are pretty interesting. I'm assuming that you're using them for aptasia control. Best if you can try to manage this with joe's juice or kalk paste first. If not, peppermint shrimp can be hit or miss, but they are still fun to watch.

Conchs are also cool. I've never had one, but I've thought about adding 1 to my 90, as I've heard from others that they do a killer job of turning sand.

HTH

 

[Thunk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11226225#post11226225 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zibba
I really like nassarius and astreas. I'm not a fan of hermits because they kill snails to take their shells. Nassarius are great for cleaning up detritus and astreas are great for algae. I also have a few larger turbos, but again the hermits ate 2-3 out of the 10 I originally got. I probably won't pick any more of these up because they tend to knock over frags.

For a 50 display, I would recommend starting with 10-20 nassarius and 15-20 astreas. Certainly feel free to make adjustments as needed.

Peppermint shrimp are pretty interesting. I'm assuming that you're using them for aptasia control. Best if you can try to manage this with joe's juice or kalk paste first. If not, peppermint shrimp can be hit or miss, but they are still fun to watch.

Conchs are also cool. I've never had one, but I've thought about adding 1 to my 90, as I've heard from others that they do a killer job of turning sand.

HTH

Ah yes forgot to mention I have 2 peppermint shrimp in there as well. Super cool animals! one is really hyper about cleaning my hand when ever its in the tank.

 

[demonsp]

Good point on reading the corals reactions to flow. With lower flow corals like zoos will extend out as in proper flow will almost flatten out and in excessive flow will close. I think this is the best method. Put some zoos in the center mid rage area and the more they extend the more flow you need. I wonder if i could patend this idea.

With flow , whene in dought increase. But a koralia #4 and get some spot flow.