Help with Clean Up Crew

[t11t5]

I have a 40g breeder. I need a clean up crew, could someone please suggest what and how many of each to get. Thanks

 

[twelvejewelz]

My favorite snails are Banded Trochus snails( they will eat algae , diatoms). I would add about 15-20 of them. Then add about 20 nassarius snails ( they will take care of any food that hits the sand, and they do a great job of keeping your sand stirred. Mabe add 15 cerith snails and i think youll be good to go for now. Put those in and wait a few weeks and see how there doing and add more if you think they are not doing a good enough job. Some people like hermit crabs and some people hate them thats entirely up to you. I would just add 5 scarlet hermits just for fun but thats me . The rest of your clean up crew will come along in your live rock including but not limited to bristle worms, mini brittle stars, copepods, amphipods, and stometella snails.Good luck.

Edit: I think some people will tell you about 1 of each critter per gallon but in my opinion that is over doing it. Dont forget the clean up crew you add will breed and keep itself limited to the amount of waste in your tank.

 

[t11t5]

What about Astraea Turbo Snails, or Emerald Crabs???? And why do people not like hermit crabs?

 

[Parrotfish100]

What about Astraea Turbo Snails, or Emerald Crabs???? And why do people not like hermit crabs?

You could add some of them for sure. The Turbos do a great job of the algae on the glass and my Emeralds pick anything out of the rock.

I have a Sand Star that is doing a great job of keeping my sand bed active.

+1 on the Nassarius. They are amazing at sensing anything food-related that enters the tank. Not to mention they take care of anything that happens to die (I killed a pest crab in my tank and they cleaned it up for me)

 

[njdevilsfan]

i never cross snails with crabs
snails in the tank
crabs in the sump

 

[Hal]

And why do people not like hermit crabs?

Crabs, including hermit crabs, are opportunistic predators. Where do you think the hermit crab gets its shell from?

It's not that people don't like hermit crabs, it's just that they like snails better, and the two don't mix well.

 

[pweissma]

Fighting conch are reported to do a great job cleaning the sand. On Sunday I finally found a LFS that had them so got one for my Solana. So far it's been fun to watch, very different from snails, but I can't comment yet on its cleaning effectiveness.

 

[aleonn]

I don't like crabs because they tend to kill other snails, and pick on corals if hungry.