<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11704225#post11704225 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by amutti
If you think you might keep any coral at all (the temptation is great) then I might stay away from Electric blue and orange hermits. I've banished both for eating polyps. Otherwise they are gorgeous.
For algae control I have had great luck with red tip hermits, and scarlet reef hermits. I also have dwarf zebras, dwarf blue, and some other odd balls.
If your looking for "normal" crabs, I like porcelain and red mithrax crabs. Both are very easy to keep, and very interesting to watch.
As for stocking levels, I wouldn't go as high as Packersfan21 at first. With a new tank you probably don't have the food growing/accumulating to feed them all yet.
I'd start with 10-15 hermits. Mix up the species if ordering online. Either a porcelain or mithrax (probably a mithrax) I'd also get some snails and a fighting or sand sifting conch.
For snails I like 5-10 cerith, 5 trochus, 5 nassarius, 5 nerite, 2-5 turbo, and 2-3 Astrea undoza (my favorite for wiping out unwanted macro algae). I haven't had much luck with 'normal' astreas. . .
Then, without being overly reactive, I'd add additional cleaning livestock as needed.
Just because I'm listing my preferred tank cleaners, I also think 3-4 peppermint shrimp or a pair of scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp make a great addition. I definitely recommend the cleaners if your getting any tangs, but your tank is really too small for a tang.
