clean up crew for BB tank

[kizkiz]

hi
i have a bare bottom tank.
just wondering what a good combo if clean up crew is for this?
i know there are some major BB fanatics on this site
thanks

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Well since theres no sand, that rules out all the nassarius snails lol.

I'd go with a ton of turbos, depending on how big the tank is. Ceriths are really good cleaners too, but super slow, so you'd need a ton of those.

 

[IndyReefMan]

I think turbos and astreas would work well. Turbos for the large areas and astreas for the tighter areas in the rock work.

 

[ADA33]

I would go for a bunch of astreas

 

[ScallopKing]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8075580#post8075580 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by widefx
I would go for a bunch of astreas

I second that, just a bunch of astreas.

 

[gman0526]

2:1 per gallon ratio on astreas and ceriths.

 

[King-Kong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8079200#post8079200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gman0526
2:1 per gallon ratio on astreas and ceriths.

agreed.

 

[ADA33]

Holley molley 2 people in one thread agread with my advice mabey I am getting to be just above a newbie now.

 

[petoonia]

I have a BB in my 65g we use a combo of snails astrea, turbo, mexican turbo. The snails really dont do too much on the bottom there is usually a few down there but they mostly stay on the rocks. We have about 30.

Also hermit crabs they really scavenge the bottom reds, blues, and scarletts. We have about 15 total.

Lastly we have 2 skunk cleaner shrimp and they are great for cleaning up the bottom they are always looking for some leftovers to munch on.

We also added an emerald crab recently but he mostly stays in the rock work. He does a good job on the rocks though.

 

[jeffbrig]

In my 250g bare-bottomed tank, I started with a 3:1 ratio of ceriths and astreas (300+,100+). 18 months later, it's a 0:100 ratio. About 90% of the ceriths climbed out of the water to their salt-creep-filled deaths in the first few months. The rest were picked off by the mantis over time. The astreas are doing great, and I've had no need to replenish their numbers. I ordered all of my snails from keys critters.

 

[J_Geisinger000]

do skunk cleaners really eat left over ditritus off the bottom??

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8079200#post8079200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gman0526
2:1 per gallon ratio on astreas and ceriths.

That seems like an absolutely insane amount of clean up crew. Whenever I go above my 1 turbo/1 trocus/15 astrea, it seems like I start losing snails to starvation (58g)

 

[King-Kong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8080792#post8080792 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffbrig
In my 250g bare-bottomed tank, I started with a 3:1 ratio of ceriths and astreas (300+,100+). 18 months later, it's a 0:100 ratio. About 90% of the ceriths climbed out of the water to their salt-creep-filled deaths in the first few months. The rest were picked off by the mantis over time. The astreas are doing great, and I've had no need to replenish their numbers. I ordered all of my snails from keys critters.

Me too! I think i've got 1-2 ceriths left.. and a ton of astreas!

Too bad, cause the ceriths are AWESOME at eating detritus piles.

 

[kizkiz]

thanks for all the replies guys

looks like i'll go get myself some ceriths then

the main thing is the detritus on the floor, so they sound like a good option

 

[petoonia]

The skunk cleaner shrimp are always sifting through the buildup on the bottom of the tank. They dont eat all of it but they will find any leftover food. Maybe I just got lucky with my shrimp but they have been great scavengers, their always looking for something to munch on.

 

[TCU Reefer]

I've never had anything but astreas in my BB system. Never had an algae problem and I've only had to purchase once since the system has been set up (March 2006).