favorite/best detritus eaters

[Briney Dave]

ok, its a poo and other junk in your tank eating throw down.
which critters are gunk eating champs

rules: must be reef safe (witin limits) and able to thrive in the typical home reef set up

 

[Burgman]

Hi,

I guess I will start, A Sea Cucumber will clean your sand bed of detritus. Nassarius Snails are also good for celaning up any dead and decaying items in your tank. My 2c worth...............

Dave

 

[Briney Dave]

I like those guys too. My students love seeing them (only morning classes get to see them though)

How about on the rocks

 

[Burgman]

Hi,

Tangs & Algae Blennies will pick algae off of the rocks. Some hermit crabs will do that also but they can kill your snails. A Sea hare will clean up any long hair algae on your rocks or tank walls.

Dave

 

[funkyman]

Emerald crabs are excellent rock pickers. Hand to mouth all day long. I also know they'll go after bubble algae, but I think that's about it as far as algae goes.

 

[Briney Dave]

how about the plain detritus eaters. plenty of good algae be-gone guys , but crude on the rocks?

 

[Burgman]

Hi,

You have detritus on the rocks? Just blow it off with a turkey baster. If you can't blow it off it might be some kind of nasty turf algae. Emerald crabs or Sally lightfoots would be good for picking low growing algae off of the rocks. Don't know of anything that eats detritus off of the rocks.

Dave

 

[Briney Dave]

I do get a bit of build up, I need to re-work my flow. I have a lot just not in the right places.

I was thing about some stars. I have a couple small ones but the tank is a 240.

Plus it is interesting to learn about others systems.
In my position, I get asked often about cleaning crews.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Don't go with sand-sifting (aka brittle) stars. They eat microfauna, not really detritus. They are actually quite counter-productive in that regard. It is typically the microfauna that do the lion-share of munching on detritus. I would say that the very best detritivores come gratis with live rock/sand.

 

[DonDon1]

sand sifting starfish and brittle starfish are two different starfish. They both also have different eating habits.