clean up crew ?s

[yeloyoshi]

what would you guys recommend me having for a clean up crew for my 50g tank...

on marinedepot it recommends me to have...
20 - Cerith Snails
10 - Nassarius Snails
10 - Nerite Snails
01 - Sand Sifting Starfish
01 - Brittle Starfish
15 - Mexican Turbo Snails
35 - Mexican Red Leg Hermits
01 - Cleaner Shrimp
01 - Common Cleaner Wrasse

for some reason it seems like a lot to me...

any advice...

yusuke

 

[Yinger]

i think it depends on how much rock and sand you have as well. isn't it 1 crab per lb of rock?

 

[garod82]

IMO that seems like way too much, I personally would do
15 turbo snails
10 hermits
10 Nassarius

 

[yeloyoshi]

1 crab per lbs of rock?!

wow do i need 100 crabs?!?

 

[Yinger]

haha, maybe that's too much...definitely create more bioload that way. maybe 1 per gallon? so 55 crabs and 55 snails... that's usually what i do.

 

[gho]

Wow, that's an awful lot of crew!

I only have a few hermits, a mess of turbos, a cleaner, peppermint, and an unknown number of Nassarius.

I've heard that sand shifting starfish are bad as they eat the good stuff in your SB. I had one, and amost never saw it, as it was burried most of the time.

 

[ezcompany]

you'll be surprised at how expensive cleanup crews can be sometimes. they sure add up.

 

[SBJim]

No cleaner wrasse, I don't think it'll have enough to live off of (do a search). Same for sand sifting star. Brittle stars can eat fish. My recommendation is close to Garod's:

10 cerith
10 Nassarius
10 hermits (I find that scarlets are less aggro: maybe a mix)
10 trochus (like astrea but can right themselves)
??? Turbos (I don't have any b/c of size: don't want them to knock over things

 

[bromion]

What is the benefit of having so many cleanup creatures? What do they do?

I have about 15 hermits, one emerald, 5 small snails, and 1 turbo in my 58gal tank. Too few?

 

[So Cal shaggy]

I would stick with hermits and nassarius snails I do not like turbos they tend to knock over rockwork and corals sand sifting stars are not really necessary in a reef tank since the exposed sand is not a very large area the crabs, nassarius, bristleworms, amphipods, misc worms and tiny shrimp will take care of that area. In a fish only tank with very little live rock sand sifting stars would be more beneficial IMO.

 

[er1c_wang]

i got most of my clean up crew on eBay. cheap if you know what you're looking for. cheaper than the LFS's around here anyways.

 

[jeffrey_ropp]

15 turbos is way too much. Most of them will die off. Try Astreas and Margs instead.

As for hermits, zebras all the way!

 

[bennyinca]

I would add a smaller crew initially, you can always add more critters later if they are not enough.

I recently added a much needed cleanup crew to my friends 60g and things look a lot better after a few weeks.
05 - Mexican Turbo Snails
05 - Astrea Snails
10 - Cerith Snails
10 - Nassarius Snails
10 - Zebra left handed Hermits
05 - Mexican Red Leg Hermits
02 - Scarlet Reef Hermits
02 - Fire Shrimp

 

[yeloyoshi]

thanks for the help everyone... i guess i'll be omw to a lfs to get some hermits and snails...