Help Plz - CUC to big..

[JWGarber]

Ok so long story short.

I ordered a CUC package from ReefCleaners.org
John has been excellent to deal with.

Containing
74 Dwarf Ceriths
21 Nassarius
23 Florida Ceriths
15 small to medium Nerites
21 Assorted Hermits
1 clump of chaeto with pods

Now by mistake another company has shipped me the following
20 Nerites
25 Turbo Snails
50 Dwarf Blue Legged Hermits
1 ball of chaeto with pods

My tank is 75g with a lot of cyano on the sand and some GHA etc.

What in the world am I going to do with all these snails and crabs....
I will be glad to keep everyone as long as I can sustain them. I have no problem providing them food either.

Also note the first portion from Reef Cleaners was added today. Tomorrow the other set arrives.

Adding this many at one time can't be good can it? or does the CUC have such a small bioload that it won't matter much?

Any advice is welcome

 

[lucky_snapper]

Trust me you will use them !!

 

[JWGarber]

I dont have a fuge.

I will be happy to use them I just don't want them to be at risk.
Bioload overage from adding them to fast to the tank is my biggest worry.

Today I added all of them from the reef cleaners order and tomorrow the rest come

If you guys don't think its overkill and the tank will handle all these additions its all good for me LOL. I like invertebrates more then I like fish to be honest.

 

[cloak]

That's WAY too many critters for a 75 gallon tank IMO. Being able to keep a happy healthy reef tank with the LEAST amount of janitors is really what you want. Unless your tank is a bomb zone, (which I doubt) be prepared for some casualties. Your tank will balance out the population for you given time. If you can, trading some in at the LFS might not be such a bad idea.
Also, you might want to look into GHA/cyanobacteria causes & remedies. Other than some reports of turbo snails eating GHA, the rest of your CUC members aren't really going to help you out much. Your going to have to get to the root of the problem first. Whether this is detritus buildup, bad source water, low flow, overfeeding, etc. GL.

 

[JWGarber]

The tank has nothing in it. Been running for about two months now.
The algae outbreak came from the initial cycle.

only RO/DI water has ever been added to the tank & I use reef crystals salt mix

I added 5 dwarf hermits a week or so ago and one which happened to be the tiniest did not make it. He left his shell and died. I honestly think he was looking for a replacement shell and I did not have any at the time.

So I have 4 that are healthy and active.

Now I have this new CUC in place and they are roaming around eating and exploring already.

So given the tank has only a CUC in place no other bioload I hope the crew coming in tomorrow will survive as well.

They have plenty to eat. I also run the skimmer 24/7 and it does not pull much at all. So nutrient levels are low or none. It all goes to the algae and skimmer.

 

[TheKman]

I would see if there were any local reefers near you that would purchase them from you, that would be something i would do.

 

[JWGarber]

I don't know any local reefers.


So does nobody think they will be alright? I mean with the small bioload they provide in a 75g tank with no other life I find it hard to think that all that water and space would prevent them from surviving.

I am more then happy to provide them food as well to supplement their diet.

bloodworms, brine shrimp, copepods, nori etc.

Like I said I like the hermits and snails more than fish.

My plan is to try and pair a goby and shrimp
then move on to an anemone and two clowns and that is it.

So the full count for fish overtime will be
2 clowns and a Goby/Shrimp pair plus the CUC

 

[kylathwe]

Johns crew sounds about right but the second batch might be too much. 25 turbos is a ton along with almost 75 hermits. Your hermits will eat the snails for food once they run out of other stuff to eat.

 

[JWGarber]

Providing additional food for the hermits and snails should avoid some of the hermits killing the snails right? plus I provided a lot of extra shells of various sizes for everyone.

Back to the main question though.

Is the tank able to support the bioload of the entire cuc and will adding the one crew today then having to add the next tomorrow evening cause major issues.

None of this would even be an issue if this stupid company would not have sent me this other CUC.

Long story short. I ordered with a company who had a horrible checkout process then I cancelled and was refunded but their system STILL continued and people still packed up and shipped the order to me LOL

 

[msnwld]

Johns crew sounds about right but the second batch might be too much. 25 turbos is a ton along with almost 75 hermits. Your hermits will eat the snails for food once they run out of other stuff to eat.

The sand bend will be like a graveyard of empty snail shells once them hermit's go to work on that snail population.

 

[JWGarber]

I am sure the hermits are going to eat some snails its bound to happen. I will work on avoiding it by ensuring the hermits always have food to eat. Nori, brine shrimp, copepods etc.

As well as providing them with many empty shells.

While I appreciate the advice given so far. I still would like someone to answer the main questions asked.

 

[JWGarber]

I have no idea what to make of this.

I assume this is some spam or junk?

 

[Shaun v]

Assuming the CUC survives, the bio load shouldn't be too much of an issue. That being said, you may run into problems with all of the food you have to put in to help them survive and if some of them die, which some will, you will have more organic matter polluting your water. I would recommend trading some to the LFS too.