Best clean up crew from your experience

[AmatureReefer]

I have read all about what each individual cleaning member does, but I would like to know what from your expereince is the best clean up crew for a 55 gal tank with 70 pounds live rock and 3 inch sand base.

And what is the best cleaning member that will take care of algea on glass? Oh and I will in the distant future have soft corals and prob Anmy so I need to make sure I have compatibility.

 

[bertoni]

I would just get a variety of snails. If the tank has some live rock, then it likely has amphipods, copepods, and bristleworms. That should be all that's needed, IMO.

I'd probably start with 4-5 Trochus and 4-5 cerith snails, and see how that goes. Too many and the animals starve to death fairly rapidly. If shipping is an issue, I might try more, but that can lead to problems, too.

 

[AmatureReefer]

What about Blue and red legged crabs? or a cleaner shrimp? I really like shrimp but I heard they need a well established tank so should I wait or is that not true?

 

[tomu]

IMO scarlet hermits and red banded astria snails are the two best cleaners that money can buy. I would also mix it up, if you tank is established, with some turbos(good glass cleaners but they will knock over some stuff), nerite snails, tiger tail cucumber and some long foot nassarius snails. Hope this helps.

P.S. you will need between 40-70 cleaners in your tank. you will need to replace them as time goes on, but with the red banded astrias and scarlets you should not have to replace them as much. The scarlets are much less agressive than the blue legs and the red banded have long foots so that they can right themselves if they happen to fall over.

 

[bertoni]

I don't buy hermit crabs anymore because they are predatory, but one or two might not do that much damage. Shrimps are pretty robust, IMO, and I like them, but they're not really cleanup crew, IMO. They'll eat leftover food, but a lot of animals will do that.

 

[saltfever]

I love my blue legged hermits they do a great job never had any problems with them.

 

[EricBrian]

I have a tiger conch and they are, in my opinion, the best cleaners ever! I put one in my tank that had some algae bloom. The bloom was gone in no time flat. And, they are interesting creatures.

Unlike others, I've never had problems with hermits and so, would always add them to my tank.

 

[mike89t]

I put a thread together on what cleaners I use and what they are best at cleaning (Sand, LR or Glass).

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=748495

Hope it helps.

Oh and in my tank the Nerite snails are always on the glass followed by the Cerith and Trochus that occasionally make their way onto the glass.

 

[Amphiprion]

Like bertoni said, you main detritivores will be amphipods, copepods, some isopods, Cirratulid worms, Terebellid worms, and Amphinomid worms (bristleworms). Larger detritivores would include Strombids and Cerithids. The former of these two need a large surface area of unobstructed sand. Good algal grazers include various Trochid snails, Cerithids, Haliotids, and some Fissurellids. Always stock these latter larger animals (algal grazers and detritivores) slowly and carefully to prevent any of the animals from starving.

 

[AmatureReefer]

Thanks guys, I like the idea of a conch! and hermits!

 

[sf05]

My hermits are unpredictable...

One day they'll do an amazing job at cleaning a rock or part of the substrate but the next day they'll spend chilling in one spot.

I've found astrae snails do a great job at cleaning rocks and the glass. Ceriths do an amazing job at keeping the substrate clean but are the most vunerable to hermit attack i've found.

 

[Tbare89]

Astreas and Ceriths snails
2:1 Ratio
No hermits