cleaner crew assistance

[reef tank 2.0]

I was looking in to the type of cleaner crew I'd like and how many I should have.

Without getting in to specifics right now, I'm having a hard time understanding how many you should have and of what type.

I was looking at liveaquaria for cleaner crew packages and they have, for example, a kit for a 125 gallon tank or larger. in this crew, it contained, 100 scarlet reef hermit crabs, 100 turbo snails, and 150 dwarf blue leg hermits. Now, in my mind, that is a crap ton of cleaners. were talking 350 cleaners roaming the bottom as well as around the tank.

I don't understand how that is the "recommended" number of cleaners for a tank that size

can anyone help me decide how to determine what kind of cleaner i need and how many. I seriously don't want 100 hermits if i don't have to.

whats the best way to go about selecting the crew?

 

[FortyFour]

I don't have all the answers but that sounds crazy to me. Remember that hermits eat snails so if I had a chance to do it all over I'd go with one or the other. Snails would be my pick. Turbos and nassarius snails to help with the sandbed (if you have one, otherwise not). Then I'd stock a fish that helps with algae (lawnmower blenny or a suitable tang for example).

 

[sir_dudeguy]

There's no perfect number of this and that to make the best crew, but I can tell you that I wouldn't bother with the hermits, or at least I'd only get them to watch them, not expecting much cleaning from them. I have had good results with doing a majority of ceriths and astreas, and them a few nassarius and a few turbos. I've always thought liveaquaria was a bit overpriced and throws in unneeded stuff, and I'm partial to reeftopia. They send way more snails than I've ordered. And they've got the best prices that I've seen. Granted the ceriths from them are kinda small.

Personally I'd do 60-100 of their small ceriths, 50 or so astreas, maybe 20 nassarius and see what happens there. If this is for a 100-125 gallon tank... Not sure the size of yours so yeah.

Don't waste your money on the hermits though. They won't clean, but they'll kill all your snails which do clean

 

[billdogg]

In my 120, I have maybe 10 Cerith and 10 Nassarius snails, 1 reg legged hermit, 2 emerald crabs, and a serpent star. IMHO, the "recommended" CUC's are way oversized.

 

[Deftones2015]

In my 120, I have maybe 10 Cerith and 10 Nassarius snails, 1 reg legged hermit, 2 emerald crabs, and a serpent star. IMHO, the "recommended" CUC's are way oversized.

I agree, you end up buying all those snails then half of them or more die. You wasted money first off and risk a spike in ammonia and all that. Better to start with a few and work your way up as needed.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Two things, If you do put emerald crabs in your tank keep a close watch on them as they will eat corals and fish.

If you want hermits I suggest the scarlet legged as they are great cleaners and they don't kill snails and other hermits just for sport like the blue legged ones do.

I agree with Astrea, Cerith, Mexican turbo and Nassarius snails. With the Nassarius there are two different ones, the small normal ones and the bigger Tonga Nassarius snails. Get a bunch of the little ones and maybe 1 of the big ones per 20 or 30 gal tank volume.

Also if you can get some Stomatella snails, they are amazing at eating many types of algae and reproduce easily in your tank.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

Now that I have been briefed on CUC's........

I have a 135g tank with a 40g sump. Do I need to put any type of CUC's in the sump?

 

[billdogg]

Because you have a refugium area, it can't hurt, although you'll have to watch for snails making their way over to the return pump. If they can get in to it and clog it, they will

 

[reef tank 2.0]

Since I will not be growing anything in the sump area, would it be considered a "refugium"?

 

[Deftones2015]

A refugium is a place where one grows some sort of macro algae from what I understand at least

 

[reefer1970]

That might seem like a lot but they will blend into the rock work and you will hardly see them. Forget those $100 packs of 2 of this and 3 of that. Ebay has Nassarius snails in all kinds of quantities up to 500 for $28. I'd get 200 snails and 200 blue leg hermits (thats less than 2/ gallon) don't listen to the sellers that say 4/ gallon or more. Any less and it is pointless to even have them

 

[reef tank 2.0]

200 snails!!! that seems insane!
200 hermits!!! that seems insane too!

I just cant imagine 400 CUC's roaming this tank. They'd be rubbing elbows trying to move around.

After looking in to this...

the snails get to be max 1/2" in size.......That kinda makes sense now. but still, 200?
As for the hermits, those get to be an inch in size..........

Anyone have a picture of their tank that has this many snails/crabs roaming around? I'd be curious to see what that looks like

 

[cloak]

I was looking in to the type of cleaner crew I'd like and how many I should have.

Without getting in to specifics right now, I'm having a hard time understanding how many you should have and of what type.

I was looking at liveaquaria for cleaner crew packages and they have, for example, a kit for a 125 gallon tank or larger. in this crew, it contained, 100 scarlet reef hermit crabs, 100 turbo snails, and 150 dwarf blue leg hermits. Now, in my mind, that is a crap ton of cleaners. were talking 350 cleaners roaming the bottom as well as around the tank.

I don't understand how that is the "recommended" number of cleaners for a tank that size

can anyone help me decide how to determine what kind of cleaner i need and how many. I seriously don't want 100 hermits if i don't have to.

whats the best way to go about selecting the crew?

Put it this way, if all these CUC members such as snails, hermits, bristle worms, mini brittle stars etc just disappeared from the hobby altogether there would still be some beautiful tanks out there. This is all under the assumption that the owner is willing to do some of the work required to keep a tank nice & clean though. Don't forget, you can keep the glass & the sand clean all by yourself. Most of this nuisance algae your seeing on the rocks and the power heads will probably turn to Coralline algae anyways if you practice good husbandry. (don't overstock, don't overfeed, use a decent water source, blast the rocks with a power head , stir up or vacuum your sand bed on occasion, clean any sort of mechanical filter on a regular basis, etc) It's definitely nice to have a few snails here and there to help out, but don't put too much faith in them playing a major role as a janitor. Your much more efficient at that. This is just my opinion, but for a 135 gallon tank you might want to start off with about 10-12 Banded Trochus snails and perhaps 5-7 Scarlet Hermit crabs. See how they do for awhile and adjust accordingly. Hopefully if things go right you won't have to add any more members to the CUC. This is what you want. (less is more) If some of them happen to die due to starvation, so be it.
FWIW, I only have one Banded Trochus snail in my 20 gallon tank and it's damn near spotless. There's just no need for anything else. GL.

 

[redneckgearhead]

I've ordered from these guys more than once. Always had great luck and they have kits to fit you size and shape of tank, hermit free kits or with hermit your choice. http://www.reefcleaners.org/

 

[reef tank 2.0]

cloak - thanks for the input.........sounds easy enough

redneckgearhead - thanks for the link, i'll definitely check them out. I saw how they ask you all about your tank and recommend a CUC based off that