Clean up crew Q's

[Reeferside]

Question.. not sure if this is the right section but anyways,

What do you guys consider your best clean up crew?

Not a fan of emerald crabs and hermit crabs. I've banned them in my display.. only think there is 1 emerald crab hiding from me in my tank now.

Hermit crabs rip open my corals, stomp all over them, so they were banned as well.

I have a lot of shrimp and snails, but I need a new crew soon. I've always used margarita snails and zebra banded trochus snails but my zebras don't seem to last long in my tank.

Lets hear it.

 

[gnasher]

Margarita snails are from cooler waters than you typically find in a reef tank. They will slowly cook in a reef tank over a month, maybe longer, but will eventually die from it.

Trochus snails are better survivors, so I would look into why they're dying. Is it possible you have too many and there's not enough algae to go around?

IMO, a handful of Nassarius snails (just enough to clear up leftovers after a feeding) is sufficient.

 

[cloak]

What kind of problems are you dealing with?

IMO, you are the best CUC member that tank will ever see.

 

[NMSREEFER]

I have 10 small cerith snails, 10 small nassarius, 10 astrea snails, 10 blue leg hermits and 10 scarlet hermits. They still can't control the cyano. I think I have a flow problem allowing too much detritus to stay in the tank and never reach the filters. Maybe an oxygen problem with the closed lid. Today I added a power head low in the tank to increase circulation and opened the little lid over the filter to let more air in. Rehomed my Mandarin so I can cut back on feeding, siphoned out the sand with cyano on it, and went dark. Maybe in a couple of days the cyano problem will be over.

 

[Reeferside]

Margarita snails are from cooler waters than you typically find in a reef tank. They will slowly cook in a reef tank over a month, maybe longer, but will eventually die from it.

Trochus snails are better survivors, so I would look into why they're dying. Is it possible you have too many and there's not enough algae to go around?

IMO, a handful of Nassarius snails (just enough to clear up leftovers after a feeding) is sufficient.

My margaritas have lived in my tank for 1/2 a year and I keep my temperature at 79 degrees.

Since I run my tank barebottom, would that affect how Nassarius cope in my tank?

What kind of problems are you dealing with?

IMO, you are the best CUC member that tank will ever see.

I'm not dealing with any problems other than brown film on the tank wall that I scrap twice a week. I recently took down GFO and only run a small amount of carbon passively in a bag where there is a lot of flow in my sump.

I have 10 small cerith snails, 10 small nassarius, 10 astrea snails, 10 blue leg hermits and 10 scarlet hermits. They still can't control the cyano. I think I have a flow problem allowing too much detritus to stay in the tank and never reach the filters. Maybe an oxygen problem with the closed lid. Today I added a power head low in the tank to increase circulation and opened the little lid over the filter to let more air in. Rehomed my Mandarin so I can cut back on feeding, siphoned out the sand with cyano on it, and went dark. Maybe in a couple of days the cyano problem will be over.

Good luck buddy. Hope the red slime disappears.

 

[NMSREEFER]

Thanks. Today looks 100% clear. More flow and door over filter open may be significant.

 

[herring_fish]

You might think about looking at GARF.org....maybe talk to them I start my tanks with their critters. Some are in larva and egg stage. I bought mini stars and stuff for bottom clean up but you may want something else.

 

[gnasher]

I've heard you can keep Nassariuses just fine in a bare bottom tank. Seems kind of cruel to me seeing as how quick they are to burrow when you put them on sand.

 

[cloak]

With a bare bottom tank a Mag-Float and a siphon are really all you need to keep your tank clean IMO. There's really no need to rely on a small army of invertebrates as a CUC when you can do the work yourself. Use decent source water, don't overstock, don't overfeed, blast your rocks with a power head on occasion, clean any sort of mechanical filtration on a regular basis etc. A little elbow grease can go a long way sometimes. GL.

 

[Reeferside]

You might think about looking at GARF.org....maybe talk to them I start my tanks with their critters. Some are in larva and egg stage. I bought mini stars and stuff for bottom clean up but you may want something else.

I will definitely look into this. Sounds very interesting.

Thanks. Today looks 100% clear. More flow and door over filter open may be significant.

Nice !

I've heard you can keep Nassariuses just fine in a bare bottom tank. Seems kind of cruel to me seeing as how quick they are to burrow when you put them on sand.

Yeah, the reason why I never bought them. It's like making me live life without a reef tank.

With a bare bottom tank a Mag-Float and a siphon are really all you need to keep your tank clean IMO. There's really no need to rely on a small army of invertebrates as a CUC when you can do the work yourself. Use decent source water, don't overstock, don't overfeed, blast your rocks with a power head on occasion, clean any sort of mechanical filtration on a regular basis etc. A little elbow grease can go a long way sometimes. GL.

This is what's been keeping me going. Thanks for the advice, I try my best to not overfeed.. but it happens here and there.

 

[rssjsb]

I have 10 small cerith snails, 10 small nassarius, 10 astrea snails, 10 blue leg hermits and 10 scarlet hermits. They still can't control the cyano.

FYI - none of the inverts you've identified eats cyano. They are herbivores, while cyano is not algae, but a form of bacteria. Some snails will burrow, keeping the sand stirred, and can break up a coating on the sand. But nothing really eats it, despite claims to the contrary on some websites.

 

[rt67ghy]

FYI - none of the inverts you've identified eats cyano. They are herbivores, while cyano is not algae, but a form of bacteria. Some snails will burrow, keeping the sand stirred, and can break up a coating on the sand. But nothing really eats it, despite claims to the contrary on some websites.

+1

If you can introduce copepods into the tank and let them multiply it should help with the cyano. My pods love that stuff and you wouldn't need to feed the pods anything.