Help with deciding Clean up Crew

[hardimanm]

Well after doing some research i realize that my clean up crew is woefully inadequate. All i have is 4 crimson legged hermit crabs in my 42 gallon FOWLR tank. I have noticed a few small brittle stars and a few snails that hitchhiked in on rock but other than that, that is all i have.

So, after my research i thought things would be clearer. Not the case. Some sites swear by crabs like the emerald, arrow, and sally light foot. and other sites swear at them....quite a lot too. Same thing with the snails. The other problem is the amount. One website said for a tank my size i should have 100 nassaruis and 100 cerith snails not to mention other stuff. That seems a bit in excess. But then again what do i know.

And as for shrimp i have seen conflicting information on them as well. I really like the coral banded shrimp. But i want more than just him. Some web sites say they get along with other types of shrimps and some say they will attack even shrimps of other species.

So i come to you guys and gals for help. What are the best critters for cleanup and how much of each would be best. I like the idea of the small crabs like the emerald and sally light foot and i like some star fish i have seen, like the chocolate chip star fish. As for shrimp like i said i like the coral banded and the peppermint shrimp.

So please bestow your wisdom and years of experience on me.
Thanks so much for all your help so far
Michael

 

[Mariner]

Well, you'll probably get a lot of opinions here too. I can tell you for sure that you don't need 100 nassarius and a 100 cerith snails in a 42g tank. MAX OVERKILL!
I like the little hermit crabs, although several in NARC don't. Personally for a tank the size of yours I'd go with something like this:
-- 10 hermits (any mix of scarlet, or blue leg, mexican red leg)
-- 10 ceriths (some say crabs kill them for their shells, but mine don't)
-- 5 to 10 nassarius
-- 2 or 3 zebra turbos (they'll bull doze your little frags that aren't attached well, but they eat micro algae like nothing else)
-- 1 fighting conch (if you have a sandbed)
-- 1 cleaner shrimp (just as pretty as the coral banded, but a much better addition to the clean up crew, and helpful for keeping parasites off fish)
-- 1 emerald crab (maybe...if you have bubble algae...I haven't had much luck with them)
FWIW,
Mariner

 

[hardimanm]

Thanks...those numbers look a lot better and more of what i was expecting.

As for the cleaner shrimp. Are you talking about scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp pictured here or something else?

Thanks for you input
Michael

 

[prncalbrt]

yepo that would be the one, and i have had the problem with the hermits killing snails to get the shells but only after they get to a certain size. when they start doing it i send them on a long trip to john at cra lol.....

 

[The0wn4g3]

I'd agree with Mariner with a few small changes
-- 10 hermits (scarlett)
-- 10 ceriths
-- 10 nassarius
-- 10 Astrea
-- 2 or 3 zebra turbos
-- 1 cleaner shrimp (I hate them, as they steal food from my coral - so if you don't mind that go for one)
-- 1 emerald crab (make sure they are true green mythrax, not red or false)

 

[Crazyfist]

Whats a good hunter for bristle worms? I've got 2 or 3 worms that are all stealing food from my coral...

 

[Mariner]

Yes, a skunk cleaner is what I would recommend...actually, any of the shrimp from the genus Lysmata are good.

As far as bristleworms go, many of the wrasses love 'em. I've seen my 2 1/2" long possum wrasse gobble a worm whole that was nearly as long as him. Overall, bristleworms are a helpful part of the clean up crew, but wrasses will help keep them in check if you've got an over abundance.
FWIW,
Mariner