CUC for Aggressive Tank

[Jake622]

What do you do for a CUC in a tank with fish that eat inverts?

Thanks!

 

[samdaman]

 

[DoubleM 10]

what fish u have??

 

[Jake622]

Nothing yet, but am in the planning stages. Was thinking a trigger, puffer and an eel of some sort.

 

[DoubleM 10]

you would be fine with anything with a shel(hermits, small snails as they cant get thier mouths in them and the like)

i have had a puffer. and currently own an eel. the eel NEVER goes for any inverts that i have seen

the puffer on the other hand would wait for one to fall and then strike lol

 

[SkullV]

you would be fine with anything with a shel(hermits, small snails as they cant get thier mouths in them and the like)

i have had a puffer. and currently own an eel. the eel NEVER goes for any inverts that i have seen

the puffer on the other hand would wait for one to fall and then strike lol

In general this is false with regards puffer fish and trigger fish. Triggers will blow a jet of water at the snails and flip them over and then suck the snail/crab out of its shell. With the puffer they will do the same thing until they get larger and then they will just use their powerful beak to crush the shell.

The ONLY CUC member that was safe with my Picasso Trigger and Stars and Stripes puffer was a pencil urchin, but I am told that urchins are hit or miss as well since they can also be flipped over and accessed from their underside.

 

[Jake622]

Good info. So what do you use to help keep the tank clean?

Also, do you vacuum the crushed shells out?

 

[SkullV]

Your cleanup crew in a tank like that is you. I did vacuum the crushed empty shells the first time but that was the last time I added a cuc to that tank. It took the puffer and trigger all of 20 minutes to eat 25 bkuebooking legs and 25 astreas. Both of those fish and that tank have since moved on to new owners.

 

[DoubleM 10]

o wow i did not know triggers could do that

my puffer would only try if the fell off a rock or something

 

[ashtree68]

I just keep replacing my crabs and keeping my mantis fed, lions are good with anything but shrimp. My mantis will eat any urchin i put in the tank though.

 

[palmer373]

for left over food particles try damsels or a fast wrasse. i have an urchin with my niger and some damsels, dont have a problem yet.

 

[SkullV]

for left over food particles try damsels or a fast wrasse. i have an urchin with my niger and some damsels, dont have a problem yet.

Nigers like Pinktails, Sargassums, and Bluethroats are planktonic feeders and will generally not bother snails, hermits, or other CUC members.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Orange shoulder tang (if your tank is big), does a pretty good job. I also agree that damsels pick up smaller pieces of food.