Clean Up Crew Suggestions

[aircrowley]

I have a 14gallon nano w/ Pacific Coast CL85 chiller/heater and a maxijet 1200 with about 30 lbs of cured live rock and 10lbs of sand. The tank is cycled, but I need suggestions on a clean up crew. Snails, Crabs, Shrimp, etc.

I plan on having a frogspawn, some mushrooms, a few polyps and some soft corals. I plan on having a ywg/tiger pistol shrimp and a Ocellaris clownfish.

What recommendations for cleanup crew that would fight algae the best and be reef safe. Also, how many should I get. Thanks for your help.

Also, will that powerhead be sufficient?

 

[Sinful Aquatics]

I would get some nassarius snails and some hermit crabs. They should be fine in your tank. These are the basic algae eaters, however if you run into a special kind of algae like green hair or diatom then pm me and Ill recommend something else. Good luck

 

[manhorsedog]

gotta watch the nassarius snails, had some eat my mandarin goby : (

 

[Sinful Aquatics]

Then you should get some turbo or astera snails.

 

[Flipper62]

I would say get some nassarius snails, some astraea snails. I dont think I would get Turbo snails, they will get way to big for a nano....But I would get some Margarita snails.

 

[Aurora D.]

Margarita snails are actually from Mexico, and prefer cooler water temperatures than those found in a reef.

 

[Flipper62]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14849893#post14849893 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aurora D.
Margarita snails are actually from Mexico, and prefer cooler water temperatures than those found in a reef.

I have been using them in my tanks for years with no problems. I'm not really sure if there is a Reefer out there that doesn't have them in their tanks.

The biggest problems when you see the snails dead, is eather from the hermit crabs killing them & hijacking their shell, or a salinity change. Snails dont do well with salinity swings. If your not good with your water changes or top offs, the salinity will swing & this will take its toll on the snails. Also some reefers are not good about getting the salinity for their new water the same as the tank, they just get it close. This will also change the salinity in the main tank. Its not as critical on a larger tank like a 75 gallon & larger, but in a nano tank it can make a big difference. Things happen way faster in a nano tank then a large tank.

 

[hotrodolds]

I wonder if only topping off once a day might be causing a swing enough to kill off my astreas? I cant seem to keep them alive. All my crabs are fine though

 

[Flipper62]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14850485#post14850485 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hotrodolds
I wonder if only topping off once a day might be causing a swing enough to kill off my astreas? I cant seem to keep them alive. All my crabs are fine though

If your not home all day & you have to add a half gallon of top off when you get home, I would invest in a ATO ( Auto Top Off ).

 

[GDMNC]

In my opinion you can't kill a mexican turbo snail! I put one in my nano which was cycling. I also put a peice of coctail shrimp in the tank to make it cycle more. The ammonia got to 4! the nitrites got off the chart and the salinity went from 1.026 to 1.028. oops. I fixed the problem, the tank is now cycled and I have a water top off schedule. meanwhile the mexican turbo snail is doing great.
They are big for a nano but you can't kill them.

 

[lucas73]

Check out these guys to build a custom cuc.http://reefcleaners.org/

 

[Aurora D.]

I like the websites that let you build your own clean-up crew. It definetely saves some money.

 

[Korrine]

so far I've had luck w/my astraea's. They're new. Had 3 for a week or 2 and 5 more since yesterday. I'm nervous about my evaporation. Is having to add that much water really that bad?