cleanup crew, yep I need one

[pascal32]

I should really stock up the cleanup crew. There are a few turbos in the tank and that is all.

I've been through this 3 times in 6 years of having salt water and the only thing I have taken away is :

turbos knock everything over
nassirus vibex are very fun to watch

everything i have read about hermits is mixed, and I'm not convinced nerrite snails do anything other than hang out at the top of the tank.

So who are the real cleaners?

Are blue leg hermits that much better than red? Are hermits evil? if blue are better why do folks get red?

what about Chitons? Are Trochus a good substitute for turbos?

I don't have an algae issue, though there are spots in the sand bed that I can't reach which have some discoloration.

help me out here!

 

[titoav15]

My hermit crabs killed all my turbos one by one, so even though both are recommended IMO it should be one or the other. My tank has 3 red legged hermit crabs(pretty sure) but not 100% I'll check tomorrow when the lights are on. I was thinking about getting more snails and moving crabs to another place, I'm in the same boat as you. When I did have the turbos they had like 4-5 babies and they are still running around in my tank and getting bigger, I see them from time to time.

 

[pilotguy]

Well you can always get what you think is best and if they don't work hard enough for you, bring them over and sacrifice them to my mantis shrimp... I do it with my nerrite snails now. Honestly, i had a lot of luck with a queen conch with cleaning my sand bed.

 

[Gravesj1s]

I like conch and brown snails best for sediments.Depending on sand or gravel size gobies ,pistolshrimp and sanddwelling cucumber worms can be useful.

scarlet and blue legs I have a few. brittle stars are pretty decent for getting between rock and sediment stirring.

 

[block head]

conch :fighting or queen . chitons are cool. don't know if i would buy them. ceriths are ok .

 

[tmz]

I like certihs, trochus , chitons and nausarius for sediment.

 

[jacksonpt]

Nassaurius are good scavengers, so they help clean up missed food and dead critters before they become a problem.

Fighting conchs are a must have for sand bed, IMO.

IME, hermits are opportunistic scavengers/omnivores. They will pick at certain aglaes and clean the nooks in your rock well if that's the easiest source of food for them. If that food goes away (i.e. your tank gets "too" clean), then they will look elsewhere, which often means snails. I have had good luck with blue legs and zebra hermits to the tune of 1 per 10 gallons max.

 

[aquadonkey]

+ however many for conch!

I have one in each of my tanks and they seem to be the only member of my clean-up crews that actually do anything - plus they're just really interesting to observe.

Also - a pistol shrimp will really stir up the sand bed - may help with that hardening sand problem you have too. And.... super fun to watch as well

 

[davidpesce]

Sleeper goby and Nassaurius snails do the heavy lifting in my tank. But I have trochus and both blue and red leg hermits. I've had a few snails die, but I don't think it was from the hermits.

 

[Tonynlo]

I have turbo's a few peppermint shrimp and a conch in my tank. They do a pretty good job. The Diamond Goby eats everything else, or at least kicks it up into the powerheads. Substrate is spotless.

 

[IronMan72]

My sandbed is maintained by a pair of diamond gobies. IME, they turn the sand bed over 3-4 times per week and they keep it in pristine condition. They work from the minute the lights come on until the moment they go out. The downside is that due to their OCD there are always suspended particles in the water column. Most of the bottom of the tank is bare as they pile the sand where they want it. They don't are where I want it. I have a few turbos that don't seem to accomplish much more than bulldozing everything. I have two cerith snails that spend much of their time cleaning the rock. I also have two sea urchins that are good at bulldozing as well, but they work really hard at cleaning the rock and glass.

My kids want to get a crab and I'm considering an emerald crab.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

what (exactly) needs to be cleaned up... just the discolored spots in the sandbed?

 

[pascal32]

what (exactly) needs to be cleaned up... just the discolored spots in the sandbed?

yes, the display has a few spots i can't get into that have some discoloration. other than that preventative. the LPS stock tank and SPS frag tank have 0 cleanup crew in them.

I'm trying to get my phosphate and nitrate up a little bit and am sure I'll get some algae along with it.

 

[5380]

My kids want to get a crab and I'm considering an emerald crab.

When i have had emeralds they just accomplish killing snails. I don't like them much. Get a couple Pom Pom crabs. They are too small to flip corals and won't eat the rest of your CC.