Cleanup Crew

[VengefulSakhmet]

I'm betting this question is somewhere lost in the threads, but here it goes. What would you say is a good sized cleanup crew per gallon of tank? Also what would be your top choices for cleanup members (types of snails, hermit crabs, etc).

 

[Sk8r]

About 1 per gallon. Get the widest variety of snails you can. Scarlet hermits and the tiny bluelegs, the ones smaller than scarlets. Extra shells for them, so they don't depredate the snails. A fighting conch, small size (they grow, and they'll starve in a too-clean tank.] Lots of bristleworms. They go where no snail has ever gone.

 

[VengefulSakhmet]

do you have any idea where I'd find extra shells? I was thinking about that when I got the hermit crabs, but the LFS guys were no help.

 

[bertoni]

I stay away from numbers per gallon rules when possible. For an 80g tank, I'd probably start with 6-10 Trochus and perhaps 6-10 cerith snails, and perhaps throw in some Stomatella.

IPSF.com sells a Reef Tank Tune-Up that I like in general, although I'd skip the hermit crabs, since they can be predatory. I also haven't had good luck with the nerite snails surviving for long.